GO BLUE!

Now that we had gotten Lazy W settled in at Baltimore’s Anchorage Marina, we could set our sights on getting to Ann Arbor for the September 17^th football game at the University of Michigan!  It is a 516-mile drive from Baltimore to Detroit Metro Airport where we would meet up with our son Brian and grandson Cameron.  Luckily we can drive the interstates at 7 to 8 times faster than we can cruise on Lazy W so we planned on two leisurely driving days instead of two weeks to get there!

With the majority of driving behind us at the end of day one, we stopped in Toledo, Ohio.  Thirty-some years ago we lived in Lambertville, MI just over the state line from Toledo and while we did not live there long enough to get to know Toledo we knew of a few places we wanted to see.  So our first stop was Tony Packo’s Cafe.  Any fans of the 1970’s TV show M*A*S*H might remember that Jamie Farr, himself a native of Toledo, played Corporal Max Klinger, the crazy medical corpsman from Toledo.  In one 1976 episode, Klinger told a television newsman that “. . . Tony Packo’s got the greatest Hungarian hot dogs. Thirty-five cents.” 

Tony Packo’s has been in business at this location at the corner of Front and Consaul Street since 1935.  And while the hot dogs are no longer thirty-five cents, the restaurant still attracts quite a crowd. 

Looks are deceiving – the place had a big lunchtime crowd inside!

Lining the walls inside are hundreds of plastic-encased hot dog buns signed by famous visitors to the eatery.  This practice started in 1972 when Tony Packo’s daughter invited Burt Reynolds to eat here and he put his signature on a bun to commemorate the occasion.  Scores of celebrities followed suit.  While the first fifty ‘bun signers’ signed real hot dog buns, it soon became apparent that these commemorative items would have a limited wall life.  The very realistic but fake buns signed since then are made of foam and hand-painted by a Mr. James Sohnly.  Frank Zappa, Billy Joel, Bill Cosby, John Glenn, Pat Benatar, Hall and Oates, Bob Seger, Jimmy Carter – these are just a few of the people who, like us, enjoyed a Hungarian hot dog at Tony Packo’s.

With more than a few hours left before we needed to be at the airport in Detroit, we made our way to the Toledo Museum of Art to sample another of Toledo’s cultural attractions.  After wandering among the works of Picasso, Monet, Rembrandt and Van Gogh, we decided that we had savored enough culture for the day and headed over the state line to Lambertville to check out the condition of the very first house we bought back in 1978.  We seem to purchase properties for odd reasons starting with the house on Sandra Kay Drive – we did not much care for the house itself but the neighbor behind us had ponies and geese and roosters, oh my!!  So we bought it and six months later Frank was transferred to South Carolina!  At the same time the Jeep plant in Toledo closed!  There were lots of houses for sale but luckily we sold the house three months later.  Alas, the pony, the geese and the rooster have now been replaced by other houses.  We were so disappointed that we did not even take a picture.

Brian and Cameron flew to Detroit from Washington Dulles and their flight landed earlier than scheduled.  We headed into downtown Detroit where Brian had made reservations for all of us at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel on Washington Blvd.  This hotel, built by Detroit’s Book brothers, was the tallest building in Detroit and the tallest hotel in the world (33 stories) when it was completed in 1924.  In its heyday, its nationally recognized nightclubs, restaurants and ballrooms catered to Hollywood stars, politicians and athletes.  On May 2, 1939, New York Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig collapsed on the hotel's grand staircase and decided to sit-out that afternoon's game against the Detroit Tigers, ending his consecutive games played streak.  Along with the city of Detroit, the hotel’s decline began in the 1970’s and it was closed in 1984.  After a $180 million restoration, the hotel reopened in 2008 with the grand hope and expectation that it would lead to a revitalization of this once prosperous section of Detroit.  The hotel is splendid – the area surrounding it is not!

Driving into downtown Detroit along Michigan Avenue is a depressing experience.  Block after block, mile after mile there is nothing but boarded up, graffiti-covered buildings.  The glitzy MGM Grand Casino looms over the roadway as you enter downtown – the only sign of life along this desolate stretch of road.  This was a Friday evening! There were very few cars and just a sprinkling of brave pedestrians on the move amid the darkened buildings. 

After checking into the Westin we went in search of a kid-friendly restaurant.  A block away from Comerica Park and the Detroit Opera House we found Angelina Italian Bistro.  It was 8PM on a Friday evening and the bistro had plenty of empty tables!  The food and service were great.  We were feeling bold after dinner and walked back to the Westin through the eerily quiet streets.

We were up early the next morning for the 40 mile road trip to Ann Arbor.  The four of us, along with 110,000 other fans, converged on The Big House for the noon time kickoff as the Michigan Wolverines hosted the Eastern Michigan University Eagles.

The pre-game scene at The Big House

Half-time

The Eastern Michigan Eagles were first to put points on the scoreboard but their lead was short-lived.  They never scored again and the Wolverines went on to win 31-3.  Not a real nail-biter of a game but the fans remained pumped up throughout!

 Frank, Brian and Cameron after the game

Rather than head right back to desolate Detroit, we grabbed a bite to eat in Ann Arbor and strolled around the campus where throngs of jubilant students still chanted ‘GO BLUE.’

Cameron needed a place to run around and burn up some of that awesome 8-year-old energy.  We returned to Detroit and The Riverwalk, a 3.5 mile riverfront walkway that starts near Joe Louis Arena, past Cobo Hall, Hart Plaza, and the GM Renaissance Center.

Not much happening near the

GM Renaissance Center along the Detroit Riverwalk

Cameron and Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac

in Hart Plaza

Once again we struggled to find a kid-friendly restaurant in a safe-looking section of downtown.  We were all hungry and tired when we finally settled on Hockeytown Café whose decor was highlighted by custom motorcycles with Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Tigers themes.  We were all disappointed when, at 8PM on a Saturday, the kitchen had already closed and the only thing available was frozen pizza.  And it was not very good frozen pizza!  The place was deserted but a waiter assured us that when there is a sporting event in town there is a 3-4 hour wait for a table?!?!

Both Comerica Park, home of the Detroit Tigers, and Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, are within easy walking distance of the Westin.  Rumor had it that, since the Lions had a home game on Sunday, there would be a big tailgate party on Brush Street.

 

The obstacle course was one of Cameron’s favorite activities at the tailgate party and since there was not much of a crowd he got to run it many times!

Cameron gets set to run the obstacle course

at the Lions tailgate party

 And he’s off!

For this inflatable activity each participant is placed in a harness attached to giant rubber bands that are also attached to the wall at the starting line; the object is to run forward and place the Lion’s tail as far down the Velcro strip as possible without being pulled back to the starting line.  Cameron competed against both Grandpa and his Dad.  I think he won every time because the overachieving older guys always wound up sprawled on their butts at the starting line!

We also walked by the Tigers guarding Comerica Park.

Before we knew it, it was time to return Brian and Cameron to the airport for their flight back to Washington Dulles.  A great time was had by all.  And Grandma and Grandpa drove back to Baltimore...