Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Roaming the Rust Belt (2017)
To Motor City
Time to leave Cleveland already, after briefly pausing to wish myself a happy St Andrew's Day! I took the wheel for our final major Rust Belt destination, big bad Detroit itself, reputed to be one of the most run-down and dangerous cities in the USA. We had very heavy rain for most of the journey, making for unpleasant conditions on the freeway. Despite this, traffic flowed freely. Once again, we made a stop for coffee, and once again it turned out to be an attractive service area that nevertheless served second- (or possibly third-) rate coffee.
We arrived in Detroit more or less on
schedule, despite the difficult driving conditions. Almost
magically, the rain stopped just prior to arrival and the skies
cleared up beautifully. Continuing a pattern that had become
standard procedure on this trip, we avoided hotel valet parking and
self-parked next door to the building for a fraction of the rate. We
managed to gain immediate access to our room at the historic Westin
Book Cadillac hotel, so named because (a) it is currently operated
under the Marriott/Starwood 'Westin' brand, (b) it was developed in
1924 by the three Book brothers (Burgess, Frank and Herbert), and
(c) it replaced the Cadillac hotel, which had previously occupied
the site. While undeniably a grand old building, sadly much of the
hotel had a touch of faded glory about it.
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LEFT: A few initial views in the downtown area, close to the Westin |
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We set out and quickly found an attractive lunch venue in the shape
of Townhouse. This aimed to give patrons "inspired
interpretations of their [American] favorites", and we felt that it
made an admirable job of doing so. In fact, lunch was a most
enjoyable experience. Taken together with the observation that the
place was buzzing, this absolutely did not give the impression of a
struggling economy.
After lunch, we took an Uber for the 4.5-mile
ride to the Motown Museum, dedicated to that record label's music
and artists and situated in its first head office, formerly known as
Hitsville USA. We managed to join a tour group just as it
was getting started; remarkably, this consisted of six people from
the UK (including another Scot) and two Americans. Disappointingly,
no photos were allowed inside the building. While fairly enjoyable,
we both felt that the experience consisted of more 'froth' than
substance and wasn't necessarily the best value for money.
After an appalling Uber experience on the way back, involving a 35-minute wait for a ten-minute ride, we took a walk to the waterfront in the fading daylight, to look across the narrow détroit (strait) towards Canada. Uniquely on the world's longest land border, crossing from Detroit to Windsor, Ontario involves moving from north to south.
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Following
drinks at the hotel's stylish venue The Motor Bar, we had
dinner at La Lanterna, an Italian restaurant close to the
Westin that served sensibly sized portions of good food. It was a
very busy place, which once again gave no hint of this being in any
sense a city that was fighting for survival.