A day or two in Detroit

This past weekend Oct 4-5 a friend and I set out on an adventure to and from Detroit. If you didn't know I'm a die-hard Detroit Lions fan and try to get to as many games as possible wherever they may be playing that week (so far I've only been able to see them in Chicago, Detroit, and Arizona...but that'll grow quickly with time). So here's how the weekend went...

Oct. 4th
9am - wake up and dress in Lions gear (we planned on staying the night and coming back the next day so packing anything was not an option since we were going to the game...meaning one set of clothes for the trip)

10am - board the bus to Detroit with Vitamin water and some chips (Munchies...they're my fave)

3pm - bus driver is lost so we stop and get lunch at a Burger King ( I manage to eat a whopper, spicy chicken sandwich, fries, a slice of pie, and a drink.

4pm - driver is a little more lost and making the wrong stops

5pm - we arrive somewhat near our destination and decide to walk the mean streets of Detroit

6-7pm - my friend and I walk around greek town, past the coney island that's been talked about around here, and wind up at Oslo ( what I thought was a slick looking sushi joint) My first impression was that this would be a diamond in the rough....wrong. The place had a feeling of restaurants here like Avec and Blackbird while having the service of a bad day care. The hostess was much too pushy, waiters forgetful, and 'sushi chef' just rude. I'm pretty accepting when it comes to eating out since I see what happens first hand at my job whether it's front of the house or back of the house when it comes to customer complaints but this experience was rough. Upon sitting down we ask the waiter politely if we could wrap up the meal in about 40 mins (my friend planned to pick us up and we wanted to be on time). The waiter says to us "uhh...yeah sure, I think". Not trusting his answer we order items that do (should) come out quickly. My friend orders a few sushi rolls, we each get seaweed salad, and I order a hot thai noodle dish. Within 5 minutes we get the sushi, one being decent and the other having poor knife skills....crucial to me when it comes to sushi. After enjoying our salads and sushi for a while I start to wonder when my dish would come. We wait maybe 10 more minutes when our waiter brings the check. I think to myself and just assume he's trying to meet our timeline and get the check out of the way.....I wish. After waiting 5-10 additional minutes for him to come back I ask "is my dish coming?" and get the response "ohh...yeah...its back there". A little upset at that point (since its probably been sitting in the window for 20 minutes) I gather myself and relax. Our waiter comes back a few minutes later to inform me "I put two of the same dish in at the same time and another waiter took it..." Now....what's that mean? There's only three tables filled in the restaurant and you can't get this table right?? And on top of that you can't be honest and not LIE about not even entering my entree in? (the entree was not on the bill which had been delivered before this presumed lie) As a person that does not get angry...ever, I relaxed again and just realized how hungry I was and how dissapointed I was with this restaurant. After being given the option to "take it off the bill" WHICH HAD NEVER MADE IT TO THE BILL IN THE FIRST PLACE! I agreed and left. While leaving this great establishment we walk out the front door to find the chef and hostess openly smoking literally a foot from the entrance with aprons and all saying 'have a great night'.....that really topped off my great experience there.
http://www.oslodetroit.com/
In case you check out the site, the dish I 'tried' to order was the Sam Sahain...it looked good on paper but I'll never know how good it could have really been.
edit: and I forgot to add!....the menu's....wow. My friend is the first to open and read his menu when he notes "some pages of the menu don't have prices...that's odd. Determined to find him wrong on this I look through and realize...wow, someone must have made a mistake. Seconds later I get a call from a friend, I tell him I'm at Oslo when he replies "yeah...they have some real pricing/menu problems" no duh! ( after taking menu's class in school I realize how important every detail is....especially prices!)

7pm - Hungrier and more agitated than I've been in quite some time we walk away from the restaurant and pass the worlds smallest Crepe stand ( Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes). Excited by a find like this (almost like a European market) I quickly spark a convo with the employees and order myself a Crepe. The first of 4 which we'd order in the two day span. I started with the recommended 'Fay' which was a freshly made crepe with; bananas, pecans, butter, and brown sugar. Amazing wouldn't be the word because it doesn't say enough about this wonderful creation. I've never been one to fantasize about a crepe but I'll never miss a chance to go here when I'm in Detroit again.

Here's a picture from the first night we went there...sorry, its the only picture of the shop and it was taken with my iPhone at night

7'ish - I look up to see an armored Ford Excursion, look over to my friend and say "hey...that looks important" when he says to me "dude...thats Robin Williams". We spark up a chat and take some pics...cool guy and I'm promised a role in Jumanji 2.


Robin and I

8pm-end of the night - A blur of excessive drinking and poor decisions...that's all.

Oct. 5th
10am - Wake up freshly rested after a great adventure and get ready for a good day.

11am - We return to 'Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes' I quicly decide to go for the Savory crepes and pick the 'Jamie' a crepe with; onion, bacon, swiss, and egg. Once again I'm blown away and more than happy with what I purchased. My friend (being a pastry chef) orders sweet again and goes for the 'Good Girl' which comes with nutella and banana, not bad at all.

11:30am-4pm - Arive at the Lions game and meet John Kitna and Roy Williams...my heroes. Kitna's a great guy to talk to...Roy not so much. I went on to buy a game-worn Paris Lenon jersey that fit like a glove (dont ask how much....its steep) to replace my custom two-tone Roy Williams jersey. The game starts and....well....didn't go so well for me as any Bears fan would know. At half time I got up to get my 'super big boy' a Big Mac like burger from the Big Boy inside Ford Field...delicious and filling. Lions lose 34-7.


Kitna and I


And me taking a picture from our seats

4pm-6pm - We ate a local bar which I didn't even catch the name of because I was completely consumed by the Sox game. Food was good, service great, and the price was fair.

6:30pm - We board the bus back on a long ride to Chicago

10pm'ish - We make a pit stop at a multi-fast food joint where I end the trip with gumbo from Popeye's and Twizzler nibs from the gas station.

All in all I'd give the trip an 8 out of 10 (two points off for the Lions loss)

Below is a link to my beloved new crepe stand.
http://www.modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/goodgirlscrepes13708.aspx


*so you guys don't assume Robin Williams is a midget...I'm 6'7 which makes almost everything in life look small...

How do you get lost driving to Detroit?

Dave148 wrote:How do you get lost driving to Detroit?

I would ASSUME that the OP rode to Detroit on Megabus. How do you get lost as a bus driver? When your company does NOT provide you with directions to the drop-off point, you get lost. On my first trip on Megabus, the driver got lost going to Cincinnati, getting off three exits early and touring the scenic neighborhoods in the West End. On the return, the driver needed directions to Union Station.

On the other hand, $2.50 for a RT trip to Cincinnati and avoiding the garbage that goes on around the Greyhound terminals in BOTH cities, allows you to forget such problems.

jlawrence01 wrote:

Dave148 wrote:How do you get lost driving to Detroit?

I would ASSUME that the OP rode to Detroit on Megabus. How do you get lost as a bus driver? When your company does NOT provide you with directions to the drop-off point, you get lost. On my first trip on Megabus, the driver got lost going to Cincinnati, getting off three exits early and touring the scenic neighborhoods in the West End. On the return, the driver needed directions to Union Station.

On the other hand, $2.50 for a RT trip to Cincinnati and avoiding the garbage that goes on around the Greyhound terminals in BOTH cities, allows you to forget such problems.

What he said.

Jayz wrote:8pm-end of the night - A blur of excessive drinking and poor decisions...that's all.

Sounds a grand time, now I'm a bit wistful for my 20's.

I must be missing something. I've searched this thread 2 or 3 times and I can't find any listing for "Lafayette Coney Island" anywhere.

Sounds like a good time, I need to get back to D-town soon.

Wow. I would have love to have met Robin Williams. He owes me seven bucks for "Death To Smoochy".

Maybe you should watch Death To Smoochy again. That movie is a classic.

Sounds like a fun weekend.

brandon_w wrote:Maybe you should watch Death To Smoochy again. That movie is a classic.

Sounds like a fun weekend.

Amen. Awesome movie.

whiskeybent wrote:I must be missing something. I've searched this thread 2 or 3 times and I can't find any listing for "Lafayette Coney Island" anywhere.

Sounds like a good time, I need to get back to D-town soon.

I mentioned passing coney island in my 6-7pm range but we were on foot...so we couldn't go so far.