Ok, I admit it, I was a little afraid to go to Detroit. Everyone I asked had a horror story to tell but I'd already promised to take my daughter and her friends to a rock concert there so ...

It's not as bad as you might think. Sure, the roads getting in and out of the city are dirty and there seem to be whole areas of town that are abandoned but overall we enjoyed our brief stay.

We booked a room at the Omni Riverfront. Nice hotel, good service, great price on Priceline. Do not, I repeat DO NOT use the direction finder at the hotel's website. It has the hotel's address WRONG. Really. Which is how I got to tour all those abandoned areas.

We used the hotel's shuttle service to get us to Cobo Arena. We walked the last few blocks as a Redwings game was letting out and traffic was ridiculous. It is a fairly attractive city from the Rennaisance Center to Cobo.

Had fun at the concert but it was like a trip in the wayback machine -- despite the punk rock offerings. Concerts in other venues I've attended lately are policed to the point of being sanitized. This one wasn't. I think I got a little high from all the second hand pot smoke.

We found a genius taxi driver after the concert who whisked us back to our hotel in under ten minutes. Once there we ordered in Papali's Pizza (recommended here). YUM!

My girls had questions about Canada, which we could see from our hotel room, so we decided to head to Windsor in the morning.

Oops. It seems that international borders are a little tougher to cross these days. We had a nice chat with an immigration official who graciously explained the differences between Canadian and regular bacon before they kicked us out of their country. Bring ID, lots of it, and if you're taking kids who you didn't actually give birth to you'll need permission from their parents.

We'll definitely try Detroit again.

"It seems that international borders are a little tougher to cross these days."

Yes that has changed a lot over the years. The only time I was ever refused entry to Canada, it was 2 in the morning, I was in a car full of college students and the driver probably would have failed a breathalizer. On the way back over the bridge, we wondered what we would do if the US wouldn't let us back in.

Thanks for the report!

Keith

OH...when you make it over to Windsor, stop at a market and purchase some Canadian peameal bacon. I bet you will like it.

So, you liked your first taste of the Motor City, did you now. Well, that's okay.

Peameal! So that's what the immigration lady was saying. I thought she was speaking French. What the heck is peameal bacon anyway?

Peameal bacon is a lean back bacon, similar to pork loin. Almost all the fat is trimed, then it is sweet cured and rolled in cornmeal.

Keith