Our Art & Baseball Road Trip 2008

Sorry that I didn't get to blog right after our road trip, but I headed out to spend time with the family in SoCal for 10 days and didn't have access to my pictures. Then I got back from my trip and have been adjusting to Chris' working at home status. I figured that our readers will have to forgive me this time.

The last three summers have consisted of an art & baseball road trip, so this year wasn't going to be any different (even with soaring gas prices and my gas guzzling vehicle). When we found out that Detroit was going to play the Dodgers in interleague play, our minds were made up on where we would be going this summer. We also decided to combine our trip with a visit to see our friends who moved to South Bend, IN from Charlotte, NC.

We left on Friday the 13th and headed to Indianapolis, IN. The Indianapolis Museum of Art is open till 9 PM on Fridays, so we were able to get there before the museum closed. The museum sits on 152 acres of beautiful grounds and also includes the Lilly House, a 22-room mansion that was once the home of an Indianapolis collector and businessman. We didn't get a chance to tour the mansion, but the art museum itself was quite large and took up two hours (skipping parts because the museum was going to close). Best of all, the museum was FREE!!

After our cultural experience, we headed for a quick stop to Trader Joe's. Unfortunately the closest one to us is in St Louis, so road trip stops at TJ's are common whenever there is one around. Kansas City is missing out on this wonderful grocery store. If you don't know what I am talking about, there is the link http://www.traderjoes.com. It's kind of like a smaller version of Whole Foods without having to break the bank.

By that time, we were ready to eat some dinner. It was nearing 9 PM and we headed to the oldest restaurant in Indy. A German brewhouse called The Rathskeller http://www.rathskeller.com/default.htm, where we feasted on Brat 'n Kraut Balls (delicious), Schintzel and a combo plate of Wursts. The dinner plates came with soup or salad and the choice of two sides from their long list. (Pictures of the food will be posted to our shutterfly account as this blog doesn't allow us to post too many of them yet). Add in the sampler of beer plus my medium size (a huge 28 oz) and I was ready to go party in the biergarten where they had live 80's cover bands that night. But we knew that after a long day of driving, we needed to get to bed.

The sole reason for going to Detroit was to finally get a baseball game in and with the Dodgers playing, there wasn't any excuse. I hadn't heard too many good reviews of the city from various friends, but I was willing to keep an open mind and not really expect anything. Chris had also spent many weeks for work there when he first took his job, but he was stuck there during the winter (a season that no one would be happy with if they were stuck in MI). I had spent hours googling the Detroit area on things to do and eat, so we were ready to experience the city.

First off, we headed to West Bloomingfield for some dim sum. Over the years, I have ruined KS Chinese food for Chris because he had no idea that it wasn't supposed to be a sticky, gloppy, greasy mess until I took him to eat the real deal in LA. Also, after eating my mom's cooking, he has become quite the connoisseur of Chinese food. But who knew that great dim sum could be found in the burbs of Detroit at a restaurant called Shangri-La? I was greeted by a waiter who spoke Manadrin Chinese to me and I also noticed that the non-Asians were also eating the odd dim sum dishes like chicken's feet, which was a good sign. The food was very good (not CA good, but good enough to satisfy our craving) because it was fresh & hot plus there was a decent selection of items. After filling our bellies, we headed to the Detroit Institute of Art before the baseball game. The DIA is very impressive and just completed a remodel. Unfortunately, the game had a weird start time at 4:15, so our time in the museum was limited. When this happens, we hit the highlights and my favorite genres (Renaissance and Modern European Art--1900 to 1945). The Diego Rivera murals were well worth the trip up there if you can't make it to Mexico City and the museum is definitely a must-see for art lovers.

After the museum, we headed down to Comerica Park to drink $8.25 beers (one of the most expensive in the big leagues) and watch my beloved Dodgers get beat badly by the lowly Tigers (at the time only the Royals were worse in their division). But the ballpark was really nice and the people even nicer--surprising since we were decked out in Dodgers gear. Even more amazing was the fact that the stadium was completely sold out for a team that was barely out of last place (even without any promotions going on which seems to be the only time that the Royals sell out these days).

Our lovely time in Detroit was topped off by a dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant that was featured in Bon Appetit magazine a few years ago (a fun, funky & very modern designed restaurant with good food) and a breakfast at Detroit's Breakfast House & Grill, a very hopping breakfast spot in downtown. We waited about 40 minutes for a table and I was awarded with shrimp & cheese grits (yummy) on the menu. Detroit isn't as bad as everyone said, you just need to keep an open mind and enjoy the friendliness of the people. We were also amazed by the cleaniness of the city. It's really too bad that many of the downtown building are so run down because many of them are an architecture lover's dream.

After breakfast, we drove south to Canada. What? Yes, you drive from Detroit south to get to Windsor, the only Canadian city where you do so. From there, you get beautiful views of the Detroit skyline as seen in this picture which was taken at the Art Gallery of Windsor.

We also made a detour to East Lansing to visit the art museum at Michigan State. The art museum was disappointing because it's really just a big room in the art history department building, but they are in the process of building a large free standing building to house more of their collection. Here in Lawrence, we are spoiled with the Spencer Museum of Art. Many people think that most universities/colleges house their collections in a place like that, but that's not the norm. Most school's art collections are stored somewhere and not always in the most prime conditions, which means that many priceless pieces of art are sitting where no one ever sees them. Sad, but true.

Our destination was South Bend, IN to see our friends, Jaime and Lori, who are the proud parents of nine-month old Tegan. What a sweetie she is (even if she never sleeps)! We ended up taking a walk around Notre Dame's campus, then having a picnic there, a tour of the South Bend Chocolate Factory and watched some guys kayak down a kayak course. We weren't really expecting too much excitement in South Bend, but we were really only there to meet the baby and hang out with our friends.

On Tuesday, we headed back home with a detour to Omaha for a College World Series game (the eventual Champions Frenso State vs. North Carolina). As we have told people before, if you are a baseball fan, this sporting event is a must do at least once in your lifetime. It's a lot of fun (even if you aren't fans of any of the teams--but I always cheer for any of the CA schools since there is almost always 2-3 of them yearly) and the fans are super friendly. The grounds around the stadium have a party-like atmosphere filled with tents selling baseball gear. Since 2004, we have it to three CWS and we figured that as long as we were in KS, we would make it a yearly tradition. Maybe we can convince some of our friends to join us?????