The week started with a flight into LA after a relaxing week in Hawai’i, a long wait at the bus station and a bus ride to Venice Beach. I was staying at the SameSun hostel, a very popular one right on the beach and it felt like party central. The stop over in LA was just for 24 hours, so although I really dislike Venice Beach it’s a close option for LAX layovers and there’s so much going on it ensures you’ll have plenty to do for the day.
The first proper day of the week unfortunately commenced at 1.30am, taking my delayed flight from LAX into Detroit for the start of my trip around North America. Overnight flights are horrid and it really took it out of me for the whole day. The highlight of the day was definitely Slows Bar BQ, which is a local favorite and quite well known nation wide. It was good enough (and I was hungry enough) that I completely forgot to take photo of the mountain of food set in front of me. Simply, it was delicious. The rest of the day involved a stroll down the length of Michigan Avenue and watching the baseball game at Nemo’s Bar and Grill, another local favorite.
Day two in Detroit was my first opportunity to check out the city properly, beginning with an Uber ride Downtown. I had very mixed reactions to the choice to go to Detroit – mostly those who hadn’t been there were curious as to why, and worried about it being dangerous. Those who had been to Detroit were in favour of the choice, all speaking very highly of the city and it’s people. The latter group were right. It’s actually a stunning place, with some of the oldest neighbourhoods in the USA and countless grand 19th Century buildings. Many of them need work, but somehow it adds to their beauty. What captured me most about Detroit was the people. There are many homeless here, many people who are living right on the poverty line, and yes there has been some crime and more than a decade of hard times. Between 2000 and 2010 25% of Detroiters left the city in search of better luck. Those who stayed seem to fall into two groups – they either couldn’t leave due to family, jobs or lack of opportunity elsewhere, or they couldn’t leave because Detroit is their home. They fiercely love and defend this city, and believe in its future. It’s something that gives the city a soul, a flavour, and their enthusiasm for Detroit is infectious. I spent much of the day just chatting to people about their city and enjoying their stories.
This is Willie Foster, Vietnam Veteran, homeless, a highly respected leader in his community and all round incredible person.
Day three was a half-day in Detroit, so once again using Uber I visited ‘American Jewelery and Loan’, a pawn shop best known from the overly-dramatised TV show ‘Hardcore Pawn’. The main reason to visit was the owner, Les Gold, who has lived in Detroit all his life and is a vocal advocate of his city. He was humbled by the idea that his passion for this place could drive people from Australia to visit. It was worth the trip up to the 8-mile just to say hi. Nearby there are also the best donuts in Detroit (I’d be willing to say top 10 in the US), Dutch Girl Donut, which has been running for 60 years. There was also time for a quick trip to the Eastern Market to grab lunch from Russell Street Deli and a stop in at the Motown Museum – really you couldn’t visit Detroit without visiting the museum. Last stop was the Megabus and five hour ride to Chicago. Not a bad ride! Megabus receives very mixed reviews, but I had a pretty good experience.
The first day in Chicago was relatively cold and windy. I was staying in Wicker Park, a pretty cool area and short ride downtown on the L. I travelled into Millenium Park, rented a bike, and rode along the Lakefront Trail to the Planetarium and Navy Pier. The wind was exhausting so it was a short trip, but a great way to take in the city sights. Chicago shares a similar style of architecture to Detroit, but there has always been money and it shows. Everything is in much better repair and the city takes a lot of pride in its many green spaces. It’s also twice the size of Detroit, so harder to really understand the city in a short visit, so throughout my stay I felt like much more of a tourist.
The second day in Chicago was spent at the Museum of Science and Industry, which currently has a Robots exhibit where you can interact with robots of many designs and functions, and learn about how they are likely to affect our future. It was a great exhibit. I’m sad to say that the rest of the museum was a bit sad – a lot of it seemed dumbed down and/or designed for children and many of the moving parts were out of service. Perhaps my enthusiasm for museums means that I have already seen a lot of what they had on display, so this might be a cynical take on it. This day also happened to be a Saturday, so I headed out on a pub crawl run by my hostel, which took me to a couple of really cool bars in the Wicker Park area and was a great social activity. I was staying at the IHSP Hostel and would highly recommend it to anyone, not just for the pub crawl but the vibe in general was a lot of fun.
Turns out the future is adorable…
The second last day in Chicago I must admit was a recovery day. I was also scorchingly hot, so it was not the best day to head outside. I did manage a walk to Humboldt Park and back, but, well, my fellow travellers at the hostel know how to party and that’s all I’ll say!
The final day in Chicago sent me back down to the Adler Planetarium, this time to actually go inside and see some of the shows. I love Planetariums. Chicago’s is not the biggest, but they have some cool stuff and their shows are a visual treat. After that I jumped on a bus headed towards the University of Chicago to see the Robie House, the most revered of all of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s early 20th century prairie houses. If you’re not familiar with Lloyd Wright’s creations I recommend looking him up. He was half a century ahead of the curve in terms of design and function in architecture, although that wasn’t really recognised at the time (most people thought he was mad, which he was a bit), but in Frederick Robie he found an ally. Two crazy peas in a pod. Robie commissioned the house and it was built in 1910. It’s hard to describe just how revolutionary Lloyd Wright’s designs were, but in situ with other buildings from the same decade clustered around it the Robie House is a magnificent sight. I hope to live in something as beautiful one day.
The view from my hostel!
The next few days see me headed to Austin, Texas, before New Orleans then Memphis. I’m heading South, y’all, BBQ here I come!!
women of the world 