I love Detroit. I really do.
Yesterday, I had quite a nice day there. I got to see all kinds of wonderful folks. First I met up with the Bachers at Dally in the Alley. Lots of people were there. I actually had a hard time parking and ended up parking all the way up on Seldon and walking. That worked out ok though because I was pretty much right across the street from The Old Miami, where I eventually ended up.
The Dally was really fun. I can't believe I've never bothered to attend this event before. *slaps forehead* It is basically the best block party ever! Like one often finds in Detroit, there was amazing live music on multiple stages. Later, I dragged my friend, Brent, to Traffic Jam for dinner. We saw Carl Levin there even! I am such a dork too and I totally pulled my "bus person" maneuver where I'll run into a person I don't know but see on the bus regularly someplace other than the bus and I'll be all like "HI!" like I am greeting an old friend. I totally did that to Carl Levin but he's a good politician so he totally did the same thing back to me. hahaha. He probably gets that all of the time.
After that, I walked over the Old Miami. It is really weird to me how that area is gentrifying. I didn't have to step over even one passed out homeless person! Seriously, it looks like a lot of the vacant buildings have been torn down and the older buildings still standing seem to be occupied and in good shape, at least as far as one can tell from the sidewalk. That makes me happy. I hope that neighborhood does well.
The Punk Fest benefit for Children's Hospital was pretty fun. I got there around 9:30p but still was able to see four bands. And also, as usual, I found myself a little awestruck at how much musical talent there is in Detroit. These bands were amazing! I always feel so lucky when I am in Detroit that I can, for not very much money, see really great live music in small venues. Even doing that "I'm too cool to run to the front so I am going to stand back here by the bar" thing leaves you within 50ft of the stage.
I ended up leaving around 1am and I don't know if it was the Dally or if it was that UofM had a night game that ended late but there were a lot of drunks on the road. :( That isn't something I love about Detroit. I avoided getting hit by someone running a red light on Woodward because I luckily noticed them out of the corner of my eye and stopped even though I had a green light. I had to swerve to miss someone who decided to cut me off on the entrance ramp to I-94. But the really scary part was when I was just in Dearborn and I saw someone get on the freeway going the wrong way. Luckily it was night time so those approaching headlights were very obvious. And also luckily, I and several other drivers, started flashing our lights and honking and the wrong way driver noticed and pulled onto the shoulder. It was pretty scary though and, let me tell you, it woke me right up. Whew.
