als0107

I will be accompanying my husband on a business trip next week and we will be staying at the Marriott in Troy. Can anyone suggest any areas where I can go for walks with a our baby in a stroller? Neighborhoods, shopping areas, etc. I am not sure if he will need the rental car during the day or if I can drop him off and use it so suggestions of areas close to the Marriott and those farther afield would both be nice.

Also, does anyone have any dining ideas (not expensive/chic as we will have a 4 month old in tow)?

Thank you for any ideas!

kelliebellie

Hey, I live in Troy, so I will try to be as helpful as possible!

You are definitely walking distance to the Troy Library. The hotel is on Big Beaver Road which is a major street. I'm not sure about sidewalks along it. There are a ton of restaurants and shopping all along this street. At the corner of Big Beaver and Coolidge is Somerset Collection Mall. It is the big nice mall in the area. You could take a taxi there and kill most of a day.

http://www.thesomersetcollection.com/

If you can take the car, Birmingham is a great city. Lots of cute stores and nice parks. It is about 4 miles from where you will be, so also fine in a taxi.

http://www.ci.birmingham.mi.us/

Great Lakes Crossing is the outlet mall just up I-75 a few miles. It is very nice and you could spend a day there.

http://www.shopgreatlakescrossing.com/

There is a very nice museum at Cranbrook:

http://science.cranbrook.edu/

and art museum

http://www.cranbrookart.edu/museum/

A bit farther away is a great cider mill. They have the worlds best donuts and cider:

http://www.franklincidermill.com/

Even further away (about 20 miles) is Greenfield Village. It is a wonderful outdoor museum of historical buildings. You can take a model T ride, and see lots of neat stuff:

http://www.thehenryford.org/

The Detroit Zoo is small, but nice and about 8 miles away:

http://www.detroitzoo.org/


I did just look on google earth and there are sidewalks all the way to the Somerset Mall, but it would be about a two mile walk.

Another good shopping area is Rochester Road and Big Beaver. There is a Nordstrom Rack (outlet) and across the street a Loehman's (discount women's) and a Carters and a Panera for lunch.


As for eating, there is just tons of stuff near you. If you need a nice, not expensive place for breakfast try Recipes on Big Beaver and Crooks.

There is a Benihana's on Big Beaver. Maggiano's Italian is very good. It is a chain, but good.

http://www.maggianos.com/

There is very good Middle Eastern Food at Rochester and Maple:

http://www.lebanesegrill.com/

There is a great little cheaper sushi place we've been loving. It is in a little strip mall south of 14 Mile on John R. It is called Edamame. The have great noodle dishes.

What type of food do you like to eat and what do you like to do? There is so much in this area.

I don't know where you live, but it has been getting cold here. We have a frost warning for tonight.

Let me know if you need more ideas!

kelliebellie

One more thing that will make your life much easier. This area is incredibly easy to get around in because the whole thing is completely laid out in squares. The east-west roads are called the "mile roads". They tell you how far you are away going north from the Detroit River. So you will have Twelve Mile, Thirteen Mile, Fourteen Mile, and then at Fifteen Mile they decided to change their names into something fancier. So fifteen mile is Maple. Sixteen mile is Big Beaver (where your hotel is). Seventeen is Wattles, and Eighteen is Long Lake.

The roads that run north-south have different names, but like the east-west, they are always a mile apart. You will be near Livernois. So just take a second to look at mapquest and kind of see how it is laid out. This will help you in your travels to sort of have a mental map.

als0107

Oh wow thank you so much! This is so much more info than I would have hoped for and will be so helpful. Looks like I won't be stuck in the hotel all day after all!

Are there any neighborhoods nearby that I could stroll around in? Not necessarily fancy just average neighborhoods that I can go for walks in?

The Middle Eastern food suggestion is great and will definately be trying that place.

Thanks for the weather warning too! We live in So. Cal and has been 90's this week so I will have to break out the parkas for us!

Thank you again!

kelliebellie

You should really get on google earth. It will show you the subdivisions. There are some areas it looks like to the east of your hotel and more to the north.

There is another Middle Eastern place in Birmingham called Pita Cafe. You should definitely try to get to Birmingham while you are here. It is a very cute town. And there is another Middle Eastern on Rochester Road:

http://www.lamarsacuisine.com/

And there is also great Indian on Rochester Road. Our favorite is Mayur Indian at Rochester and Long Lake.

http://www.mayurindiancuisine.com/

If you are from Southern California, then you should definitely try to get to the cider mill. It is an awesome fall thing to do around here. There are larger ones farther away as well. And Greenfield Village is our biggest area attraction. If you like history, it is a wonderful place. Actually there is a great restaurant in the Village:

http://www.thehenryford.org/village/eaglemenu.aspx

The leaves are just starting to change a bit. It is a nice time to be in Michigan. But it looks like you'd better throw in the rain gear too!

Pat_in_Mich

Hey Kelliebellie we're neighbors! I live in Troy too. You really provided lots of helpful information.

kelliebellie

Small internet!!! I'm near Beach and Long Lake, how about you? Too bad I don't have a decent fm transmitter for your ipod that you could borrow!


One note about the Lebanese Grill is that they have a smoking section. It is on one side of the restaurant and we have never been bothered by it, but I just wanted to warn the Californians that smoking still exists in bars and restaurants in Michigan.


Come on Pat, you must have more to add! I didn't realize it, but apparently I've been waiting my whole Fodor's life to be asked about Troy.

als0107

Thank you so much for all the recommendations! I will check out google next and we will be hitting up some of those restaurant picks!

Thanks again and I will let you know how it turns out!

kelliebellie

Yes, let me know if you enjoyed your time here. It is a very nice area to visit.

ncounty

lol, kelliebellie....that is so cute! "I've been waiting my whole Fodor's life to be asked about Troy".

wliwl

Troy is not a cute cuddly place to take a walk around. The roads are WIDE and BUSY and lined with strip malls, hotels, office parks and other stuff.

I'd go to the Collection (the mall) and walk around there.

It's basically like all of Detroit - it was designed to never get out of your car.

Pat_in_Mich

Hey, kelliebellie! I'm near Long Lake and Rochester. When I saw the question about Troy I couldn't believe someone was asking about my hometown! BTW, I did buy the speakers at Radio Shack but haven't had a chance to try them out yet. Thanks!

kelliebellie

I know! When I first saw the topic title I was sure she was talking about New York.

I hope the speakers work for you. The person that invents a way to play the ipod through an indash cd player is going to make the real money.

Maggi

Hi Pat and Kelliebellie, guess what? Another Troy resident here! Maybe we should have a Fodors get-together here in our area!

You've offered great advice! If I may add a few more restaurant suggestions:
Kona Grill on Big Beaver in Troy:
http://www.konagrill.com/map.php
and
Bahama Breeze, also on Big Beaver:
http://www.bahamabreeze.com/location...taurantID=3026

kelliebellie

Wow! Very small internet!

als0107

I didn't want you to think that I was purposely not posting a trip report. Our trip was temporarily postponed and it now looks like we will be going to Troy in November. I will post then to let you know how we enjoyed your area (I am really looking forward to the cider mill and the Lebanese food!).
Thanks again for all your suggestions!

kelliebellie

That is a shame. The weather here has been glorious! November is going to be completely different. You might see snow!

The cider mill is open until the week after Thanksgiving. But you will definitely want to be more inside in Michigan in November than out. Try to get that rental car during the day. Maybe hubby can drop you off somewhere on his way out. I will think of more cool indoor things to do around here for you!