Detroit history and culture in a long weekend: Becoming a good tourist in my hometown

Detroit History Bus Tour, part of our Detroit touristy weekend

I've been to amazing museums and historical places in the past including Versailles, Schonbrunn, the Vatican, the Uffizi Gallery and the Louvre. Closer to home, we've visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and, most recently, the Brooklyn Museum. But one conversation I had with a taxi driver in England almost twenty years ago hit a chord with me this past week. He was driving our family to the Tower of London and we asked if he'd ever been there. He said, matter-of-factly, that he hadn't. He'd been meaning to, but just hadn't been a very good tourist in his own town.

Brooklyn Museum 2022

Versailles in 2008, but what about Detroit?

I understand. In Detroit, we have so much in the way of culture and history from the renowned Detroit Institute of Art to the lesser known, but magnificent, vintage homes and museums that all tell a unique story of the Motor City, but I haven't explored as much as I should. However, just a few days ago, in the span of long weekend, I became a very good tourist in my hometown starting with the DIA, then an historic bus tour of the city and, wrapping up with a visit to an old mansion filled to the roof with art and antiques.  

Jewel case from circa 1770

18th-century traveling cutlery set

I've been to the DIA on several occasions going as far back as elementary school. If you are a student in the Detroit metro area, chances are high that you took a field trip or two to the museum, where the Diego Rivera murals leave a lasting impression. But lately, a trip to the DIA is typically for a special exhibit (the latest, back in November for the Van Gogh exhibit -  BTS blog, December, 2022). So, while I'm not a totally absent tourist of this museum, I could be much better. 

"Dazzling Dessert" Sevres serving ware

So, when my long-time friend, Jane, texted me a week ago that she felt like a trip to the art museum, I was on board. It had been too long since I just wandered the floors of the DIA with no particular agenda. 

Mid-19th century Sevres coffee and tea service

We started on the first floor and explored the Native American section as well as the Egyptian wing. We then hit the third floor to take in the Dutch masters and, my favorite, the British and Fashionable Living sections. 

BTS (Rachel, Barb and Pam) at DIA coffee and tea

Among the treasures I loved most were: (1) a jewel cabinet from the 1770's, made in France, and eventually gifted to an Empress of Russia; (2) a "dazzling dessert" collection of Sevres serving wear; (3) an assortment of Wedgwood, including a Caneware (tan colored) cup and saucer; (4), a traveling cutlery set from the 18th century and (5) a coffee and tea set from the mid-19th century, also created by Sevres. The last was prominently displayed during the Chocolate, Tea and Coffee Exhibit the DIA had back in 2016. (BTS not only visited that exhibit, but partnered with many libraries that year on tea and chocolate programs tied to the DIA event).

The Art of Dining, an 19th century European Banquet, a tabletop film worthy of an award

However, the most fun display was a tabletop short film, "The Art of Dining, an 18th Century European Banquet". Four guests (you only see their ruffled and lace-cuffed hands) are served a three-course meal with a variety of fancy, period dinnerware. Oscar worthy? Perhaps not - but if you are a vintage tablescape enthusiast, you'll see it as award-winning entertainment.

A great day at the DIA, indeed. 

And, like every successful outing, Jane and I made our final stop at the Cafe for a delicious repast. 

Jane & Barb - enjoying the DIA without an agenda

The DIA kicked off our Detroit immersion weekend. On our second day, we toured the city on a bus (our next blog story!), but our final day, we journeyed not far from the DIA to another art museum of sorts. This is a private home - just steps off Woodward, bordering Wayne State buildings and brand-spanking new modern condominiums - owned by a former Art Professor and his husband. Pam (good friend/BTS member) has been long acquainted with tours and lectures of this professor, but much of these were shut down due to ye olde quarantine conditions. 

When the house reopened for tours this month, Pam, quickly snatched us up some tickets and we spent last Sunday morning touring this three-story, 1872 mansion filled with rare art treasures and impressive antique furniture. 

An 1872 Detroit home, just off Woodward is now framed by Wayne State and modern condominiums.

We learned that, although this home was huge by any standard, the mansions that were built right on Woodward were the biggest and most lavish. Our guide explained it was much like 5th Avenue in Manhattan, where the Vanderbilts constructed their showy dwellings. The homes closest to the "avenues" in both Detroit and New York, were next in line as far as size and status, working down to the end where the houses became gradually smaller and packed more tightly together.

The home we toured still had a "carriage stone" in its yard, a vestige of a time before we were the Motor City and carriages were the transport of the day. A carriage stone, we were told, would have sat at the curb of one's yard and assisted passengers alighting into their horse-driven taxi.

A "carriage stone" rests in the front of the mansion, a vestige of pre-Motor City Detroit

The 19th-century mansion is remarkable not only its contents, but in its glimpse of Detroit's grand history.

At the end of this weekend, thanks to dear friends and family, I was more informed and, yes, even more impressed with the history and culture of my hometown. I have vowed to become a better tourist in my own backyard.

Stay tuned for our next blog on the Detroit History Bus Tour!