For her 50th, my bestie’s daughters arranged a weekend getaway for us. We started out with facials at Eden Esthetics. 10/10 would recommend. We left with soft, glass-like skin and immediately hoofed it to Eastern Market. We were late for the market but had a light lunch and tea and checked out Eastern Market Antiques. Bestie found a fantastic vintage sleeveless house dress in grey and mustard and a pair of fringed grey moccasin boots.

We stayed in northern Detroit, at a loft in Milwaukee Junction, near the railroad junction of the Grand Trunk Western’s predecessors. It’s a heavily industrialized area and home to many 1920’s-era automotive factories, including the Ford factory where the first Model T was built. Now, some of those abandoned factories are being repurposed as lofts and eclectic galleries and shops. Our loft was an interesting factory space, under a graffiti-blazed overpass and surrounded by what looked like actual blight. It was rugged but hip. The radiators churned and kept the place at an almost unhealthy temperature, we could hear just about everything through the walls – and in Detroit that’s not a great thing – and the freight trains rumbled through at odd hours. As is typical in Detroit, Milwaukee Junction felt massive and empty, looming factory spaces and broken streets, devoid of cars or pedestrians, the population underground and nocturnal. Feral nature has taken over for decades and across the parking lot, under a rusted and unused water tower, a small wetland full of swaying reeds and egrets.

Brandon met us for dinner at San Morello downtown in the Shinola hotel. We split several dishes including a fantastic small pizza and gnocchi with truffles and a bottle of Syrah. We lingered at the Queens Bar next door before ending the night singing “Crocodile Rock” (Bestie’s husband the next day: “Wait, you were ‘Crocodile Rock’ drunk?!?”) with the live band at Cafe D’Mongo’s Speakeasy. This is one of the best little bars in Detroit, where you end up friends with everyone.

I came home on Sunday with a gastro bug that was unrelated to the evening festivities and spent an otherwise enjoyable day relaxing before the Super Bowl. Def sad to see the Eagles lose but a great game regardless and with my social obligations out of the way, I can revel in complete earned introversion for awhile!