Finally posting photos from our big snowstorm on Super Bowl weekend…
The beginning of the storm. On our way to a friends’ house to watch the game.
Loved watching the snow come down Sunday night.
The pristine newness right after a snowfall is the best. Hardly anyone was out walking around and I loved being alone with all of it.
And the kids (and Sam) enjoyed it, too.
Our vacation rental on Walloon Lake.
1) Northern Michigan (aka Up North) is to Detroiters, as Tahoe is to San Franciscans. I blame Northern Michigan for my blog lull, by the way. We’ve been back over a week and I still can’t get out of vacation mode.
2) Most gnats inhaled on an evening run: four.
3) Nevermind gnats. Whatup spiders? Unless you spray (which we don’t), they are everywhere. I walk through at least one web per day, usually in the morning before I’ve had coffee (letting the dog out). Creeps me out every time, even though I’m expecting it.
4) The guy at Trader Joe’s asked me if I just moved here (they always check my ID, which still says California). He’s from Santa Rosa. He said, “You know what you won’t be able to find out here….good Chinese food.” Yep.
American Spoon
5) Speaking of food, the best meal I’ve had since I moved was in Petoskey (Up North territory) at a great spot called American Spoon. As I was enjoying my not-greasy whitefish sandwich and potato salad with snap peas and mint (I miss you, San Francisco!), I fell in love with the paint color. Which miraculously they had on file. Which unfortunately is either a mistake or no longer exists, because I cannot find it anywhere, at least not under the brand name they gave me. Waaaahhhh!
6) Yes, you did just see my kid sitting on a pink potty. In the back of my SUV. In the library parking lot.
7) When school starts in Grosse Pointe, summer is officially o-VER. Pools close, restaurants shorten hours, traffic laws change (no right turn on red). In San Francisco, there is no official end of summer. In fact, summer is just getting started (September and October are two of its most gorgeous months).
8) Finding the perfect paint color for the foyer suddenly seems ridiculous and embarrassing when you are waiting for your Italian sub at Which-Wich and start reading the headlines of the newspaper tacked to the walls. Ugh.
9) A lawn sign you will never find in San Francisco (above). For one thing, no one has a lawn in San Francisco, but that’s not really the point. Lawn signs are big here. There’s one in front of our new house right now, actually, that the painters put up.
10) Need to get back on your feet, Detroit? Start charging for stuff! It’s free to park anywhere on Belle Isle and admission to the aquarium and conservatory are free (in SF, prices are $35 and $5, respectively). Residents also get a free ride to the DIA museum (at the SF MOMA, it’s $18). A couple weeks ago I parked at St. John’s for a doctor’s appointment. It’s a huge Detroit hospital, as big as San Francisco General. Free parking. (In SF, you’d pay $6.00 – $12.00 easy for the shortest doctor visit).
11) When the guys at Benjamin Moore say, “Bye, see you soon!” as you’re leaving, it’s time to decide on a paint color already.
12) When you start giving other Benjamin Moore patrons color advice, it’s time to pack it up and go home. (Although she did say the creamy white I suggested was exactly what she was looking for. Boo-yeah.)
Looking towards downtown Detroit.
A couple Fridays ago when the girls were with a sitter, I drove to Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood (though, as Wikipedia points out, the actual city of Detroit is much older) located on the west side of the city. Originally occupied by Irish immigrants in the mid 1800s (most from County Cork, hence the name). At the end of the decade, Maltese immigrants came through, and in the early 1900s, Mexicans.
Central Station, Corktown.
This up-and-coming neighborhood (according to various news articles I’ve read, most recently in The New York Magazine’s “Post-Post Apocalyptic Detroit”) is a hot spot for cool restaurants (including the always-crowded Slows Bar BQ), clubs, retail stores and yes, a coffee shop in the form of Astro Coffee, which opened three summers ago. Astro Coffee lies at the edge of Corktown, kitty-corner from the abandoned Michign Central Station.
The 2100 block of Michigan Avenue (Astro Coffee is housed in the green building).
I was really excited to finally visit Astro Coffee. We tried as a family to pop in one Saturday, but a sign on the door told us they were closed for a week-long holiday. This particular stretch of Michigan Avenue was quite busy with business lunchers and some families at Slows and Mercury Bar across the street. As I walked by the front window, I noticed the Ritual Coffee (from San Francisco) sign, which made me both happy and unsure (I have mixed feelings about Ritual. It’s a long story).
Inside, there were some pastry and cookie selections up front, with daily sandwiches (which the flies seemed to enjoy, even with the mesh domes meant to keep them out) along the side counter. I ordered a cappuccino and a sage shortbread cookie.
The clientele was what one would expect. There was the usual one or two people on laptops at the back communal table, a couple regulars at the bar area, a few business folks ordering cups to go. I sat at the counter facing the street. The guy behind me was talking to a friend about such and such picking up his new TV show (yawn) and the older couple next to them were tourists (I’m guessing. They were speaking French).
So what about the coffee? you ask. Delicious! It was full-bodied, and bitter the right way. The crema was thick and creamy and I can’t remember, but I don’t think I needed sugar. The cookie was served on a pretty little vintage plate. It was quite sweet and the sage tasted suspiciously like rosemary, but hey. I was there for the coffee.
We took the girls to Belle Isle this weekend. It’s a small island in the Detroit river that used to be owned by the city and is now a State of Michigan park.
I’m not sure if it’s because I have kitchen remodel on the brain, but I was obsessed with the gorgeous tile work inside the aquarium. Brilliant greens flanked by shiny black subway tiles and more green tile patterns on the floor. I wish I had taken more photos, but here are the few that I did get.
Cass Corridor
I’m slowly building my photo collection of Detroit. Like many outsiders and newbies, I’m really drawn to its buildings. I’ve always loved abandoned structures and old buildings (and the unknown stories they hold), so of course I am oohing and ahhing over all the broken windows and overgrown plants and everything. On one trip into town, I was yelling “STOP!” to my husband (who was driving) at almost every other block (and although I’m sure he was rolling his eyes, he did stop. most of the time.).
Street Art, Midtown
One thing I noticed about the buildings (especially downtown but also some of the apartments on the outskirts), is that they are SO. BIG. And so tall! It’s not like I haven’t seen tall buildings before. I’ve been to New York and all over Europe. I’ve seen big. But I guess I haven’t been around it in so long, that they seem incredibly massive and looming to me. Plus, there are codes in San Francisco because of the earthquakes, so big and tall doesn’t really happen there (unless you’re at Macy’s. haha).
Courthouse. For sale.
There is beauty in the breakdown, the hardship. But there is also a great energy to the city that these photos don’t show. It’s an energy that’s hard to capture in photos or even explain in words; its vibrancy is understated. There is definitely a pulse here. It’s a cool-as-a-cucumber kind of pulse that has nothing to prove to anyone, yet is warm and inviting at the same time (I’m going to figure you out, Detroit!).
Midtown
I’m super excited to continue discovering what this town is all about and sharing my perspectives with you.
Last weekend, the whole family piled into the car for a ride to Detroit. I’m still trying to get my bearings, so my husband took us the long way into town – Lake Shore to Jefferson, and then we drove around downtown and up Woodward to Midtown. I’d read a few things about Great Lakes Coffee Roasting Company and wanted to see if it would live up to the hype, so we stopped for a snack and of course, a cup of coffee.
My husband ordered a pour-over and I wavered between a cappuccino and a macchiato before choosing the later. I got an almond croissant, the girls got blueberry muffins and my husband had some kind of apple pastry (I think).
The cafe sits on a corner near the DIA/Detroit Institute of Arts Museum. It’s a beautiful space, with exposed brick walls, wooden floors and ceilings and industrial accents everywhere. There is bar seating at the counter and the main room has several community tables and some smaller tables and chairs off to the side. There was also outdoor seating, as well as bar stool seating along the main window inside. The people there were pretty hipster, but not to the point of being annoying. Quite. The staff was also hipster, but not pretentious, which was refreshing.
My husband loved his coffee. He said it was rich and thick, like you could almost chew it. Mine was excellent as well, although next time I’ll get the cappuccino. The macchiato was perfectly made, but I love steamed milk when it’s done right and I’m sure this place would do it right. The pastries were okay. Nothing to write home about. But I didn’t mind, as we were there for the coffee, anyway.
Typically, this cafe isn’t the best place to bring kids, but because it was a Sunday afternoon, they didn’t have loud music playing (which I’m told they sometimes do) or too much of a crowd (which I’m told they often have). Unfortunately it’s too far from home to be a regular hangout for me, but we will definitely be back.
Pointes of View 