prairie girl musings

Tag: tourism

  • DETROIT IS NOT DEAD

    DETROIT IS NOT DEAD

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    This is a love letter to Detroit.

    It’s not a place for the faint of heart; it’s not Disneyland, the Mall of America, or the Las Vegas strip.

    Detroit is gritty and honest; perhaps the most honest place I’ve ever been. It’s both new and old, beautiful and broken.

    A trip to Detroit will leave you haunted yet invigorated, and its authenticity may alarm you.

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    “Don’t go to Detroit, you’ll get stabbed,” they said.

    “It’s the most dangerous place in America,” they said.

    “Detroit filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection last year,” they said.

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    Detroit is a dichotomy. Yes, there are abandoned buildings, lots of them. Yes, there is decay and poverty, lots of it. But the people of Detroit haven’t given up on their city, and neither should you.

    Signs of new development and community projects include Dequindre Cut Greenway, The Heidelberg Project, the bicycle lanes (yes, this auto centric city is actually big on cycling), a thriving new business scene, which includes standouts like Slows Bar BQ, Astro Coffee, Sugar House, Motor City Brew Works, El Dorado General Store, Anthology Coffee, and Trinosophes. Of course, the Eastern Market (oldest and biggest of its kind in America) is still a must-visit. Talk to any of the young creatives who inhabit this city, and their energy will inspire you.

    My favourite brunch was at Parks and Rec Diner, newly opened and housed in the iconic G.A.R. building!

    As far as where to stay, I’d suggest booking Honor & Folly, a design-focused bed and breakfast right above Slows!

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    Detroit was shaped by risk takers and visionaries. A quick visit to the Henry Ford museum and the Ford Rouge Factory will provide you with some context of how this industrial city was shaped. I can’t overstate how the rise and fall of the automobile is at the core of Detroit’s demise. The factory still pumps out F150s according to dealership orders, and every employee can answer any question you might have about Henry and the automotive industry. There’s even a rooftop garden you can visit as part of the tour.

    A visit to Corktown (where we stayed) will surely surprise you. Detroit’s oldest neighbourhood is experiencing a revival with the influx of restaurants, public artworks, markets, and parks. We happened upon a modern marching band festival, “Crash Detroit” while exploring the area. We sipped cocktails made from local ingredients while gazing up at the both derelict and awe-inspiring Michigan Central Station. Unlike Toronto, which is highly regulated, the security guard at Crash Detroit encouraged us to leave the beer garden to dance and mingle. “Enjoy yourselves, this is Detroit after all.”

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  • Why Boston is one of the greatest American cities

    Why Boston is one of the greatest American cities

    As one of America’s oldest cities, Boston has certainly retained its beauty. It is the antithesis of Toronto, incredibly well-kept with no urban sprawl. It’s a compact, walkable city, with something to take in at every corner. There’s no pollution or smog, in fact, it makes Toronto look like a sewage dump. It also probably helps that their mayor doesn’t casually smoke crack. With its well-educated population, and British sensibility, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Boston. Here are 15 reasons to visit this great American city.

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  • Southeast Asia: Bali, Indonesia

    Southeast Asia: Bali, Indonesia

    Ever since Elizabeth Gilbert released her bestselling novel, Eat, Pray, Love with a movie deal to boot, everyone’s been abuzz with the intention of quitting their day job and jet setting around the world. I’m no stranger to this philosophy, in fact, I experienced my quarter-life crisis a bit earlier than most. At the age of nineteen, I resolved to study abroad for six months, merely to escape the sensation of of being sentenced to a life in a deadbeat American town; a town that, to me, personified the expression “bible belt.” I decided on New Zealand because I already knew a handful of people who had been to Australia (Like I said, I was having an early onset of a quarter-life crisis, and determined to go someplace where I knew absolutely no one.) Plus, Australia would be a good place to escape during our two-week Easter break, with a size and mentality comparable to Canada. And that was only the beginning, upon returning to what I considered a mediocre university town, I simply couldn’t seem to get back in the swing of things.

    Flash-forward to 2012: As I prepared to begin my last semester at the University of Auckland, I knew this was possibly my last opportunity for frivolous travel prior to beginning my professional life post-convocation. (Who was I kidding?) My high school education and family vacations had already taken me throughout North America and Europe several times. Fortunately, my cousin Lucia had a similar mindset, having just begun her first semester abroad in Auckland. We decided that on top of our local travels within New Zealand, (a country of four million) we would additionally benefit from a mini-vacation to Southeast Asia. I spoke of our Malaysian adventure in my last post, but before I go all Eat, Pray, Love on you, I’d like to rationalize why we decided to visit Bali.

    Bali is a breathtakingly beautiful island, with several excellent tourist options available. We wanted to dip our feet in the culture surrounding Bali. We also wanted to indulge in a vibrant nightlife and relaxing retreat that recharged our batteries mid-semester. My Canadian friends, an adventurous couple, Kirsten and Steve, had both been to Bali separately, and revelled about their experiences. Steve urged us to visit Ubud, Bali’s cultural capital. Needless to say, we were not disappointed with its abundance of art galleries, culinary delights, wildlife and exotic temples. Every community in Bali has a local temple, and every family builds a more compact temple in their home. I was incredibly intrigued by this form of devotion. We also visited a monkey temple (or so we thought); our tour guide, Sudarma corrected us immediately and told us it was a regular temple, but the monkeys protected its sanctity and acted as guards of the grounds.