Detroit at Thanksgiving

We have really come to love Detroit. It feels kind of familiar now, but on this trip we saw new places!

Thursday

The Lions are on a streak - they've been playing every Thanksgiving since 1945! So I was super excited when we got tickets to go. I quickly ran a Turkey Trot with friends in St Johns, and we were out the door by 9:15 a.m. We parked in a lot and walked around the stadium.

I absolutely loved the atmosphere. People were so excited. There was a buzz in the air. The crowd was really festive - lots of turkey hats, and amazing custom Lions gear. The women went for sparkly, and the men were wearing jerseys and jackets that were one of a kind. There was a beautiful tree people posed in front of for pictures. It was a fun walk.

We found our way to our seats. Cole wanted to walk again to get vouchers, and I went with him. Now, it was too crowded. A totally different feel! There were bottlenecks and tons of people. It was better to get there early, for sure.

The game started. I love the start of a game, since there's so much pomp and circumstance and everyone is so excited about the possibilities of the game. Gospel singer and Detroit native CeCe Winans sang the national anthem, and no wonder she's famous. The game started, and the Lions played well.

We were looking forward to seeing Jack White play at halftime, and I thought everyone would stand...and they didn't. Then Eminem popped out of the stage and everyone JUMPED to their feet in excitement and stayed standing the rest of the time, including through Seven Nation Army, which is weirdly a sports anthem played at every game we attend, ever. It was so incredibly exciting! A little concert with a surprise guest right in the middle of a game on a holiday with my family all together?! YES! 

The Lions did not win, but our spirits were not damped, because due to our long history of being fans, we don't expect them to win. We rushed to a restaurant for dinner because...we had another game to watch! MSU was playing basketball against UNC. And MSU killed them! This also seemed unusual, because I have watched MSU lose a lot to them.

There was still a lot of day left, so after we checked into our hotel (Hilton Garden) Kris and I walked down to see the Christmas tree. Beautiful holiday.

Friday

I got up and ran along the riverfront, which is always pretty. I saw a cool park with artistic animal structures.

We walked to Woodward and shopped, then went to a few parts of the city I hadn’t seen – Corktown and Midtown. We walked around Nike, Alo, Third Man Records, Carhartt, Shinola, Timberland, etc. There were lots of people out and it was festive. We got coffee at The Roasting Plant and checked out the Christmas indoor booths at Campus Maritus.

We went to Corktown Taphouse, because they offered a lot of games! They’re the kind of place where you get a bracelet and every charge just goes on your bracelet so you could spend so much money if you don’t pay attention. Bowling was full, so we did darts, which were real darts with projector games. Really fun!

We checked into our new hotel (The Athenium) and went to the gym. Then we walked to The Brakeman, which was awesome because it had shuffleboard, foosball, and ping pong! We played them all (and ate good food) – mostly shuffleboard. They had a lot of TVs and we watched the Pistons narrowly lose.

Saturday

I ran to William G. Milliken park, which was so pretty – it even has a lighthouse! So fun to go to a new part of Detroit. I also ran on the Dequindre Cut, which is a greenway through the city.

I had floated the idea of going ice skating to the boys, and they all were up for it. We got our rental skates and headed out onto the ice. Kris got a coffee and watched us from the side. It was magical. The Christmas music playing, the beautiful tree, our boys here, gliding around the ice, laughing, people happy, meeting smile after smile…you get the point! I love, loved this.

We got ready and headed to meet our friends at Harry’s Detroit Bar and Grill. We ate there before the game and talked to all of them, and then walked to Ford Field for the MSU game!

The crowd was completely different than it was for the Lions game, which was interesting being in the same spot for a different game.

Once again, a festive atmosphere, and then…a really good game! Michigan State won! None of us expected it, and it was a delightful ending to our sports weekend.

We walked back to our hotel and it was really snowing. It was the kind of floaty, pretty snow that people write songs about. People like Eminem.