Chicken Sandwiches and Detroit

Detroit was an exceptional success. Thank you so much Kate for having us! So I met Miller (Kate's cat -- I wish I could say he was named after the beer but is actually named after a hockey player). He was really scared of me so it was a perfect relationship. Actually ended up finding him very cute which is shocking since I'm not a cat person.

Kate drove us around everywhere so I got a good feel for Ann Arbor. We ate at a bar in Ann Arbor on Friday where I got one of the best Chicken Breast sandwiches ever (chicken sandwich number 1). We went out Friday evening around the college. Things were pretty hyped up as the next day was HashBash (yes. evidently some crazy protest to legalize marijuana where people just smoke it up in a public place) and people were also super excited for Michigan's success in March Madness. The atmosphere was fun. We went to a few bars.

As most of you know, I got my phone stolen in the bathroom. Ridiculous. I still can't believe anyone in that bar really needed to steal my phone. Using the find my iphone app we were able to locate it on Saturday. We actually went to the person's apartment and tried knocking on the door. I truly wish I had filed a police report just to screw with that terrible person's life!

I'm not so upset about losing a phone because they're replaceable, but I hated losing all my pictures on my phone.

I kept checking the find my iphone app and was able to see that the person had charged the phone and was on the move. I locked it and texted numerous times that I would give a reward for the phone. Some people are just ridiculously dumb I guess. So that's the end of my iphone. Currently using AJ's old droid (thanks AJ!) until June when my upgrade is available.

After Friday's ridiculousness, we had lunch at a pretty good brewery. I had an IPA marinated chicken breast sandwich with goat cheese (chicken sandwich number 2)! It was delicious. We also got a very large super cheap flight! We then headed to Detroit.

our flight of brews

Detroit is a much smaller city than I thought. Their "people mover" is about 12 stops that just goes in a circle around the city.

people mover

We took a little trip around Detroit on the people mover where I got a few pictures. We also were able to take a look at the area and decide whether we wanted to stop or not. 

view from people mover

neat mosaic motor city-esque art at a people mover stop

Comerica Park and Ford Field in the background

Comerica Park

We ended up going out in Greektown which had greek music playing and lots of random bars and greek places. 

We went into this bbq place where the staff was super friendly

my random stout. totally don't remember the name of this beer

also the place where we discovered this gem. Didn't actually try it but really amazing name.

We then walked back to our hotel which was incredible -- was actually the GMC building. 

our hotel

inside our hotel -- view of CANADA (across the river)

random thing in our hotel I really wanted picture of

View from our hotel. Gives you an idea of how small Detroit is -- that's basically the entire city!

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by a super sketchy but very authentic looking bar called The Detroiter!

Bars on the door -- yes! 

Lots of signage in the bar. Lots that said Malaka's Bar. I didn't understand. But also this is my crazy whiskey sour that came with cherry and cherry juice?? I've ordered many whiskey sours and have never gotten a cherry in it. Looks like a shirley temple.

We then headed back to the room, got ready and headed out to the MGM Grand. There was a neat restaurant called Taps in the hotel but was completely booked for the whole night. We finally found a food court area where i got a chicken sandwich (chicken sandwich number 3). 

After some gambling, we hit a club where there was the craziest mix of hip hop music mixed with alternative rock/pop lyrics. OOC. We also ran into 7 (YES) bachelorette parties. The bachelorettes all looked so happy and festive! After the club, Kate headed home and Diana and I gambled until 5am.

At 9am we were up for day two of Detroit. Kate had headed home because she wasn't feeling well. Diana and I headed to Nemo's (suggestion from the nice guy at the airport bar) which is evidently the best pre-baseball game bar in Detroit. They have a shuttle which takes you to and from the game (only about 5-10 minute ride). Best part -- you can take your drink on the bus, as long as you finish it before you get off the bus! Nemo's was awesome. We asked for a menu and were told (by the owner himself -- love when owners are at their bars) "we have burger and fries or chicken sandwich and fries." The feel of Nemo's was clearly amazing. So I got, yes, you guessed it, a chicken sandwich (chicken sandwhich number 4).

Comerica Park was really nice on the outside and inside. The fans. I would rate them a 3 out of 10 and that's being generous. No one was cheering, the music was so low so no one was singing anything. I feel like I was watching baseball with a bunch of foreigners who had never heard of or seen the game before. The beers were cheap as were the cracker jacks though!

entrance of Comerica Park

After the game we headed across the street to another brewery I had heard about from the man at the airport bar! We had a beer and then headed back to the hotel to meet Kate to head back to Ann Arbor. On the way home we stopped at a White Castle (my first White Castle experience) where I was unbelievable enthused by the "chicken rings" -- I thought White Castle only had burgers! The chicken rings broke my chicken sandwich streak. It was only when I was sitting in the airport on my way back to DC that I realized I seriously ate only chicken sandwiches for three days!

Diana owes me some pictures since I basically hijacked her phone for pics throughout the trip. More to come at some point.

Overall the trip was really fun. I feel that was absolutely did Detroit justice in just a few days. It's a tiny city but nice. Ann Arbor is crawling with lots of bars and restaurants to try though -- definitely will be going back to visit again!