Living downtown can be great or it can be a headache – depending on what mood you're in. Most of the time, Downtown Detroit life is pretty great – especially for a 30-something person with no children. BUT – if it's the weekend and you've decided after a few weeks of non-stop action that you need a break, you still have to deal with all of the people who aren't taking a break.
Last week I really just wanted to lay low. If you've read my previous blogs you'll see that I keep myself busy with all of the action in the 313! But, I'm not that young anymore, so I need to reenergize here and there. On Wednesday I decided to just take it easy and get one of my favorite Detroit dinner's to go. So, I headed over to Oslo on Woodward Ave in Downtown and picked up the Drunken Noodle with Chicken – mild. I chatted with the sushi chef for a bit while I waited for my dish. I love this guy – I only wish I liked seafood so I could try out some of his concoctions. Nevertheless, he is always friendly when I come in and a good conversation! I try to stick to the land based food there which is always great anyway.
On Friday night I made my way out to the burbs for a low-key charity event. It was an early evening. Here's where living in the city can be a drag when you aren't in the mood to party. By the time I got back downtown from the event, it was only around 11pm or so and the activity downtown was in high gear and the traffic was a nightmare already! It took me 20 minutes to go a couple blocks to get into my garage. The city streets on the weekends are sometimes gridlocked. I recognize this is no different from most big cities and that this is actually a good sign that Detroit has definitely got things going on. BUT – when you're tired and you have to deal with it because that's the only way to get home – it can be a drag. Also, partygoers are just "partygoing"…and they're loud! It doesn't occur to them that there are people living right there where they're partying who may be trying to sleep at 2am!!! But, hey – I moved to their party. They didn't bring their party to my crib. I guess the moral of the story is that you have to be patient when you want to live in the heart of it all. You have to take the 90% good with the 10% bad. When I get irritated I remind myself how great it is the other 90% of the time.
On Saturday I went to Jazzin' on Jefferson on the East Side of the city – just before you get to Grosse Pointe. Sad, but true the neighborhood hosting the festival is in real disrepair. But, this event is an annual thing that tries to breathe some life into the area and since it's not a pain to get to coming from Downtown, I decided to look into it. It was like any other little street fair – live music, food, vendors. It didn't seem to be that crowded, but I suspect it's hard to get people to take a chance and come from other areas for a visit. I'm actually really glad I went though. There was a booth that had some child artists. I think it was a family of four kids – all boys – ranging from probably 8-15 (if I had to guess). These kids are all local to the festival area and all very talented. I got to meet the artist that's teaching them how to draw. Anyway, I bought some of their drawings and will be decorating my office walls this week! It was the first time I've seen a booth with kids art – and really good art – at a festival. It was definitely my favorite thing about Jazzin' on Jefferson!
-Heather
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