The boys' marching band performed in the Detroit Thanksgiving Day parade. Since we were going to watch, the band teacher offered that Max could go, even though he's not in high school band yet. The last time I went to the Detroit Thanksgiving Day parade...I was in it, also in the high school band! MSU scheduled to play there the next day, so we made a weekend of it.
Thursday, Thanksgiving Day
The boys had to be at the school really early - 4:30 a.m., and we left separately shortly afterward. There was no traffic until we got right to the end, because the 14,000-participant turkey trot was happening right on our street! We stayed at the Fort Pontchartrain hotel, which is right in the middle of it all. We parked valet there, because we were staying for two nights. This is the first year in a long time I haven't run a turkey trot, but since we couldn't check in yet I didn't figure out how I could do that and be warm again to watch the parade. Next time!
We walked around and got coffee and cookies at Roasting Plant Detroit, which is a good-smelling and pretty place. We made our way down to the parade route. There were chairs and tables set up for just normal hanging out, and we joined everyone in moving them four feet away along the street for the parade. So convenient!
Tons of people were there! I was streaming the parade on my phone, since the band was hitting the tv spot right before they came to us. I saw all three of my kids on the TV - and a closeup on Ty - and then we got a bunch of texts from people saying they saw it. Ha!
A note here - my friend Michelle is the flag director and one of the chaperones. I asked her to take a picture of the boys if she saw them, and she came through in flying colors. Individuals, action shots, and a group picture of my three boys. Seeing Max in a marching band uniform for the first time - and seeing all three of them together - was so cool!
The floats in the parade were giant and interesting, and we also loved the giant balloons. Then along came our band! Very exciting to see them all. We followed them to the bus, where we collected our children and headed to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of cheeseburgers and the Lions game. We chose Firebird Tavern Detroit, because it was reasonably priced, they had seating, it was a great location, and they had lots of TVs for the game. Plus, it was open!
After halftime we were able to check into our hotel, where we watched the Lions lose, and then watched the MSU basketball team lose. We took advantage of the hotel's workout room, pool, hot tub, and sauna. We decided to walk around Detroit and find something to eat. However, nothing was open. I realize it was a national holiday, but I really thought something like a pizza place or walk up would be open. Nope! Not even in the big city! No big deal - I'd brought pretzels from home. We walked all around the city, and the giant Christmas tree and skating rink was my favorite part. So many people out skating, of all ages and abilities, it was so pretty, and everyone was happy. Just a beautiful sight. We got back to the hotel and the Wizard of Oz was on tv, and my children had never seen it. They thought it was creepy, which I appreciated, because that creepiness is timeless.
Black Friday
I ran along the Detroit River, and then we all went to see the city. We walked all along the riverfront, which is big and pretty, with a great view of Canada. We saw the Monument to Joe Louis, the Transcending Monument, the Spirit of Detroit, and went through the Renaissance Center, which had super cool cars in it. We ate at an iHop, and we walked farther into the city and happened upon Black Friday shopping. Some stores had few people in it, and some had a lot - like the Nike store, which had really good deals. We spent a long time going in and out of stores and seeing the sights.
At one point we rode the QLine, which is a free trolley that goes up and down Woodward Ave. It was really convenient and nice, though we were surprised we were the only non-homeless people riding it on our stretch. It was warmer than the outside!
We went to the Z Deck Garage, which is a 10-story parking garage with a mural at every stop, and a great view of the city from the top.
As we were headed to the hotel to get warmer clothes for tailgating, a Direct TV van hailed us over and offered sliders, fries, and hot cocoa from a food truck in exchange for scanning a QR code. This was a fantastic promotion, because the sliders were REALLY good, the hot cocoa was a great non-burning temperature, and we were all hungry! The promoters took pictures of us, asking us to toast with our hot cocoa and pose as we ate. Kris whispered, "Did you tell them we just changed to Dish?" I said, "We had Direct TV for years before that!"
We got warmer clothes and met our friends in a parking lot right in front of Comerica Park to tailgate for the MSU football game. A lot of people came, and it was really fun. The boys played football for a long time, and then they were gone with a friend to walk around for a long time. The other mom and I wondered where they were for so long...when they came back, they showed us they had gotten their picture taken with Santa and an elf. The pictures were so great, and we laughed so hard.
Then it was MSU vs. Penn State at Ford Field! I love the idea of having one of our football games here, because Ford Field is just exciting. We didn't expect our team to win, and they didn't. We distracted ourselves from the game with the marching band, venue, our kids, and our friends! Unfortunately at some point in here I dropped my ear covering that I've loved and owned for longer than we have been married. I'm getting over it, I promise.
It's all so close! We walked back to our hotel, admiring the Christmas tree and the skaters one more time.
Saturday
I ran along the riverfront one more time, admiring the cold, sunny view, made even more cold by the fact my ears were uncovered. It didn't matter - I was still thankful that weekend for a fun, pretty city.
