Located in Dearborn, the Henry Ford Museum showcases the fascinating history of American innovation. You'll find a 1909 Ford Model T on display, as well as the bus that Rosa Parks made a stand on in 1955. See a kitchen from the 1930s, a locomotive, and other interesting historic memorabilia. The range of items in the museum is wide, featuring interesting pieces relating to manufacturing, transportation, entertainment, and technology.
One of the world's largest museums of African American history and culture, this impressive building opened in 1997 and is named after the local doctor and activist who first established it. With 120,000 square feet (11148 meters) of exhibit space, the Charles H. Wright Museum includes several exhibit galleries, a research library, classrooms and a museum store. The anchor exhibit, “Of the People: The African American Experience,” uses Detroit's own history to tell the story of the African-American experience in the United States. Previously, much smaller incarnations of the museum existed, dating back to 1965.
One of the many spirited attractions in downtown Detroit, Comerica Park is an extensive verdant field which has been a host to some iconic sporting events and concerts in the past. Named after the bank whose funds made its creation possible, Comerica Park overlooks some of the soaring high-rises residing in the city's downtown. Home ground of the Detroit Tigers, this sprawling ballpark is anything but a run-of-the-mill, neighborhood stadium. Strewn across its course are glorious tiger statues, a baseball-themed Ferris wheel, and the enormous Chevrolet Fountain. Hence, Comerica Park harbors a lively, further amplified by enthusiastic cheers and celebrations when the Tigers hit a home run. The ballpark is also home to the Big Cat Court, which offers a wealth of delectable foods like pretzels, deli sandwiches, French fries, Chicago-style hot dogs and more.
The National Football League's Detroit Lions played outside the city at the Pontiac Silverdome since abandoning Detroit's Tiger Stadium at the end of the 1974 season. In 2002, The Lions moved back to the city and into their new digs at Ford Field, a massive 65,000-seat stadium of steel and glass in the city's downtown entertainment district. Besides sporting events, the facility holds concerts, banquets, corporate events and other special events as well.
Restored to its former splendor, the Detroit Opera House is a downtown landmark that finds itself right in the middle of the action, bordered by the Theatre District, Comerica Park and Greektown. The superb acoustics in the hall provide a prime venue for the Michigan Opera Theatre and for a variety of other performing arts productions, including plays, concerts and dance performances. In days gone by, it was a theater, concert and movie house, the fifth-largest in the world when it opened in 1922. The frescoes, marble stairways, draperies and chandeliers from its glory days have been restored. The Opera House reopened in 1996 with a performance by Luciano Pavarotti.
Kids and adults alike love the Michigan Science Center. The interactive exhibits are fun and will teach you about space, engineering, health and more. The IMAX Dome Theatre is a highlight of the museum, showing a wide variety of educational and entertaining films. Make sure you see an amazing laser display and star show at their Dassault Systèmes Planetarium.Â
If you love dancing and want to learn, then Fred Astaire Dance Studio Bloomfield Hills is a fabulous option. Offering a variety of activities and programs for different age levels and abilities, their experienced teachers, will teach you to sway gracefully. From Latin American to American, Exhibition/Theatre Arts and international style of dancing, you can choose their programs based on your skill levels. They also host dancing events that are open to guests as well.
HandleBar Detroit offers a unique tour. This is a mobile bar showing patrons around Downtown, Detroit while potent drinks keep their spirits high. The vehicle used to move people around is called a 'peddle pub', and it can easily accommodate close to 16 people. A driver steers the vehicle while patrons on board are required to peddle it. You can bring your own drinks to enjoy them during your sightseeing excursion or you can quench your thirst at one of the many bars that the 'peddle pub' takes pit stops at. Patrons only above 18 years of age are allowed on the tour.
Established in 2006, Detroit Experience Factory is a community-based welcome center which helps locals, newcomers, and tourists to connect with the places, projects and people of Detroit. With the privilege of taking over 70,000 people on tours, Detroit Experience Factory creates experiences that are entertaining and enlightening, led by fellow Detroiters. This company also offers customized and public tours, including bus, bar tours and walking tours, providing you with an insider’s perspective of the city.
Great Lakes Culinary Center situated West Nine Mile Road in Southfield features a fully-equipped commercial kitchen and an event space ideal for hosting all kinds of special events including birthdays, christenings and weddings. The kitchen here is often rented by cooking class instructors to conduct culinary classes and by chefs for trying out a new dish that they would like to introduce. The combined space of the kitchen and the event room at Great Lakes Culinary Center makes this an ideal and popular event space.
Covering all aspects of the city, Show Me Detroit Tours is among the best in town. From folklore to legends, history to architecture, art and landmark, their 2-hour chauffeur driven van tour is intriguing. You can choose the pick up point from their venues in Downtown and Midtown or from certain hotels that they are associated with. The experienced docents will drive you around all the major areas of the town. Get to know Detroit like a local with all its quirks, secrets and trivia. The guides will enthrall you with their anecdote of the Motown and Motor City legacies.