Detroit: Days 1 & 2

Day 1: Friday, April 3

We got to Detroit around 5 p.m. Not wanting to be anywhere dangerous after dark, we stayed within a few miles of our hotel. We ate dinner at a little restaurant that served an awful steak (looked more like a pork chop), and a delicious gyro.
We went back to the hotel and got dessert in the hotel restaurant. David ordered chocolate cake, which was delicious. I ordered cheesecake with strawberry topping. The waitress brought it out, but it was not topped with strawberries. She told me they were out of strawberry topping and all she could find was this raspberry topping, but if I didn't like it she'd take it back and get me a plain slice. I decided to try it, because raspberries sound like they'd go well with cheesecake. It was horrible! I gagged down the first bite realizing she had put raspberry vinaigrette dressing on my cheesecake! I was getting ready to just scrape the stuff off, when the waitress noticed the look on my face and took the plate from me. She brought back a plain ol' cheesecake, which was yummy. Then she only charged us regular price for the chocolate cake and a dollar for the cheesecake (even then, two tiny desserts plus tip was still 8 bucks, but oh well).

Day 2: Saturday, April 4
We drove into Detroit, which was about 20 miles from where our hotel was. We had tickets to Hoop City, which was complete madness. It was a huge room full of 3-0n-3 games, Meet-and-Greets with players and coaches, face painting, and a bunch of other little activities.

While we were there, a surprise guest showed up: It was rap-star Bow Wow (formerly known as Lil' Bow Wow)! All the girls (and a lot of their moms) went cuh-razy. We stuck around to watch, and even though we couldn't understand any of the lyrics, it was kinda fun.

I got tired of Hoop City pretty quickly, so we left to walk around and explore the city. We walked along the river front and over to the GM building. There were some performances by local bands and lots of people just milling around waiting for the semi-final games to begin.

The GM Building, all decked out for the games.

A view of Detroit from the river.

A monument in honor of the slaves and those who helped them travel to the Northern States and to Canada through the Underground Railroad. The people in the statue are depicted looking at Canada, which is directly across the river--just behind me as I took the picture.

David and me at the riverfront. Windsor (Canada) is just behind us on the other side of the river.

After we got tired of walking around somewhat aimlessly, we jumped on the People Mover (an elevated train that travels the circumference of downtown Detroit) and headed toward Ford Field, where the games were to be held. We thought we'd grab a bite to eat at one of the restaurants or bar/grill establishments in the area before the game. We were wrong. Every place was completely packed; some even had throngs of people waiting outside the doors and down the street.

The games were a lot of fun. The two semi-final games were on Saturday night. There was so much energy in the crowd. The two Michigan State kids sitting next to us had a little too much energy for my tastes, though. They were so obnoxious and foul! We had started out rooting for Michigan State, but after sitting by those boys for about five minutes, we started cheering for all the other teams.

Michigan State beat U-Conn in the first game, 82-73.

North Carolina beat Villanova in the second game, 83-69.

This is a picture I took through my binoculars. One of the tiny figures dressed in green is Magic Johnson. He is a Michigan State alum and was at all of the games. And to think I was a mere 1000 feet from him!