An Alternative 36 Hours in Metro Detroit
I would love to open this article with a story about the great things I found at a thrift store in revitalized downtown Detroit. I would. Really. Unfortunately when I was there it wasn’t quite open although it was supposed to be, but I’d already paid one dollar for one hour of zone 206 parking and Motor City had thanked me for it, so I took a walk. Part of Cass Avenue corridor has more coffee roasters than anyone can possibly support, or even count. A little group of intent people in natural fabrics were clearly setting up some kind of new exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art (4454 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI). Farther south, the roundabout around Campus Martius Park was bustling with rideshare drivers honking at each other. Lake breezes were blowing. It was a sunny, cold spring day downtown.
Time for a day-to-night, black-and-white contrast: there is one street in downtown Pontiac, MI. I mean there are multiple streets, technically speaking, but in practice there is only one. Among the occupied buildings, it has a microbrewery (Fillmore Brewing Co, 7 N Saginaw St, Pontiac, MI) and a nanobrewery (Exferimentation Brewing Co, 7 N Saginaw St, Pontiac, MI). What’s the difference? What do you think this is, Gourmet or something? The microbrewery has a bigger food menu, as a man walking into the Pontiac Arts Center told me. Although the place was stone-cold dead on a Monday night, even with a half-price pizza special, the crust was perfectly chewy and fresh and the beer list didn’t disappoint.
It is with a heavy heart I must report that the Bat Zone of Pontiac, Michigan is no longer open. There are still signs up, but don’t get excited and then let down like I did. The big deal in nearby Auburn Hills is a mega-mall called Great Lakes Crossing Outlets (4000 Baldwin Rd., Auburn Hills, MI) which has every chain outlet you’ve ever heard of in your life and an aquarium. I didn’t go. My shopping took me to a unique location in downtown Detroit.
After two and a half hours in John K. King Used and Rare Books (901 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI) I wasn’t ready to leave. It has four crowded and cramped floors, notionally organized and piled high. Even looking at the bookplates is fun: they represent a tour through homes and libraries past. As long as you don’t trip over the carts, milk crates and boxes full of books between the aisles, browsing is an idealized book experience. When I brought my stack to the counter, the man ringing up my purchase lovingly brushed away the dust with a paintbrush. The smaller John K. King Used and Rare Books location is in the close suburb of Ferndale (22524 Woodward Ave, Ferndale, MI). A refreshing bubble tea smoothie a few doors away (Oakland Tea Company, 22821 Woodward Ave, Ferndale, MI) is an excellent idea.
Hours of perusal of cheap eats links (I am nothing if not millennial) led me to compile a list of particular options and addresses. These are the tiny pockets of life buried within miles and miles of abandoned buildings and empty fields. You can’t miss at least one outpost of the Bucharest Grill, a falafel and shwarma-slinging operation where they put the fries in the sandwich like it’s a natural fact. I visited the Corktown location, opposite the precisely manicured Detroit Police Athletic League baseball diamond. The menu isn’t posted; there is, however a sign warning you to read the menu before you order. I had to pick up one of the pamphlets, proving to everyone that I was, in fact, a foreigner. The falafel wrap was a joyful clamor of feta, red onion and crunchy cucumber, fresh and wholesome; and the Bucharest shwarma, studded with gemlike French fries, delivered on flavor. As I ate, several people ran into their coworkers and acquaintances, giving smiles and back pats, the true sign of a local establishment. Although the sandwiches made me feel, briefly, like I was one of the family, I was not. Wreathed in my own garlic breath, I got back on 94.
