Detroit Adventure

We took a Detroit adventure to see KISS on their End of the Road Tour at Little Caesar’s Arena. While we were there, we also took in a Red Wings game and it happened to be Grateful Dead night! No adventure would be complete without checking out some record stores and the city’s musical history. It wasn’t all music as we also visited The Henry Ford Museum and of course, had some great food.

Transportation

Detroit is only a 3 1/2 hour drive for us so we took a road trip. Once we got to the hotel, we chose to Uber to Little Caesar’s Arena the first night of our Detroit adventure. The second day, we were already out and about adventuring when it was time to head down to the Red Wings game. We got a tip from a local on how to save the $45 parking fee. If you park at Motor City Casino, which is only 1.5 miles from the arena, and join Club Metro, they will give you a wrist band to ride their shuttle which takes you to and from the arena and it is totally free!

Accommodations

We like our Marriott points so we stayed at a Courtyard Marriott in Southfield which was only about 15-20 minutes from downtown Detroit. It was a larger Courtyard, with comfortable, clean rooms. It was just what we needed for our Detroit adventure.

Food, food and more food

When we started our Detroit adventure, we were hungry so we went to Kid Rock’s Made In Detroit which was the perfect warm-up to the KISS concert. The restaurant is attached to Little Caesar’s Arena with half being open to the public and the other half exclusive to ticket holders. There is lots of Kid Rock memorabilia on the walls and throughout the restaurant. We found the menu to be unique and much more than just bar food. We shared the pickle chips, cheeseburger and fries and everything was great. The best part was the pecan pie which came in a glass jar with vanilla ice cream on top!

The next day we went to Slow’s Bar BQ. To save you from looking stupid like us, the door looks like a wooden wall and is not obvious at all. Once we finally found our way inside, the next task was deciding what to order. We knew we were going to have meat but the question was how much and what kinds. We opted for the triple threat pork which features pulled pork, bacon and ham. We also got waffle fries and mac and cheese for sides. We topped it off with banana pudding for dessert!

Activities

The reason for our Detroit adventure was to see KISS play Detroit Rock City one last time. It was a sold out show full of fire, lights and KISS classics. Check out the full review over at The Music Room.

The next night Little Caesar’s Arena transformed from a concert venue to a hockey arena when the Detroit Red Wings took on the Tampa Bay Lightening. As a special bonus it was Grateful Dead night complete with Dead collector’s jerseys and tunes throughout the night. While you can get typical arena food like hot dogs and nachos, there are lots of restaurants and bars attached to the arena offering other dining options.

You can’t think about Detroit without thinking about Ford and cars. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit The Henry Ford Museum. It might be easy to have the misconception that this would just be a museum full of cars. While there are lots of cars, the museum displays much more including trains, technology, airplanes, industrial machinery and special civil right exhibits. One of the center pieces was the bus where Rosa Park refused to give up her seat. We spent about 3 hours at the museum and we definitely did not see everything. There is also an outside exhibit that was not open while we were there as it is closed in the winter. They also offer tours of a Ford auto plant.

Anytime we go on an adventure we like to look for local record stores and Detroit did not disappoint. Our first stop was at Dearborn Music. While it offered a great selection of vinyl, they also had lots of t-shirts, posters, CDs and other music themed items. Despite the size, the friendly staff helped us find everything we were looking for.

Then we made our way to Third Man Records. If you are a vinyl collector, this is a must stop location. Jack White has done an amazing job of supporting the vinyl come back. While the selection at Third Man is very specific to Third Man artists, there is still something there for every record lover. The Detroit location features a vinyl pressing plant which you can tour on select weekend dates. There is also a listening booth and recording booth to make your own record.

Any trip to Detroit is not complete without visiting the Motown Museum. It was in these houses along West Grand Blvd where Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and Diana Ross recorded some of the most iconic songs in music history. From seeing the echo chamber that helped give Motown its classic sound to the candy machine where a young Stevie Wonder would get his Baby Ruth every day before recording. The museum is packed with history. The tour ends in the famous studio where the music was recorded. A walk through the museum will leave you with goosebumps and an appreciation for the music that was birthed within its walls.

Check out our video below.