I'd like a side of the Livernois and Onions, please.
(For the story behind this opener, keep reading . . .)
Karla and I took our third trip so far, and our final one in our first group of Detroit drives.
We have covered the five major historic Detroit Trunklines:
M-1: Woodward Avenue
M-3: Gratiot Avenue
M-5: Grand River Avenue
And on Wednesday, August 24th, we completed the set with trips across the Davison Freeway (M-8) and the Lodge Freeway/Northwestern Highway (M-10).
But before I begin, please indulge my proud dad moment, as I just found out my daughter will be active, this year, in the Brightmoor Maker Space project in Detroit. And now, back to the blog . . .
To get to the Davison Freeway, we left the Green Acres neighborhood, and traversed down Livernois, through the fashion district, all the way to Davison Street. We started out by going west, crossing the I-96 interchange, so that we could come back and find the starting point of M-8. According to all the maps, the start of it should have been along about there.
But we saw no M-8 signs until we passed the Lodge and entered the freeway portion of the route. The Davison continues beyond the I-75 intersection and terminates just west of Conant Street. We turned around, parked on Gallagher Street and got out so we could take some pictures of the M-8 marker at the start of the freeway.
Davison is so short, that we went back and forth a few times, just to make sure we didn't miss the first signage going eastbound.
We wanted to make sure to point out the obvious volume of trash at the origination point of the Davison. It's probably not the case, that people throw trash out as they come near this intersection. There seems to be a sort of wind-tunnel right there that blows everything and collects it all right there at the sign, and down the couple of streets perpendicular to it. There is so much good that's happening right now in Detroit. It's sad that something as simple as holding onto trash until you can toss it into a receptacle, is not being done and creating such a problem.
This extended time in the Davison/Dexter neighborhood was another major demystification for me.
With Davison checked off, we proceeded to I-75 for a return trip downtown. This time we parked, down near Jefferson, with the goal to really experience Hart Plaza. Karla took me on an extended tour of the great Detroit landmark, and explained how the frequency of outdoor music festivals has tailed off in the past few years, and it needs to be revived.
It was mid-day in the middle of the workweek, yet still there was activity and some amazing live music being played from the main bandstand. One of the more moving sights of the day, and of this project so far, was the Underground Railroad monument, which looks across the river to a lone Maple Leaf flag.
From Hart Plaza, you go around Cobo Hall and pick up the Lodge just as you take the tunnel beneath the historic first home of the Red Wings.
The Lodge Freeway is all freeway, and takes us on a quick tour, intersecting many roads we have traveled: I-75, Grand River, I-94, Davison, Livernois, Pembroke, Eight Mile where it leaves Detroit into Southfield, crossing I-696 where it becomes Northwestern Highway, a typical, full access divided highway. It is a very, very busy thoroughfare as it finally comes to an end at Orchard Lake Road.
It was lunch time, and our pattern has been to find an appropriate place to eat, for each of our respective day-trips. At first we thought maybe Fishbones in Southfield (Creole, with their main restaurant in Detroit), but they were closed for remodeling. Instead, we noticed a Southern food place across the street: Sweet Magnolias. We each ordered the side dish plate, and it was delicious!
That concluded our third day-trip. Karla recommended we take a little break before commencing our next journey (Grand Rapids), and I agreed I needed to get caught up on some work. But I am eager to resume!
The benefits of our drives go way beyond just learning about our city and state. It has given us an opportunity to talk about current events, to listen, to share experiences, and to do so as friends. I will say this: In our view of current events, Karla and I have far more in common than we knew (and so does everybody reading this, vis-a-vis their friends on the "other side.") And the things that we have in common are what I would consider the important things.
Karla shared the title of a documentary for me to watch (which I will), and provided an excellent tip on an artist for me to listen to ("noname"). It was our best music drive so far, and our most honest, reflective conversation about current events.
I've written a lot about Karla without introducing her to you. I met Karla twelve years ago, when we were cohorts in the Elementary Education MA Program with Teacher Certification at the University of Michigan School of Education. Presently, she is the Founder/CEO/Owner of Tiers of Joy Diaper Cakes. This is something I was not familiar with, but it's an amazing product and I encourage anybody with a baby shower invitation, to check it out!
And now, an explanation of my opening line:
When we sat down at Sweet Magnolias, Karla told me there was a very good Southern food restaurant on Livernois, that she likes to go to, called Kuzzo's Chicken and Waffles. She said that the menu has a number of items that are named after local landmarks. I said "So you can order the Livernois and Onions?" And thus a clever opening line was born.
So now, a week or so off. Next up: Grand Rapids!
(For the story behind this opener, keep reading . . .)
Karla and I took our third trip so far, and our final one in our first group of Detroit drives.
We have covered the five major historic Detroit Trunklines:
M-1: Woodward Avenue
M-3: Gratiot Avenue
M-5: Grand River Avenue
And on Wednesday, August 24th, we completed the set with trips across the Davison Freeway (M-8) and the Lodge Freeway/Northwestern Highway (M-10).
But before I begin, please indulge my proud dad moment, as I just found out my daughter will be active, this year, in the Brightmoor Maker Space project in Detroit. And now, back to the blog . . .
To get to the Davison Freeway, we left the Green Acres neighborhood, and traversed down Livernois, through the fashion district, all the way to Davison Street. We started out by going west, crossing the I-96 interchange, so that we could come back and find the starting point of M-8. According to all the maps, the start of it should have been along about there.
But we saw no M-8 signs until we passed the Lodge and entered the freeway portion of the route. The Davison continues beyond the I-75 intersection and terminates just west of Conant Street. We turned around, parked on Gallagher Street and got out so we could take some pictures of the M-8 marker at the start of the freeway.
Davison is so short, that we went back and forth a few times, just to make sure we didn't miss the first signage going eastbound.
We wanted to make sure to point out the obvious volume of trash at the origination point of the Davison. It's probably not the case, that people throw trash out as they come near this intersection. There seems to be a sort of wind-tunnel right there that blows everything and collects it all right there at the sign, and down the couple of streets perpendicular to it. There is so much good that's happening right now in Detroit. It's sad that something as simple as holding onto trash until you can toss it into a receptacle, is not being done and creating such a problem.
This extended time in the Davison/Dexter neighborhood was another major demystification for me.
With Davison checked off, we proceeded to I-75 for a return trip downtown. This time we parked, down near Jefferson, with the goal to really experience Hart Plaza. Karla took me on an extended tour of the great Detroit landmark, and explained how the frequency of outdoor music festivals has tailed off in the past few years, and it needs to be revived.It was mid-day in the middle of the workweek, yet still there was activity and some amazing live music being played from the main bandstand. One of the more moving sights of the day, and of this project so far, was the Underground Railroad monument, which looks across the river to a lone Maple Leaf flag.
From Hart Plaza, you go around Cobo Hall and pick up the Lodge just as you take the tunnel beneath the historic first home of the Red Wings.
The Lodge Freeway is all freeway, and takes us on a quick tour, intersecting many roads we have traveled: I-75, Grand River, I-94, Davison, Livernois, Pembroke, Eight Mile where it leaves Detroit into Southfield, crossing I-696 where it becomes Northwestern Highway, a typical, full access divided highway. It is a very, very busy thoroughfare as it finally comes to an end at Orchard Lake Road.
It was lunch time, and our pattern has been to find an appropriate place to eat, for each of our respective day-trips. At first we thought maybe Fishbones in Southfield (Creole, with their main restaurant in Detroit), but they were closed for remodeling. Instead, we noticed a Southern food place across the street: Sweet Magnolias. We each ordered the side dish plate, and it was delicious!That concluded our third day-trip. Karla recommended we take a little break before commencing our next journey (Grand Rapids), and I agreed I needed to get caught up on some work. But I am eager to resume!
The benefits of our drives go way beyond just learning about our city and state. It has given us an opportunity to talk about current events, to listen, to share experiences, and to do so as friends. I will say this: In our view of current events, Karla and I have far more in common than we knew (and so does everybody reading this, vis-a-vis their friends on the "other side.") And the things that we have in common are what I would consider the important things.
Karla shared the title of a documentary for me to watch (which I will), and provided an excellent tip on an artist for me to listen to ("noname"). It was our best music drive so far, and our most honest, reflective conversation about current events.
I've written a lot about Karla without introducing her to you. I met Karla twelve years ago, when we were cohorts in the Elementary Education MA Program with Teacher Certification at the University of Michigan School of Education. Presently, she is the Founder/CEO/Owner of Tiers of Joy Diaper Cakes. This is something I was not familiar with, but it's an amazing product and I encourage anybody with a baby shower invitation, to check it out!
And now, an explanation of my opening line:
When we sat down at Sweet Magnolias, Karla told me there was a very good Southern food restaurant on Livernois, that she likes to go to, called Kuzzo's Chicken and Waffles. She said that the menu has a number of items that are named after local landmarks. I said "So you can order the Livernois and Onions?" And thus a clever opening line was born.
So now, a week or so off. Next up: Grand Rapids!
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