20-some hours in Detroit ... and a little news!

As promised, here's a rundown (in the style of the New York Times' "36 Hours in 'fill-in-the-city-of-your-choice") of how Matt and I spent 20-some hours in downtown Detroit, sans Emery.

Thursday
12:12pm - Lunch at Slow's BBQ. It's become a real Detroit fixture, the restaurant that always appears in newspaper/magazine articles heralding the comeback of Motor City. I'm no BBQ conessiuer, but I think they're doing something right at Slow's. Usually there's a 2 hour wait. Fortunately the Thursday lunch crowd isn't so crazy, and we were able to get a table outside without any wait.

1:42pm - After leaving Slow's, we noticed a new coffee bar right next door, and by new, I mean really new - like not opening until two days after our visit.  Sad. But I had this memory of there being good coffee at Good Girls Go to Paris Crepes, so we hopped on over there after lunch at Slow's ... sadly, my memory deceived me. The coffee was just OK, and though this crepe looks delicious, it actually was not so great. My word of advice for anyone wanting to try one of their dessert crepes is don't get one with their watery chocolate sauce - make sure it's got something more substantial, like melted chocolate chips or Nutella.

2:02pm - After subpar crepes and coffee, we headed over to Belle Isle to check out its arboreteum. I know about as much about arboreteums as I do about BBQ, so I can't really make a fair assessment of this one. It was a nice diversion, though, and I really liked the lily pad pond. As well as the fact that it was then that I realized that if this was a "normal" date for us, it would probably be ending right about now - but we actually had 18 or so hours left!

Here's a picture of me in front of the lily pond.  Notice anything?

How about in this pic?

I have a belly!  And it's not from BBQ and crepes - it's a baby! Due January 17. Does this getaway count as our babymoon? I hope not!!

3:00pm - Checked in at the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit, a historic hotel recently renovated by Westin. At this point our adventures in Detroit came to a finish for the day. We would have been crazy to waste time outside when we could be taking advantage of rare peace and quiet, a toy-free bedroom and the chance to read and nap uninterrupted for a long as we chose!  We also had dinner at the the Spa 1924 Grille, and of course the most enticing items on the menu were off-limits for me - a Caesar salad with raw egg dressing, loads of shellfish offerings, wines, etc. But my wild mushroom ravioli turned out to be pretty amazing:

Friday

6:46am - You call this sleeping in?!  Ugh. But we were awake, since we're normally up even earlier than this, so we accepted it for what it was and took a run along the Detroit Riverwalk, which is in great condition and not crowded at all, which I guess speaks to the downtown population right now, but hopefully things are making a turn for the better, what with the Whole Foods opening downtown! That's major good news.

10:00am - Breakfast at the Russell Street Deli, a favorite spot of ours. At this point we're both feeling so rested and rejuvenated that thoughts of Emery begin creeping back into our head (who am I kidding?  I was thinking about her all the time!!)

We spent the rest of the day outside the city of Detroit, so my travel-log ends here. Though here's a shot of Emery on the boat with Grammie and Grandpa, on her way to see us upon our return. I can't get enough of her in her sunhat and lifejacket!!

So happy to be back in Daddy's arms!

Thank you Grammie and Grandpa Doescher for treating us to such a fabulous getaway, and for taking such great care of Emery!  Want to do it again sometime? (soon?? :) )