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Rough beginning
Think back to any comedy movie where an individual or a family is traveling. In those movies, everything that can go wrong, does.That’s the way our first morning of travel seemed to go.
Our journey to Detroit started at 6:30 a.m. when we made our friend Cammie take Ben and I to the Budget Rental Car location near the airport — thanks again for the ride! While trying to get the car we had reserved several months in advance, I told the man at the counter that we need the piece of paper that allows us to take the car into Canada (according to the terms and conditions on the Budget website, all we had to do was ask for this paper and then we were allowed to go into Canada). But after my request, the man said the cars are not permitted to go to Canada and that this particular Budget branch does not abide by the same terms and conditions as the corporate company. *Maybe later I’ll link my post or email to Budget and the branch location informing them of the flaws that are keeping them from being a decent provider of services to customers.*
When the effort to subdue the furious rage inside became too much, we tried every rental car agency at the airport, and none of their cars were allowed to go to Canada. Furthermore, none of the vehicles could be rented and dropped off at another location, so we could not rent a car and take it to a bigger city where we could find a car that would let us cross the border.
We finally made a reservation with Enterprise that fit our criteria and got an Uber to take us to the branch. Upon arrival, the ladies at the counter told us that the people that make the reservations don’t really know how many cars are at the location. So, the car we reserved wasn’t there, and they wouldn’t have anything available until 1 p.m. at the earliest.
After many phone calls and research into other rental car options in surrounding cities, our fortune started to change after we were blessed with a miracle surprise car that was returned to the Enterprise branch. We rented the car for a short jaunt to Lincoln, where we rented an SUV that was allowed to go into Canada. After picking up Nate and switching vehicles in Lincoln, we were finally on our way.
The fun part begins
It took a few miles to let go of the frustration brought on by the long morning, but our excitement superseded the anger when we at long last began our long trek to Detroit at 11 a.m.The road was uneventful for the most part, which is a good but boring quality of any road trip. We all got some work done during the trip, made a stop at the world’s largest truck stop in Walcott, Iowa, and grabbed dinner at a Culver’s in Stevensville, Mich.
A little after midnight, we reached Detroit, blaring some Eminem through our SUV’s sound system and rejoiced the nearing of the end of our trip. Our hotel was across the river from Detroit, in Canadian territory. So, we had our first crossing-the-border experience close to 1 a.m. We paid our $5 dollar fee for crossing the border and eventually found our hotel, despite the lack of help from our phones, which failed us due to international data plans — something we did not even think about looking into.
Metric system adjustments
There was a bar across the street from our hotel that we check out after we checked in to the hotel. The bar was called Panache Restaurant and Lunge, and it was a small, dimly-lit establishment. We had a couple beers, including a Molson Canadian, which seems to be as popular as a Bud Light is in the states.The bartenders were friendly and the locals were bumping the music loudly; though, there weren’t many of them in the bar. After a couple beers, we walked the path along the Detroit River and took in the Detroit skyline across the water. It was a nice, calm ending to a long day of travel.
Game day
Being in the motor city, we knew we had to check out something Ford related, so we set out for the Ford Piquette Avenue Plant, which was the birthplace of the revolutionary Model T car.The plant is now home to a museum dedicated to the early editions of Ford vehicles. It costs 12 dollars to get in, but a tour, lasting about an hour and a half, was free with admission.
The three floors were filled with cars from the early 1900s, the earliest we saw being a 1903 Ford Model A car, and even a replica of Henry Ford’s offices. We learned how Ford started the company — more than once after being told to leave it — and the evolution in the production of Ford vehicles. There were a lot of beautifully restored cars, as all the automobiles are owned by someone that allows the museum to show them.
Built in 1904, the plant’s appearance is very similar to the way it looked when was first erected. It still does not have heat or air conditioning, which made for a warm, steamy tour. Thankfully there were fans scattered through the inside of the building.
Walking around and looking at cars worked up a healthy appetite for us, so we headed out for lunch to a place that was recommended by one of the museum staff, Bucharest Grill: home of the shawarma.
In its essence, a shawarma, which none of us had ever heard of, is meat wrapped in a pita flatbread, and the restaurant itself is similar to a PepperJax Grill. But after one bite we realized something amazing had been missing from our lives, and it was the shawarma. There were many different styles, including chicken, beef, and the Bucharest Shawarma — which adds cabbage and fries to the chicken sandwich. You can order fries, but we ended up splitting them and still were unable to finish most of them. A shawarma is definitely recommended.
The game
We tried to go to the Motown Museum, but it was sold out of tours for the day and the gift shop was the only thing open to anyone not going on a tour. *Hint: If you want to visit the museum, get your tickets in advance.*So instead, we just went downtown near Comerica Park to explore and find a bar before the game.
We visited Greektown, which was a few blocks packed small shops. After grabbing a last-minute Tigers shirt, we found the Detroit Brewing Co. tap house and decided to have a few beers before the game. The bar had a wide variety of craft beers, and fortunately for us it was happy hour. The bartender was fun and candid and made sure our glasses didn’t stay empty for too long. It was just a short 5-minute walk to the stadium, as we got ready for the game.
Our seats were in centerfield, the first row with the visitor’s bullpen between us and the field. We sat down in time to see Boston starting pitcher David Price warming up right in front of us.
We all kind of went different places for food. Nate and I had some good brats, but Ben hit the jackpot: mac and cheese with barbecued meat mixed in.
The Tigers struck early, loading the bases in the first inning and scoring a run out of the threat. Giving up only one run seemed like a mini victory for Detroit, but it ended up being the only run of the game! Both pitchers danced out of trouble a few times and eventually gave way to the bullpen.
We had to deal with a 5-minute rain nuisance in the eighth inning, but it subsided in time for the Red Sox to warm up closer Craig Kimbrel to shut the door on the Tigers. He gave up a hit but struck out two in the inning to end the game.
The night at the ball park concluded with a firework show, which featured quite an extravagant finale that seemed to never end. After the final boom, we left the park, got our car from the parking garage and headed back across the border to our hotel.
Ratings
There were a lot of things we really liked about Detroit. The area around the ball park had plenty to do and was entertaining, and we only explored a portion of it. But the biggest hindrance for us was the transportation. Aside from the typical busy traffic jams of a big city, our issues were summed up by the number of times we drove down a street only to find out it was closed and torn up. We thought the ball park itself was great. There was some variation in food options but we would have liked to see more. There were some cool areas within the concourse of the stadium, including a food court area and a beer garden with a ferris wheel in it.
Our ratings slated Detroit as our 13th-best trip, which seemed low to us until we looked back and realized that we’ve been on some pretty great adventures. It doesn’t help Detroit that we were only able to spend one full day in the city.
| Rank | Stadium | Rating |
| 1. | Petco Park (Padres) | 8.9 |
| 2. | Sun Trust Park (Braves) | 8.4 |
| 3. | Marlins Park (Marlins) | 8.4 |
| 4. | Kauffman Stadium (Royals) | 8.4 |
| 5. | Target Field (Twins) | 8.3 |
| 6. | Angels Stadium (Angels) | 8.3 |
| 7. | U.S. Cellular (White Sox) | 8.3 |
| 8. | Wrigley Field (Cubs) | 8.3 |
| 9. | Busch Stadium (Cardinals) | 8.3 |
| 10. | Chase Field (Diamondbacks) | 8.2 |
| 11. | Miller Park (Brewers) | 7.2 |
| 12. | Coors Field (Rockies) | 7.1 |
| 13. | Comerica Park (Tigers) | 6.4 |
| 14. | Dodger Stadium (Dodgers) | 6.2 |
| 15. | Tropicana Field (Rays) | 6.1 |
On deck
The next leg of our journey will take us to Toronto to see the Blue Jays! Be on the lookout over the next few days for that post. Also like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, @MLBjourneymen, and check out our Instagram account, mlbjourneymen.
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