6/13/22. Detroit Day 2

Busy day in Detroit, where we lucked out with weather fairly mild (80 degrees), but can still feel the humidity.

We set out after having breakfast in the Apparatus Room of the hotel (where they used to keep all the fire truck gear) – simple “overnight oatmeal with almonds and blueberries. Then after a lot of discussion about what to do today, we headed out to see an urban farm that was established a few years ago in the North End of town which is predominantly African American and where there had been a lot of abandonment, vacant lots, and diminished population. The urban farm stretched about two city blocks and was apparently spurred by some students from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor a few years ago. It seems to be thriving, complete with irrigation, storage sheds, and some places to sit and eat the produce or relax from working in the farm.

As we roamed the neighborhood we stopped to admire some of the many huge murals on sides of buildings and houses. At one, we met the owner—a 55-ish year old African American who was mowing his lawn. We asked about the origins of the mural, who paid, who selected the artists, what responsibility he has regarding upkeep and what responsibility the city has (they paid for the murals). He was a bit surprised to hear that two of us were from California. 

Then we headed to see the “Heidelberg Project” (named thus because it is on Heidelberg Street). It’s an outdoor art project that stretches about six or so blocks and includes the remaining houses in the area, the sidewalks, and the linear green space that spans the distance on the other side of the houses. It’s in the McDougall-Hunt neighborhood on Detroit’s east side (a little north of the city’s historically African American neighborhood. It began in 1986 when Tyree Guyton (along with his wife) began to address (in their own way) the blight of their street and adjoining streets. It’s part political statement about neighborhood deterioration and abandonment. According to the story, Tyree returned from the Army and was shocked to see the condition of his childhood neighborhood which had been declining since the 1967 riots. He said it looked like “a bomb went off.”

He began by painting several houses on the street with bright colored dots and then started attaching found or salvaged objects. It became his world and his work… and it grew like Topsy, from one street to the next. And across into the park open space. The “art” includes piles of shopping carts; a wall of shoes; a little mountain of stuffed animals; and more. Strangely it changed from a neighborhood where people were leaving and afraid to be out in the dark to a place where tourists were coming to see the “art.” Guyton worked on the Project with kids in the area. He and his wife gave lectures and art workshops locally and across the country. He sees it as an indoor and outdoor museum. We met Tyree (who seems to always be on the street) and got a bit of his local wisdom.

Then we headed to Corktown, the oldest neighborhood in the city—where we had a great pizza and chopped salad (at prices that were probably the norm in the Bay Area about 25 years ago). We strolled a bit and then went to see the Guardian Building – built in 1928 and a bold example of Art Deco architecture. At that time, Detroit was a worldwide industrial center and a wealthy commercial hub. The Union Trust commissioned Hinchman and Grylls to design their headquarters; Wirt Rowland was the architect in charge. The building was completed just as the stock market crashed, but it was saved by some investors.  I will send a bunch of photos and some more information on this in a separate note.

Then we walked about a mile to what is known as the “Z” – an alleyway that is totally covered with murals… and finally back to the hotel to get ready to head out for dinner.  More on that in next travel note.

Eventually, we headed to dinner at TownHouse, a very downtown restaurant only a few blocks from the hotel, We walked, despite the impending rain forecast. What we quickly learned was that Detroit is a small town. The host greeted us and said immediately “Don’t you remember me?” And we all laughed since he was the guy who sat us at our table the night before when we ate at a very different restaurant (The Selden Standard). 

We ate in the Atrium portion of the restaurant and decided on a series of the shareable small plates including:

• • Bigeye Tuna with vinegars and crispy rice
• • Squash with lemon tahini, harissa, golden raisins, and some seeds
• • Crab with cucumbers dill kosho, lime and tobiko
• • Toro Hamachi with pomegranate, serrano pepper
• • Brassicas (sauteed greens, pickled cauliflower, etc.) with hot honey, goat gouda, and walnuts

And for dessert we shared a raspberry brulee and a cherry mousse that was stuffed into an enormous chocolate cherry that also had almond cake in the center.. 

We walked home and beat the rain. Happy campers!

More tomorrow.

Fern the best –

Fern