Through the Lens: Belle Isle~ The Water

In the summer, the smell of BBQ grills  being put to use is heavy in the air - grilling meat, that faintly chemical smell some people use to start the grills, smoke - its one of the signs of summer on the island. Cars are lined up to park at the beach, and the road around the isle is packed with cars. People are biking, boating, swimming, walking and hiking, picnicking; it is a place of life again.

Belle Isle is huge at 982 acres and has something for everyone - water, views, woods, museums, a gold course, and the Detroit Boat Club . Once a place of great activity for Detroit area residents, around the mid-80s or so it became notorious for criminal activity, and no one really went there for fun anymore. The city ran out of money, and the park really went downhill. Recently, Belle Isle was taken over by the state, and is slowly finding its old glory again. I can remember a few years ago when Billy and I would visit, we would be one of a few cars. Now every space and lot is filled, and there are people having fun in every nook and cranny.

The James Scott Memorial Fountain, built in 1925, white marble. James Scott was really quite scandalous, and the his story and that of this gorgeous piece of architecture is really quite interesting. HistoricDetroit.org has a fascinating article on him, if you want to know more about this "rapscallion".

I have lived within a mile and a half of the Detroit River my whole life, and sights like this still weird me out. This is one of the narrow shipping channels, and as you can see, this freighter is crazy close. Where I live the river is much wider and freighter don't pass by right next to your face, but on the part of Belle Isle, they do. I can't honestly tell you if that is Canadian water, American, or International right there - the apartments and such you are seeing on the other side are in Canada, while I am standing in the United States. 

A photo of the beach I took from the moving car. I have never actually been swimming at this beach, I am kind of freaked out by swimming in the Detroit River! Billy hung out here all the time as a little kid though, playing happily in the sand and splashing in the water.

Next time, I hope to share photos of the museums, aquarium, and conservatory. The architecture is beautiful!


All photos are my property. Please don't use without my permission.

A little Frost, a few stars, and a Saturday afternoon

I haven't been to the planetarium since I was a kid. Our high school had one but we didn't really have a teacher to operate it, so I think we only used it once. But that one time was pretty awesome. 

There is something about a night sky - that inky blackness that envelopes you, the depth of the quiet surrounding you, that makes you feel both alive and how very small you are within the universe. A planetarium is great at replicating this - the darkness, the hush. 

This past Saturday my husband, brother, sister-in-law, and I all took advantage of a free program being offered at the local college all about the winter constellations in the northern hemisphere.

We somehow lucked out and were the only people who attended, which was very cool. It was just the four of us and the volunteer running the program. I always love this. Maybe I am a loner or isolationist, but I like it. I felt like it was our own private show - I guess because it kind of was!

Set against Robert Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" the program opened with a poetry I wasn't expecting. The lines of the poem were still lingering in the air, when the stars began to brighten in the darkness, and I was transported to every summer evening up north, where the stars are more visible. The best part about this was, we were learning about winter constellations. I don't usually view the winter stars, I can't bear the cold to go out and find them.   This was a warm way for us to learn about the winter sky!

We saw Orion, with his belt and his shield. 

We saw his dog, Canis Major and also Canis Minor.

We saw Taurus the Bull, the Gemini Twins, the big bear Ursa Major, and a few major, bright stars and planets too.

We also learned about light pollution. The volunteer had me turn on my phone during the program, just me. and aim it up like I was using it. The difference was immediate, just from my one phone. It was sad how the light from my cell could eradicate stars, just like that.

Actually, right now in the southern sky, if you look on a clear morning when it is still dark, there are five planets in a single, straight line. The will be this way until Feb. 20th.

I really enjoyed our hour at the planetarium. It was only an hour, free, and very interesting! They have a spring constellation program as well, that I am looking forward to. That one is entitled "Nothing Gold Can Stay."

We followed the stars up with hot pizza, beer and adult conversation before heading back and collecting our babies. I can't wait to take my little guy to the planetarium one day!

Eastern Market Mornings

Summer ~ a magical time of the year in my mind. The world is lush and full of life.  In the summer you will find me traipsing local art fairs, wearing cut off shorts and running around barefoot, swimming, and enjoying as much time as I can outside.  I also like to take advantage of all the fruit that is readily around me.


One of the best parts of summer is the abundant availability of fresh fruits and vegetables. The premier destination in Detroit and the surrounding area, in my opinion, is Eastern Market.

You may not know that Detroit is laid out hub and spoke style (like a wheel), with a main central park, or circus, with main roads shooting off like spokes.  I have heard that this was developed for farmers, that their farms would be along one of the main spokes and they could just follow it straight to the center for the market. I am not sure if this is true or not, but I like the idea of it. 

Detroit's Eastern Market has been in business in its present location since 1891. It is funny to think as I walk about it, perusing the local harvests at my fingertips, that it existed 122 years ago, providing the same service. Nowadays the produce is delivered by truck, when originally it would have been horse drawn carts. But I guess it is all considered horsepower - we are the motor city after all. (excuse the bad pun!)

When my husband and I head down, we always pop in to Astoria Bakery in Greektown for a coffee and a pastry.

My favorite is the Strawberry Danish.

Full up on sugar and caffeine, we wander about the riot of color, smell, and sound. 

And when we get hungry again, there are a plethora of food choices, between the restaurants that ring the market, the food vendors under the sheds such as The People's Pierogi and Good Girls Go To Paris, to the food trucks that pull up on the sidewalk right outside.I personally always opt for the food trucks,  and the two food trucks I like best: the Mac Shack and El Guapo. El Guapo has gourmet meat and vegetarian options with cool movie inspired names, and the Mac Shack changes the face of macaroni and cheese. It's not your average box of Kraft noodles and cheese, that is for sure. ( Although, there is nothing wrong with Kraft Mac)

My suggestion: The Aloha, Mr. Hand with tofu 

Billy's suggestion: The Pork Belly Confit

My suggestion: The Papa Smurf

Billy's suggestion: Cheech's Trip

One thing is for certain, Eastern Market is good for the soul, and for the stomach. 

Lafayette vs. American Coney Island: A Detroit Debate

A coney is a hot dog covered in chili with mustard and onions. There is no ketchup. Don't even ask for it.

The Detroit Coney Dog is an institution around here. Every other corner has a coney island, and everyone has a favorite. But that is nothing compared to the debate between American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island. These two battling restaurants sit side by side, and are owned by the same family; however a rift caused their restaurant to split, from one to two.

Since then, Detroiters and visitors alike either come down on one side or another: The American or The Lafayette.

On Super Bowl Sunday, after Billy and I walked around Belle Isle, we decided that it was OUR time to make a choice. This decision was going to be hard for me as a vegetarian, so I deferred completely to Billy's taste buds.

We went to Lafayette first. Walking in, you are greeted with stainless steel counters that run half the length of the narrow restaurant,  with a few tables at the other end. It had an old school diner feel, and was virtually empty due to the Super Bowl.

We took a seat at the counter, and Billy ordered one coney dog minus the onions, and then made a fatal mistake: he asked if they could make me a grilled cheese. The man behind the counter seemed a veritable giant as he stared down hard at me. "No," he barked out, and put the small menu in front of me to make sure I knew that a grilled cheese was blasphemy in his restaurant. Billy and I looked at each other. I told him to go ahead and eat, it was fine. I would just have a Diet Coke. The man offered me french fries with just cheese, and I accepted.

I had no idea that we were dealing with Detroit's equivalent to the Soup Nazi.

Our food arrived within seconds, steaming hot, on small white plates that have had to be around since the 1950s. I was reminded of when my mom and I used to go to Sanders, another Detroit staple but one that is no longer around. My fries were crunchy, with a glob of cheese right in the center of the pile. As I reached for my fork and dug in, Billy tried a bite of his coney.

And proclaimed it delicious. He said the hot dog had a crunchy casing, which was perfect for a snap under the mounds of chili. The chili had a good tang, but he wished the bun would have been toasted. Billy also wished he would have not had said no onions. As for my fries, they had a good crunch as well, but they weren't anything exciting.

We ambled next door to American Coney Island, and walked into a whole different atmosphere. It is obvious American caters more to a family friendly experience. It is all bright colors, a bigger place, and they have more options on their menu, including Greek salad. We were told to grab a table by a young man in a paper hat, and our waitress came to the table to take our order. She was also young, a teenager or early twenties. Actually, looking around, the whole staff was young, while at Lafayette the staff was older. There were a couple of older gentleman at a counter that looked like it was maybe for staff only; everyone there was playing on their phones.

Look ketchup!

Billy again ordered coney dogs, this time two, with onions. He again asked about a grilled cheese for me. The girl said that they do have a version of a grilled cheese they could make for me, and I happily ordered it. I also ordered cheese fries again, just as a comparison, since I couldn't compare anything else.

The food again came quickly, thanks to the restaurant being empty except for us.

These coney dogs were mammoth, spilling over the sides of the small plates that were identical to Lafayette's. The fries were exactly the same as well, made with shredded cheese. The only difference between these fries and the fries next door were that these fries had way more cheese. This wasn't necessarily good, as it made the fries soggy. The grilled cheese was shredded cheese melted on a folded pita, which was grilled. It wasn't bad! It was way more than I could eat, considering I had just eaten fries, but I made sure I tried them both. 

Billy took his first bite. He ate them both, but he said that the coney dog at Lafayette was better than these powerhouses. He missed the crunch of the coney he had at Lafayette, and he said that the chili was better there as well. 

Our final decisions:

Billy: Bite for bite, coney against coney, the Lafayette Coney is the winner! It had a better texture and taste. 

Erin: My opinion is based on the fries - and it is a tie. 

The Breakdown:

Lafayette: The better coney. The overall experience left a little to be desired in my opinion, but you can't hold tradition against them. They do what they know, and they are good at it. I understood their reluctance to make something off menu, but I felt a little judged.

American: I appreciated their willingness to make a grilled cheese for me, and their more expansive menu. Billy did not like their coneys as much, so based solely on that, the Lafayette is the winner. The place is more family friendly. 

Overall Verdict:

If the coney is what matters most, the Lafayette is your restaurant. If you are looking for more of a restaurant, then choose the American.  

With The iPhone, In The Conservatory..

The Belle Isle Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory
Please respect that this photo is mine and don't use without permission.

 On Sunday, Billy and I took the short drive from our house to Belle Isle. Belle Isle is an island (lol) located in Detroit. It was created by the same person who created Central Park, Fredrick Law Olmstead. Interestingly, Belle Isle is bigger in size than Central Park. Back in the day, it had quite a reputation for crime, and the legends trickled down that to go to Belle Isle was to take your life into your own hands. Since those long ago days of the 1980s, Belle Isle is on the rise and changing its image.

We decided to take advantage of this urban park on Super Bowl Sunday. You can tell we are big football fans. The park was virtually deserted, which may have had something to do with the fact that the roads were pure ice on Sunday. I was only nervous when crossing the bridge to get onto the island; I had visions of plummeting over the side to land in the freezing cold Detroit River, and plunge to our deaths in the deep waters. Thankfully, Billy is a careful driver and we survived. We took a slow drive around, taking in the white magical landscape, and spotting all the birds. I saw a Great Blue Heron standing the water surrounded by ducks, looking for its lunch, and a Cooper's Hawk startle from the branches of a tall tree. There were a few photographers on hand, their long lenses pointed at these birds. 

Belle Isle has a couple of different attractions on the island, including a nature zoo, an aquarium, and Great Lakes museum.We decided that we would save most of them for future visits, and only check out the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory, pictured above. (and below!)

The walk up was white and haunting and silent except for our boots crunching over the snow and ice. I felt like we were entering the lab of Dr. Frankenstein, or some other horror story  mad scientist. Billy remembered going there as a kid, once we got closer. It was my first time though, and I was excited. 

Upon entering we were greeted at the door, and then hit with a delicious wave of heat, and the scent of wet rich soil. I took deep breaths, it smelled so good, the scent of spring and green things growing. The warmth felt so good, and being surrounded by so much growing plant life left me feeling happy and dreaming of warmer weather and my garden. 

An orange tree!

Children's Temperance Fountain - if you look closely, you can see a little green plastic dinosaur.

A statue of Dionysus? 

The big show room

Orchids! Not something we usually see in the winter here.

This wall made me think of hobbits.

This room was closed off, which was a bummer. This was as far as we could go. It did make me want to have a room just like it in my future mansion! A room where I could go and read amongst the tropical flowers.  

A cute little rabbit hidden behind this poinsettia. 

Afterwards we continued our drive around the island, through a wooded area. The state has recently taken Belle Isle over, so I am sure there will be some more positive changes on the way, and the island's reputation will become a thing of the past. 

We had a great day at the conservatory! We are definitely going back in the summer as well; there is a lily pond there that was closed for the winter. The best part is that the admission is free! It gave me spring fever in a big way, but reminded me that winter can't last forever. If you are in the area and need a break from the cold and snow, pop in! If you go on a Saturday you can visit the aquarium right next door as well. 

**since my visit, a very small fee to access the island has been implemented. It is for the good the island, and is nominal. 

New Adventures in New Old Detroit

Saturday night, the wind was roaring through the streets of Detroit, tinged with icy cold. Snow was thick on the ground, and still falling. It should have been the perfect night to order in and watch movies. Instead, we chose to go out! We had an evening planned with my brother and his wife; we were going out to dinner, then to a new distillery in Detroit. Yep, distillery! The Two James Spirits Distillery is hailing itself as the first distillery in Detroit since Prohibition!

{Shamefaced Detroit bootleggers - PBS.org}

 Detroit was pretty active in the rum running business back then, in case you didn't know. There are tunnels under houses all along the river, even in the city I live in, that go back to the Volstead Act. Everyone has heard the legends of running alcohol across the Detroit river from Canada, winter or summer, by boat, or by car travelling across the ice! No thank you on that one! There was organized crime as well, a gang called The Purple Gang. 

Recently, the craft beer and cocktail culture in Detroit has been growing, with different breweries popping up here and there in the city. But Two James is the first of its kind - and is appropriately located in Corktown, the old Irish area of Detroit. And we weren't going to let a little snow and ice stop us from going!

Our first stop however was dinner, since you can't drink on an empty stomach! My brother has been wanting to try Supino Pizza, located in the Eastern Market area of Detroit, which services all the food warehouses and the big farmers market. My sister-in-law, who desperately hates the cold and whom I call "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown" since seeing the book with that title, said " There is not much worth going out for in this horrible cold, but pizza is one of those things."  

Supino is a little place, with a few scarred up wooden tables and chairs, most of them looking like like they came out of an old school somewhere, but this is all part of the charm. The entryway is loosely closed off from the door by a hanging curtain that doesn't like to stay closed, allowing in the horrendously cold air, and there are groups of people scattered about, waiting for their pizza or a table or both. We lucked out, and walked right up to the register to order. The cold had made us ravenously hungry, so we ended up ordering two large pizzas for four people. We took a seat at one of the taller tables, this one more like a butcher block table than an elementary desk table, and waited. The cashier told us it would be about 30 minutes, so we sat and chatted, all the while our stomachs grumbled from seeing the warm and gooey pizzas fly past us on the way to their destinations. The scent of cooking pizza, basil, oregano wafted from the back kitchen on little puffs of heat, warming us up just a little as well.  

In no time at all it seemed our pizzas arrived. My brother and his wife ordered the Supino pizza, which is chunks of roasted garlic, black olives, chili oil, ricotta, and mozzarella. Billy and I ordered the Verdue e Funghi, which has parsley, basil, mushrooms, mozzarella, smoked gouda, and parmigiano.

Our pizza. I didn't get a shot of the other pizza. 

It was amazing. The crust was perfect, thin and crispy, the cheese was perfect, and the slices wide. We all folded them in half to eat them, and I have to say we ate almost all of it.  After trading pieces between all of us, I hate to say, but we essentially demolished them both. Only one piece of the Supino was left, two of the mushroom. That was it.  In my opinion, the Supino pizza was just a bit better than our mushroom one, but I think I need that sharp tangy salty olive taste on my pizza. This place has been added to my favorite places, and I will be going again. Maybe sooner than later.

From Supino, we headed directly to Two James. We lucked out with a close parking spot, and entered the old warehouse/distillery. We arrived pretty early, and there were not many people there yet. There is a big circle bar in the very center of the room, with just a few tables, maybe three off against one wall, so seating is limited. It was decorated in a minimal fashion, in shades of brown and huge art pieces on the wall. The best feature are the barrels that line practically a whole wall; through them (and glass) you can see into the actual distillery on the other side. It has that new feel, that unbroken in feel, still, only having been opened a few months. 

Moscow Mule 

We took a seat at the bar and ordered. Chrissy and I ordered their Moscow Mules, made from their own 28 Island Vodka. The weather outside was making me think of Moscow in winter, and the drink felt appropriate. It was pretty good, and had that breathtaking quality I love in them from the ginger. Devin ordered a Corktown Flip, while Billy ordered the Sazerac. The don't have a cocktail menu online yet, and I don't remember what was in Devin's, so I apologize.

Sazerac

By the next round, the place was really filling up. A woman came in with a bakery box, and took a seat at the bar. Our bartender went over to talk to her, and came back with slices of fresh baked brownie. The woman had loved their Grass Widow Bourbon so much, that she was inspired to incorporate it into her brownies. They were delicious! Two James should consider adding them to the menu.  The bartender also heard me say that I didn't like gin drinks, and presented me with a shot glass full of their own Old Cockney Gin. And I have to say, it wasn't bad! I hate gin usually, its like swallowing a Christmas tree, but their version was much smoother and distilled from heavy juniper. It could almost make me a gin drinker!

Springtime for Hoffa

This time, I went crazy and ordered the Springtime for Hoffa. It was made with their Grass Widow Bourbon, their limited reserve Apple Brandy, and currant jam, notably. It was amazing and maybe one of the best drinks I have had ever. The Apple Brandy was from a small batch they had distilled from local apples, and was a tester type batch. I hope they make more of it next year, because it was good! At this point, the bar was packed full. The auto show is going on in Detroit, so we have a lot of people in town for the show. I ended up talking to a man from South Africa who works for Honda; he asked advice on what drink to get. I emphatically recommended the Springtime for Hoffa. He took my suggestion, and he and everyone in his group loved it too. 

The distillery offers their own brand of vodka, bourbon, gin and rye whiskey currently. They also make their own vinegars and shrubs, such as beet and carrot, apple pie, and fig. You can visit on a weekend and drink in their tasting room, or you can opt to sign up for a tour. We will for sure be signing up for a tour in the future. Two James was a great place to spend a few hours on a cold night! They have great drinks, some pricey while others are less so, but not much seating, and it is hard to get service at times in the night due to how busy it gets. Overall it was a great experience, and a win for Detroit!