I was recently in Detroit for a day and a half, and if you’re anything like me, you love an itinerary.

So I looked up things to do in Detroit for a weekend and got some tourist recommendations:

• Visit the Detroit Institutes of Art
• Go to the Belle Isle Aquarium
• Visit the Ford Museum
• Check out the Eastern Market on Saturday
• Catch a game (if you’re a football fan)

Now, none of these things appealed to me, so my friend and I got to Detroit with nothing planned. Imagine how the USBP took it when we floundered through our reason for visiting. Suffice to say, they held us there for over three hours.

Here’s how we spent our day and a half after they finally let us cross over.

FRIDAY NIGHT

First, we went for dinner (ended up having just drinks cause we missed the last call) at Adelina, an Italian-Mediterranean restaurant that recently opened downtown. The drinks were great, obviously cannot comment on the food, but we chose this place solely based on the decor, and in that aspect, it lived up to expectations.

After dinner, we hung around downtown for a while, chatted with a few locals & tourists to get some recommendations and then decided to check out one of the nightclubs in the area- Deluxx Flux.

This is a basement club with a glow-in-the-night neon decor. Apparently, nightlife in Detroit caters to a variety of audiences. I believe the night we were there was the hip-hop night? I’m not too sure, but it was a blast nonetheless.

If you know me, you know the night is always young. So of course, from Deluxx Flux, we headed to the next after-hours establishment- Club Carribean. It’s a Jamaican restaurant/club, but again they play a bit of everything, and I was surprised at the wide range of age groups they cater to. I liked it better here, however, because it was more of a lounge than a club.

SATURDAY/NIGHT

Saturday was a blur.

First, we started the day past noon. We had brunch scheduled at a restaurant downtown, but again, we missed it and had to settle for drinks. So we went over to Sugar Factory for their bottomless mimosa, and to grab dessert, but ended up having a full meal there.

I definitely recommend checking out Sugar Factory. Apparently, it’s the ‘most Instagrammed restaurant in America’, not to mention it was a vibe. The food was delicious, the staff friendly, and they did a birthday choreography for a celebrant, it was amazing!

Next, we went for ice cream at Milk and Froth. I’m a strawberry gal so of course I tried the roasted strawberry flavour and it was a miss. I’ll say they had a limited selection and tea-sounding flavours like, ‘peppermint patty’, ‘Earl grey’, ‘macha pistachio’, and I’m pretty much vanilla when it comes to ice cream so I didn’t bother trying other flavours.

Our next stop was The Belt- a cultural alley in the heart of downtown lined with bars, restaurants, art and outdoor seating. I highly recommend checking this out if you’re in the city.It‘s a great spot to hang out, bar hop, and take in the cultural scene. We spent hours here, drinking at The Skip, and then eating at Standby. The service was wonderful at Standby and the staff friendly, so I felt very welcome there.

I really wanted to see Windsor from the other side of the river, so we went over to the Riverfront. If you’re unfamiliar, Windsor (Canada) is on the south side of Detroit with a river demarcating the countries, so you only have to cross the bridge to get to either country. I took a short stroll by the waterfront and I must say, Windsor has the better waterfront, plus we’re blessed with the Detroit skyline so we get the best of both worlds.

After sneaking in a nap, we were ready to start the night.

Our first stop was a patio party at TV Lounge. This is a dance/nightclub with an outdoor patio area. I was feeling a bit groggy from my nap but the crowd here really amped up my morale. It felt like everyone was having the time of their lives and by extension, I was having a good time too.

From here we headed back to Club Caribbean for their afro night, our final stop for the weekend.

All in all, Detroit exceeded my expectations. I was a bit nervous about not having anything planned, but like any big city, there’s always something around the corner. You simply have to ask.

So, if you happen to find yourself in Detroit with nothing planned, I hope this helps you!

À bientôt!