What’s Happening This Month

Motown Winter Blast

February 12, 2010

in Fairs & Festivals,What's Happening This Month

The 6^th annual Motown Winter Blast kicks off this afternoon, and this is an event you don’t want to miss. All weekend long, people gather in Campus Martius Park to celebrate and enjoy winter. This year, the Winter Blast is also celebrating the Motown Museum’s 25^th anniversary with even more special events and activities for you to enjoy.

No matter what your age, you’ll find something to love about the Winter Blast:

For the kids

Children can enjoy the Meijer Kid Zone, which includes puppet shows, magic shows, and more.

For the grown ups

The annual wine tasting is back, and will be held at Enoteca Campo Marzio. You can also take part in Bar Blast – a pub crawl through the city that takes place Saturday night.

For everyone

Live music on multiple stages – and every band will be paying tribute to our Motown legends!
Free ice skating at Campus Martius Park, plus performances by professional and amateur skaters
Two blocks of specially lit themed ice sculptures in the Quicken Loans Ice Garden
Marshmallow Roasting in the streets, just outside the Compuware building
Snow cannons and snow hills in Cadillac Park courtesy of Shanty Creek Resort

While you’re downtown, you might want to check out some of these other great attractions and restaurants:

Dining

If you’re looking for great Mexican food, check out Xochimilco in Mexicantown, just minutes away.
Detroit’s Greektown is home to more great restaurants than we can name, like Pegasus and Niki’s Pizza, which was ranked in GQ magazine’s 25 Best Pizzas in America.
If you’re looking for something more high-end, visit Seldom Blues in the Renaissance Center, the Wolfgang Puck Grille, or Iridescence.

Gaming

Detroit is also home to three casinos, where you can try your luck at the slots, blackjack or craps tables. If you feel like taking a gamble, you have your choice of the MGM Grand Casino, the Motor City Casino, or the Greektown Casino.

Museums

If you are bringing the kids (or still a kid at heart), check out the Detroit Science Center, which has several hands-on exhibits, an Imax theater, and a planetarium.
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is right next door and is the world’s largest institution dedicated to the African American experience.
The Detroit Institute of Arts – the 5^th largest fine arts museum in the world – is just a short walk from there.
The Detroit Historical museum is also nearby. This museum is dedicated preserving the history of southeastern Michigan, and includes the favorite and newly renovated Streets of Old Detroit, recreating Detroit street scenes from the 1840’s, 1870’s and early 1900’s.

{ 1 comment - Read and add your own }

Connect with your Facebook Account

2010 North American International Auto Show

January 14, 2010

in Fairs & Festivals,What's Happening This Month

Earlier this week, Pure Michigan’s own Maria Wygnal and George Zimmermann got a sneak peek inside the 2010 North American International Auto Show. They joined thousands of journalists from around the world as they gathered in Detroit for a first look at concepts and production models, as well as the latest automotive industry announcements. While George has visited the show many times, this was Maria’s first auto show experience.

The show floor is bright, the displays are amazing, the cars are shiny and clean (colors are fantastic!), the interiors sparkle, and you can’t help but notice the workers who are constantly dusting and wiping the vehicles. There’s definitely some glitz and glamour, but the focus of this year’s show is centered on green technology and hybrid vehicles. Electric battery technology is all the buzz, and there’s no shortage of new ideas on display.

This was my first time attending the auto show in Detroit. When it comes to specifics about different models and new features, all I can say is thank goodness the displays are staffed with friendly people who are happy to answer your questions. It was fun to learn about the different vehicles, talk to people about the show and what other plans they had while visiting Detroit, and take photos (lots of photos!).

Here are some quick tips about this year’s show:

If this will be your first visit to the auto show, or you’re not familiar with downtown Detroit, take a few moments before your trip to check out the different parking options available near Cobo Center. It took me a couple wrong turns before I found the parking lot I was looking for.
I recommend spending some time at the Ford display for two reasons. First, in case you haven’t heard, Ford won the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards. Also, the exhibit includes my favorite car of the entire show, a Pure Michigan blue Mustang!!
Check out the Volkswagen display – It’s so white it’s almost blinding, honestly. Plus there is a cool hands-on exhibit behind the cars that lets you interact with a tabletop display screen.
Stop by the CT&T United display for a look at some very tiny (and very cute) electric cars.
Don’t miss the MEDC EcoXperience, located in the lower level of Cobo Center. It’s your opportunity to experience electric vehicles on a 1/4 mile indoor test track. Get a close-up look at a variety of green vehicles and find out for yourself what it’s like to ride inside! You can also browse the alternative energy showcase located nearby.

There are a lot of other things to do in Detroit while you’re here for the show. There are some amazing restaurants that you should make time to check out, many just a short walk or People Mover ride away. If you’re looking for great Mexican food, check out Xochimilco in Mexicantown, just minutes away. Detroit’s Greektown is home to more great restaurants than we can name, like Pegasus and Niki’s Pizza, which was ranked in GQ magazine’s 25 Best Pizzas in America. If you’re looking for something more high-end, visit Seldom Blues in the Renaissance Center, the Wolfgang Puck Grille, or Iridescence. Detroit also has some great bars and pubs, like the Detroit Beer Company, just across the street from Comerica Park.

Detroit is also home to three casinos, where you can try your luck at the slots, blackjack or craps tables. If you feel like taking a gamble, you have your choice of the MGM Grand Casino, the Motor City Casino, or the Greektown Casino.

Detroit’s museum district is also just a short drive down Woodward. If you are bringing the kids (or still a kid at heart), check out the Detroit Science Center, which has several hands-on exhibits, an Imax theater, and a planetarium. The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History is right next door and is the world’s largest institution dedicated to the African American experience. The Detroit Institute of Arts – the 5^th largest fine arts museum in the world – is just a short walk from there. The Detroit Historical museum is also nearby. This museum is dedicated preserving the history of southeastern Michigan, and includes the favorite and newly renovated Streets of Old Detroit, recreating Detroit street scenes from the 1840′s, 1870′s and early 1900′s.

My visit to the auto show was a great experience. If you have the opportunity, check it out for yourself and let us know what you think!

Where: Cobo Center, Detroit
When: Public show starts Saturday, Jan. 16, and ends Sunday, Jan. 24
Price: Adult admission is $12; seniors (65 and older) and ages 7-12 are $6; kids six years and under are free with a parent or guardian; any day pass, group tickets are $8 with a purchase of 25 tickets or more. For more information, go to www.naias.com or call 248.643.0250.

Here are some the pictures George and I took while we toured the show – check out all of these amazing cars! George also had the chance to ride in the Tango – one of the electric cars located in the MEDC EcoXperience (located in Michigan Hall). He got some great video during his ride that you can see. The EcoXperience is not to be missed – it gives you a chance to ride in some the most innovative electric vehicles out there. Learn more about the EcoXperience, and what the MEDC is doing with green technology on the Upper Hand Blog.

Maria Wygnal is a travel marketing specialist with Travel Michigan/Michigan Economic Development Corp. She grew up in the greater Lansing area and currently resides in East Lansing. Her interests include travel, social media, graphic design and photography.

{ 3 comments - Read and add your own }

Connect with your Facebook Account

Simple Holiday Pleasures

December 15, 2009

in Fairs & Festivals,What's Happening This Month

At Crossroads Village in Flint, Michigan Travel Ideas editor Barbara Morrow experiences an old-fashioned Christmas and reflects on the joys of holidays past.

As dusk settles on Crossroads Village, a re-created 1800s town in a wooded county park just north of Flint, 275,000 tiny bulbs wink on. The village opens in the evenings each winter for its annual holiday celebration, and I savor a unique glimpse of Christmases long ago.

Lights outline the businesses along the 19th-century Main Street and surrounding homes and shimmer in tree branches overhead. Dressed in flowing skirts and starched-collar shirts, park staffers and volunteers play their parts so well that I almost forget that they’re acting. I find myself hurrying along behind youngsters bouncing along unpaved streets, as thrilled to be out late as they are eager to have a look at Christmas past. Their excitement is infectious. I’m remembering vividly the can’t-even-sleep anticipation of my own childhood.

At the edge of town, a restored steam locomotive belches a plume of smoke skyward. The whistle shrieks, and the train lurches forward for a 35-minute tour through the park. At first, I’m a little impatient. But the train’s motion soothes that away. I join in the oohing and aahing over lighted holiday displays along the train’s route, and we all wave at a live Santa in front of his workshop.

Across from the depot, the three-story brick general store presides over Main Street. Inside, shelves stocked with everything from old-time lanterns and crocks to books climb to the ceiling. Clerks in prim, full-skirted shirtwaists demonstrate spinning tops and wooden pull toys, and punch sales into a clanging brass cash register. I try a top, wondering if any of the kids on my list would like something so simple. It spins and wobbles, and I can’t wait to try again. Yes, I decide, any child would love this.

A volunteer playing the part of an 1800s homemaker strings popcorn by lamplight in a modest frame home on the next block. “Mind now,” she tells children crowded into the kitchen to watch; “we must finish these popcorn strings and get to bed. It’s after 7 o’clock, and kerosene is expensive.’’

The popcorn will adorn a spindly spruce in a corner of the sparely furnished parlor. Even in a prosperous home in the mid-1800s, there wouldn’t have been much fuss over Christmas decorations. I can’t help but envy these simpler times, as I think of the decorating and shopping that seem to pull us apart more than they bring us together.

Down the street, visitors squeeze into wooden pews that fill the tiny, white-steepled church. It’s only fitting that choir practice should draw crowds. This church, unadorned except for candles and pine bows, would have been the center of a 19th-century town’s Christmas. Listeners spill from the church onto the walk out front. Deep mellow organ tones and clear, strong voices fill the frosty air: “It came upon a midnight clear . . .” Even the children are silent, as we all reflect for a moment on the holidays’ true meaning.

Travel Guide

Holiday festivities at Crossroads Village run from 4 to 9 p.m. on December 17-20, 22-23, 26-27 and 29-30. Admission to the village is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and $8 for children. A combination ticket, including admission to Crossroads Village and a train ride, is $14 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for children. Special “drive-thru” nights, when cars can drive through the park to see the lighted holiday displays, take place from 5 to 9 p.m. on December 7, 14, 21, 24 and 28 and cost $5 per vehicle. Order your tickets online or call (800)648-7275 to reserve your tickets in advance.

Barbara Morrow has written and edited travel articles for Midwest Living since 1989, including articles about every part of Michigan. Barbara also directs the editorial content and direction of Michigan Travel Ideas, the official Pure Michigan Travel Guide.

{ 0 comments - Read and add your own }

Connect with your Facebook Account

Dickens Holiday

December 8, 2009

in Fairs & Festivals,What's Happening This Month

Thanks to Barbara Morrow, Midwest Living magazine Deputy Editor, for this guest blog about the annual Dickens Festival in the quaint village of Holly.

“ ’Appy ’olidays,’’ calls a somewhat pasty-faced but pretty blonde in flowing robes. Scurrying to overtake a dour, gray-haired gentleman, she hurries along historic Battle Alley in Holly. “E-e-ey!’’ she implores, “I need to speak with you, sir.’’

“Confound it; will you leave me alone!’’ shouts the bearded fellow, clad in caped overcoat and beaver-skin top hat. “Bah, humbug!’’

This routine is aimed at kids looking on, bundled up to their wide eyes. But I realize a little sheepishly that I’m more thrilled than they are to see some of my all-time favorite characters from A Christmas Carol come to life in the perfect setting. As Scrooge struggles to elude his famous ghosts, snowflakes sift down on to the brick streets of this historic district named when it was full of rowdy saloons where railroad workers brawled. Now, shops selling antiques, crafts and gifts have overtaken the old buildings and surrounding streets.

I should be searching for gifts. Instead, I find myself following this roving performance. Along with a group of other distracted shoppers, I gravitate to the cluster forming around a regal Father Christmas, wearing green velvet robes and a crown of holly on his flowing, snow-white hair. “You’re supposed to wear a red suit,’’ a little girl huffs indignantly. I agree silently. The distinguished looking gentleman looks a little offended, but smiles and asks the little one what she wants for Christmas. She frowns and looks determinedly at her fur-topped pink boots, no doubt holding out for a more familiar Santa. We adults try not to laugh, and I realize that for a moment anyway, I have forgotten all about that list of gifts I need to buy.

Trip Planner

The three-weekend festival finishes this coming weekend (December 12–13, 2009). You’ll also meet characters who might have stepped out of Dickens’ other works. In broad Cockney accents, vendors in slouchy hats and ragged shawls hawk roasted chestnuts and plum pudding. The town crier announces events, as smudge-faced urchins in tattered knee breeches run up and down the street. My favorite, though, is the “put-pocket’’—a bedraggled fellow in a top hat and ragged muffler who tucks tiny gifts INTO unsuspecting visitors’ pockets and shopping bags.

Barbara Morrow has written and edited travel articles for Midwest Living since 1989, including articles about every part of Michigan. Barbara also directs the editorial content and direction of Michigan Travel Ideas, the official Pure Michigan Travel Guide.

{ 1 comment - Read and add your own }

Connect with your Facebook Account

Hear them ring…

December 1, 2009

in Fairs & Festivals,What's Happening This Month

Pure Michigan’s own Maria Wygnal was in downtown Lansing to celebrate Silver Bells in the City this year. Thousands attend the annual event to watch the electric light parade followed by the lighting of Michigan’s state Christmas tree and fireworks.

Silver Bells in the City is a wonderful start to the greater Lansing region’s holiday season. A visit to downtown in the afternoon lets visitors explore the many restaurants, shops, and impressive selection of arts and cultural locations before finding a perfect spot to watch the parade. A special shop not to be missed is Michigania (“The Michigan Store”) located on Washington Square, which offers a great variety of products that are either made in Michigan or about Michigan.

Silver Bells starts with an electric light parade (the 2009 parade had over 60 entries!). Crowds gather along Washington Square and Capitol Avenue to watch the entries march past. Following the parade is the lighting of Michigan’s official Christmas tree at the State Capitol and fireworks! Dress warm and don’t forget your camera. Bring a thermos of hot chocolate or coffee, but if you forget there are plenty of places to get some!!

There is more to enjoy both before and after the parade. The evening is also filled with free family entertainment including free admission to Lansing’s cultural institutions, self-guided tours of the State Capitol, visits with Santa and reindeer at the Lansing City Market, horse-drawn wagon rides on Washington Square, performances by more than 50 local arts and cultural institutions throughout downtown Lansing, extended shopping hours and more!

Silver Bells

The holiday season gets busy… take some time for yourself to enjoy the many events and festivals happening around Michigan. If you need help planning your trip to Lansing, visit the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau, which has a new office right in downtown Lansing on Michigan Avenue across from Oldsmobile Park.

{ 0 comments - Read and add your own }

Connect with your Facebook Account

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →