4 Blissful Hours in Detroit
 

I have 4 hours to kill next week before a business meeting. I'll be getting into DTW by noon and have to be in Toledo by 5:00P. Assuming an hours drive to Toledo, can someone please recommend something I can do and see in the short time slot in and around the Detroit area?

Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn are world class.

Keith

I second Greenfield Village, or as it is now known the Henry Ford.

http://www.hfmgv.org/

It's fabulous, my favorite museum of any I have ever been to.

Here's something that might be fun. There's a Fodorite who owns a restaurant in Detroit who posts warm, funny messages here. If I were going to Detroit I'd head straight for her resto. I'll check around to see if I can find more info for you. Her username is something like Mamaw. Maybe someone else will post more specific info as well.

Just typed "Mamaw" and "Theresa" into the search box and found some posts by a Fodorite who lives in Detroit. Since a humorous Italy trip report didn't come up (which the resto owner posted a while ago), I'm not sure if she is the Detroit restauranteur.

If you've never been to Ann Arbor, I'd go there, have a nice lunch at any of a number of very good restaurants, then walk around campus (including the beautiful Law Quad)-- not sure, but in the past at least one gate to the 110,000 capacity football stadium was open, allowing one to walk inside and check it out. Then a straight shot down US-23, about 40 minutes.

Greenfield Village is terrific.

You might even head straight down to Toledo and hit the Toledo Museum of Art. The glass collection there is world famous. It's right off of I-75 and at least you would be near your appointment instead of still having +/- an hour to get there. The Henry Ford is wonderful also. You could do the Village if the weather is nice or the museum if it's not. You might even like to take the Ford Factory tour instead of the museum/village which might use up about the right amount of time before heading down to Toledo. If you drive to Ann Arbor, you'll be spending a good half hour to 45 minutes just getting there and parking and it's the same drive to Toledo as Dearborn/Metro airport is.

Ya know, I was thinking, and if you only have four actual hours, really less once you get your baggage, get a car etc. Greenfield Village may not be a good idea. You could easily spend all day there, in the Village or the Museum.

Maybe the Rouge Plant Factory tour would be interesting? You can find out about that at the same link I provided above.

Just to let you know that there has been road construction on southbound I-75 which can cause a big backup. You may want to check with mdot.

http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/

If you must be in Toledo at 5pm -- I would suggest heading down first and then sightseeing there.

Hey Betsy, Thanks for trying to send some action my way! Were having Potato Pancakes and Porky Pig Omelette. I'd Love to have Greggism come by, but it would never work for his/her time frame. And the best bet is to hop on I-75 South and head right to Toledo.

But if you want to take sometime to eat and gamble a little, Greektown in kinda sorta on the way to Toledo. You can have some killer lamb chops and throw the dice.

Hey, Theresa! It is you. I wasn't absolutely sure. I was also looking for your Italy trip report, but it doesn't come up under either of your screen names. Can you find it?

I don't see it either. Didn't she go with her inlaws? Wasn't it really chaotic right before they left, a big event at the restaurant maybe? Anyway, I hope it's still in the archives. It was a great trip report.

That crazy post is still around. In fact I got a email about it the other day. It's under THERESA (I got kicked off fodors under that name, I don't know why, could it have been something I said:))
It's under the post Rome, I loved it. Go to the Italy page, I'll try to bump it up. It's good for a laugh, even now more.

I leave for another In Laws/Out Laws vacation in 25 days. I can't wait and I promise to post when I get back.

Whole lotta love out of Detroit.

Thanks, Theresa! Can't wait for your next report. Buon viaggio!

PS: What's doing at the resto this weekend?

If you like art, the Toledo Museum of Art is one of the finest small museums in the country, and they have just added a new wing for glass art that is causing quite a stir in architectural circles. You can also get a light meal in their cafe.

Greggism, what did you end up doing?

Thanks to all for their excellent suggestions and very timely advice. We had a change in plans at the last minute and our meeting was bumped to the next morning so we grabbed a bite to eat in Detroit first and then headed to Cleveland for the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame. Then back to Toledo for overnight and our meeting in the morning. We first arrived in Detroit Monday around lunch time and spend some time driving around the downtown area. I must say that it appears that America seems to have forgotten about Detroit. There was nothing going on anywhere. Restaurants were empty and the streets dirty. It was rather sad. Sorry to end on a sour note...but again, thanks for the advice!

The new MGM Grand is beautiful and the restaurants are excellent.
Also, Greektown is fun, try Peagusus for lunch.
OR Go to the Ren Cen (GM Headquarters) and have lunch at Seldom Blues or Coach Insignia. Then walk around the building a little or walk over to Greektown.

Please do a trip report when you are home...Thanks, Theresa in Detroit.