PLACES TO VISIT:

MidTown (near Wayne State University) on W. Canfield Street there is a great strip of cool stores and food places:

Jolly Pumpkin Brewery & Pizzeria - specializes in sours

Shinola store

Carhartt store

Third Man Records - Jack White's shop and record producing "factory"

City Bird - the best little shop for cute Michigan and Detroit themed items or made my local artisans

Detroit City Distillery (book a tour!)

Eastern Market - day dependent, Sunday is typically the artisan/small business market. Eastern Market Brewing is worth the stop they have great beers, lots of variety.

Hart Plaza + Detroit River Walk - wave hello to Canada!

Heidelberg Project - Make sure you go here. And make sure it's during the daytime. It’s been an ongoing art installation in a neighborhood for over 3 decades. The artist, Tyree Guyton, grew up there and it is his inspiration. The Heidelberg Foundation is currently going through changes and this space will be deconstructed with no specific idea of how it will end up. A must see.

Lincoln Street Art Park - Sorta like Heidelberg Project this is a debris art outdoor space that you can wander through.

Belle Isle Park - island between Detroit and Windsor Canada. Visit the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory and aquarium. Super delightful. It recently became a state park and does have an entry fee.

Driving tour of Indian Village & Boston-Edison neighborhoods - these are gorgeous historic homes

DIA - Detroit Institute of Arts - it's big, so much to see!

Detroit Historical Museum - it’s free!

Charles Wright African American History Museum

Hitsville U.S.A. aka The Motown Museum You have to book in advance for a time slot. This is a really interesting guided tour.

Pewabic Pottery - they make the most gorgeous pieces!

MOCAD - museum of contemporary art and design

Fisher Building - beautiful old architecture, see a show in the theater, they have many shops within the building on the ground floor. Check out the Visit Detroit store.

Spirit of Detroit & Fist of Joe Louis - iconic statues

Campus Martius Park - there are always lots of events or pop-up events happening here.

Greektown is a cool area to go to as well, get yourself a gyro. There are a lot of casinos in the area if that’s something you’re into!

Detroit Foundation Hotel - this was a converted old firehouse, now a swanky boutique hotel

The Apparatus Room - nice restaurant as a part of the hotel. Reservations preferred but you can do walk-in, or just grab cocktails.

HELPFUL WEBSITES:

Detroit CVB: https://visitdetroit.com/

Detroit Experience Factory: http://detroitexperiencefactory.org/

Detroit Metro Times: https://www.metrotimes.com/

The District Detroit http://www.districtdetroit.com/

The Detroit Bus Company: https://thedetroitbus.com/tours/

(This is sort of like a Hop-On Hop-Off bus situation, also offering themed tours!)

DETROIT ORIGININATED MICHIGANDER TREATS:

Better Made Snack Foods

Faygo Pop - It’s not soda, it’s pop! Unique flavors include Redpop, Rock n Rye, and so much more.

Vernors Ginger Ale - if you really want to be like a local try a Boston Cooler

Germack Pistachios - there’s a shop in Eastern Market

Sanders Candy

Coney dogs - There are plenty of places to try out, the long standing battle of the coney dogs is between Lafayette Coney Island & American Coney Island.

Buddy’s Pizza - where the thick square sicilian style originated in the US! Of course there are plenty of other pizzerias serving up the Detroit-Style slices, try as many as you can.