Summer Vacation

Retirement is adventures in exotic lands, right? Hawaii … New York … London … maybe Lisbon.

Or maybe Detroit. We went, we loved it, and we’re going back.

I’m a baseball purist who loves a well-executed sacrifice bunt, hates the designated hitter, and loves checking out stadiums around the country. I’ve been to roughly half (Yankee Stadium was the biggest thrill, but Petco Park in San Diego is the best so far). I talked my wife – more of a football freak and avid member of Bills Mafia – into a trip north to see the Tigers. She agreed to go if they played the Yankees, who won 3-0 in a packed and surprisingly awesome Comerica Park. (Sidebar: the Tigers caught fire during the week of our game, so I hope they welcome us back with open arms and baseline tickets).

But the real highlight, the following day, came as a surprise. We made a side trip to Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. Henry Ford was an avid collector of all-things Americana. I can’t even articulate the volume of amazing artifacts scattered across the museum but here are a few examples: several presidential limousines (including President Kennedy’s from his assassination in Dallas), George Washington’s camping gear from the Revolutionary War, the bus where Rosa Parks changed history, and Abraham Lincoln’s chair from Ford’s Theatre (yes, that chair).

We went for a ballgame and returned wowed and itching to go back to see much more. (Maybe we’ll try the pizza we’re hearing about). Give Detroit a chance. It’s a great American city.