Dream Day In Detroit
If you had one day to explore Detroit, what would you do? I asked this question to some of our PT members who have spent time in Detroit, not only as volunteers, but as visitors and compiled their suggestions into our ideal day in Detroit.
To get from Ann Arbor to Detroit, we take the new D2A2 bus service that provides affordable and reliable transportation to Detroit. With hourly trips between 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. every weekday, this is a convenient and accessible way to get to Detroit.
Once we get there, we need to stop at one of Detroit’s many booming coffee shops to prepare for the rest of the day. After debating between la ventana, Madcap, Roasting Plant, Ashe, and BasBlue Cafe, we finally settle on Madcap. Madcap was founded in 2008 right in the middle of downtown with a sleek trendy aesthetic and a wide variety of drinks. Promenade Artisan Foods, a local bakery, is right next door so we can pick up some pastries and breakfast to go with our coffees.
Now that we’ve fueled up for the day, we can head to the DIA or one of the many other museums in Detroit. The DIA is a favorite among our DP members, myself included, as it highlights breathtaking pieces and is relatively accessible to Detroit residents, especially with a QLine stop nearby and free entry for Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb County residents.
Following a couple of hours here, we’re ready to watch the Detroit Tigers play baseball at Comerica Park. We also take this opportunity to eat classic stadium foods while looking at the Detroit skyline.
Following a Tigers win, we want to take some time to visit our community partners. This day we decided to go to St. Vincent and Sarah Fisher Center and volunteer for their programs focused on both childhood and adulthood education. Some of us help children with their homework, while others help adults study for their GEDs. Other days we might go to the Redford Brightmoor Initiative to help stock their free store, Center for Success to help in tutoring and mentoring children, or Detroit Boxing Gym to help support their students in both academic and athletic programs.
Now that we’ve connected with those who make this community what it is and who have fostered our relationship with the city, we decide to take a walk on the Detroit riverfront. We stop every once in a while to take pictures of the city and ourselves enjoying it of course. By the end of our walk, we’re ready for some dinner, but deciding where has been the hardest part of the day. We list off Townhouse, Lafayette Coney Island, Parc, American Coney Island, Lumen, Pao, and Pegasus. We decide to try Townhouse and it does not disappoint. The innovative, yet traditional, flavors are the perfect end to a day of delicious eats in Detroit.
As we wrap up dinner and reflect on our day, we get excited for the concert we decided to see tonight. Since Motown, the live music scene in Detroit has always been vibrant and it continues to draw people today. Whether you’re going to Tin Roof for a casual live-music experience or seeing one of your all-time favorite artists at The Fillmore, there is music for every mood and occasion in Detroit. We begin walking to The Fillmore ready to wrap up our fun day in Detroit with some amazing music, taking a few minutes to have a discussion about the duality of the city. We’ve had an exciting day, but it’s important to realize that Detroit is more than downtown. Detroiters face a lot of hardships that you rarely see when sticking to the well-developed downtown area.
In DP, we mostly talk about Detroit in the context of the hardships that Detroit residents face and the collaborations we do with Detroit organizations to help alleviate these struggles, but Detroit is much more than that. Detroit is a story of perseverance that has resulted in a vibrant city with many thriving businesses and fun things to do.
Written by Grace Schaefer (Education Director 2023-2024)