A Weekend in the D...

for the NCAA Division I Midwest Regional and a DSO Pops Series Concert.

Friday afternoon we drove downtown to the Courtyard hotel on Jefferson at Brush, about 15 minute walk to Ford Field. We dropped the car with the valet and checked in where we were upgraded to a junior suite--bigger room including sofa, this one with a view of the Detroit River and Windsor. Fourteenth floor (but that would change--more on that below). During the weekend we saw several freighters both upbound and downbound, and broken ice--several miles long-- flowing from Lake Saint Clair to Lake Erie.

Left for the 7:10 game between Wisconsin and Davidson. Met a few UW fans in hotel elevator who were surprised we would be pulling for Wisconsin--they seemed very parochial, that only they from Wisconsin would be rooting for THEIR team. But they may not be typical. We eventually went back on our word and became Davidson fans. Tied at the half we wondered if either team would shoot well. Davidson owned the second half. Baby-faced sophomore Stephen Curry took over and shot the Wildcats to a double-digit victory with a great individual performance (later he was named Most Outstanding Player of the regional). Wondering why he was playing at DC, Kathy found out he was only 5'7" as a hs junior and the "big" schools would not touch him. I think it works in his favor that he got to such a selective school. The next morning UW fans at our hotel were like rats leaving a sinking ship. A quiet, somber mood among them.

After breakfast Saturday morning we drove up East Jefferson to Pewabic Pottery to see their store. A building in front of the store is being demolished drawing interested people to take pictures. We should have had breathing masks because of the dust. Interesting store with many fine pieces by a number of different artists. A huge kiln and racks of pottery being readied for firing were found behind the retail space. I saw many pieces that I wanted but the price kept the plastic in my wallet. Then drove through Grosse Pointes and back downtown to look for geocaches. Had many options and chose one at Mariner's Church and another at the Renaissance Center--found neither; will do more research so we can grab them later. Dinner at Fishbone's Rhythm Kitchen on the edge of Greektown, followed by a walk back to the hotel to dress for the DSO concert. A great concert featuring six singers belting out songs of the sixties accompanied by the DSO.

Let's get a good night's sleep. And we did, until 4 am when the smoke detector began chirping like it wanted a fresh battery and then went full blast like I was back at school! Called the front desk and was told, "Just remove the battery." I don't think so. "You should send someone up here soon!" was my reply. And a rent-a-cop showed up without a clue as to what to do. He called the front desk and, I suspect from hearing his responses, was told the same thing. Eventually, after we spent about a half hour in the hall protecting our ears from the noise, we were told our room would be changed to the twelfth floor. We packed it all up and, dressed in our finest robe and pj's, lumbered off to our new room led by one of the late night parking valets!!! Finally, back to bed.

After rising later than we planned and dressing for the day, we checked out and were given some accommodation for our inconvenience. Breakfast in Dearborn? Why not. Found a good family restaurant, Leon's, near one of our favorite burger shops, Miller's Bar. We were hoping for a good IMAX movie but nothing that interested us was playing at either the Henry Ford Museum or the Detroit Science Center. So let's just bum around Fairlane Shopping Center. Back to Ford Field where we found a parking spot where we normally park (could have used the hotel parking but thought we would get away from the stadium easier). Went into the stadium for the pregame color. And what a game! The best of the three. Close the entire game though I thought Kansas would begin to pull away from Davidson midway through the second half. But Davidson would not go away and could have won on a last second three-pointer had Kansas not played such tough defense that final 16 seconds. And, again, the star of the game was Stephen Curry. We look forward to seeing him next year.

Stopped by Pat Morrow's on the way home to pick up Tiger tickets we are buying through her son, Brian, for Wednesday's game. Let's get home and get some sleep--without a smoke alarm failure.