Good Things Come in Threes...
Recently, my bandmates, and I—plus my hubby—went on an excursion to the “Motor City” itself—Detroit, Michigan!—to visit three very special places...
What are these three magical places? Read on to find out…
The weather was perfect. Not too warm, not too cool, sunny, with just enough breeze to make things perfectly pleasant. We left bright and early on a Saturday morning, listening to Motown music for the entire drive. I enjoyed listening to Ryan (who plays concert and baritone ukuleles in the band) and my husband discussing all kinds of things from the music we were hearing to the finer points of building restoration projects.
Our First Stop…
…Michigan Central Station, recently restored from a horrible fate of total disrepair. After being acquired by Ford Motor Company, it has undergone a huge reconstruction to restore its original beauty and structural integrity. (It was a real mess.). Ryan & Carol, who had gone on a guided tour of the building earlier in the month, told us all the stories they had heard about the amazing efforts that had gone into bringing back the original strength and beauty of the station's design. We browsed The Shop, where you can purchase copies of The Station: The Fall and Rise of Michigan Central - a book whose title speaks for itself, containing lots and lots of remarkable photographs—a great addition to anyone’s coffee table or library!
With the restoration finished, the station is once again able to be utilized for special events, like weddings and such, so there’s a bright future ahead. The grounds around it are gorgeously landscaped with all kinds of flowering plants and shrubs. We spent nearly an hour walking around, gazing at all the amazing artifacts that had been recovered and either photographed or put on display for us to view. My husband carefully inspected the walls, columns, and ornate decorative elements. Then, we noticed the time..
On to the Main Event!
When my husband and I learned of the existence of theMotown Museum, we both knew that we wanted to see it. That Motown Sound punctuated the background music that surrounded much of my childhood and teen years, so I was keen to check this place out. When I learned that the entire museum was going to be closed for eighteen months for construction, beginning October 1st, 2025, (don’t worry—when it reopens it will be bigger and better than ever!) I suggested to my bandmates that we might want to go before that happens. And here we were! We’ll go again once it reopens for the “before” and “after” effect, for sure!
We drove right to the place, found a parking spot, and got out and walked the short distance to the museum. It was on a wide boulevard lined with large houses (I grew up in a tiny cape cod house—every house seems large in comparison), complete with large, long porches and neatly trimmed lawns. Our tour began at 11am and, all together, there were about a dozen or so of us eager to begin. Our tour guide, Mr. Calvin Hobbs, was a friendly chap, and asked where everyone was from. One party hailed from Pennsylvania and there were—not one, but two—parties that came all the way from England!
Tidbits of the Tour:
There was so much to take in, but Calvin, our guide, was an expert at directing our attention to some very interesting tidbits of the tour. The first tidbit was about Berry Gordy, the guy who started Motown Records from his basement and built it into a small empire. In the process, he ended up buying several houses on the same street as well as the one directly across the street. Amazing.
Next was a musical video presentation that included several favorite songs from the early days of what later became known as Motown. We then went to another part of the house containing the current featured exhibition: one of the original “Funk Brothers,” Mr. Henry “Hank” Cosby, who played saxophone. The Funk Brothers were studio musicians who performed the backing tracks of almost every Motown recording—unsung heroes behind the stars and the hits.
Another tidbit included the echo chamber used to enhance the quality of the vocals, of which our tour guide gave a very convincing demonstration, using his best “I’m Stevie Wonder” voice. There was also a hat and glove donated by Michael Jackson. But there was more…
The House Where It All Began:
All of the houses in the Motown Museum compound are connected by passageways and we followed one of them to the house next door—the one with the “Hitsville USA” sign on it. Seeing that was like stepping back in time. The floors, the furniture, the phones, the typewriters… everything looked like it did back in the 60s because everything we were seeing was the actual typewriter, the actual phones, the actual reel to reel recording equipment, the actual candy machine… Our guide told us story after story of this person’s audition and that person’s first visit; and it was all so easy to visualize. Then, he took us to the basement where all the recording actually took place. The first thing I saw was the Steinway grand. THE piano that you hear on all those recordings. The one whose keys were played by none other than.. well, you get the idea. While we were contemplating all this, our tour guide, Calvin, had more stories to tell. He spoke about what happened that one time when Paul McCartney visited and sat down to play… As we gazed up at huge pictures on the walls of the studio—one of which was Smokey Robinson and the Temptations recording the hit song, “My Girl” — Calvin also revealed the studio’s secret method for choosing which songs to accept or reject… “My Girl” made the cut!
We made our way back to reality via the museum gift shop. As usual, my eyes were immediately drawn to the books; there was on autobiography of Berry Gordy titled To Be Loved that looked particularly interesting. There was so much to take in that it took me a while to process it all. Kinda like eating a large meal. So much yummy. Speaking of which…
Joe Louis Southern Kitchen
The final stop on our Triple Tour Day was *THE* Joe Louis Southern Kitchen. Once again, upon stepping inside you are transported to another world. The vestibule where the overflow waits for a table hints at being inside a boxing ring. We had fun with that. Inside, the restaurant is decorated to make it seem as though you are at a backyard picnic, only without the bugs! The walls themselves are pictures of vintage cars on green lawns. And the food is so authentically American and delicious that it felt like being at home. A very satisfying meal. And I am not a lover of eating at restaurants.
After finishing our meal, we took our leave of Detroit. We spent the next hour and a half sharing and reflecting with each other about the highlights of the day. Next thing you know, we were home.
Ah.. and it was still daylight..
