Things to do while you’re off between Holidays? I have a long list, even though I will be working and one of them is to visit the Detroit Historical Museum. Located at 5401 Woodward at Kirby, this is a delightful trip. I love their exibit, “Then and Now” on the second floor where they have a collection of 19th and 20th century photographs so you can see how the city has changed over the years.

The Historical Society offers a wide range of tours. Beginning in January you can tour some of the more famous buildings in Detroit. The Fox, Guardian, Fisher, the Gem and Renaissance Center. In March, there is a really cool tour called Historic Houses of Worship. This is your chance to visit St. Peter & St. Paul’s, the Jefferson Ave Prespytarian chuch and St. Joeseph’s Roman Catholic.

And one of my favorite sites is the Society’s web page. Not only does it describe it’s exibits at the museum, it has this neat time line thingy’ on the front page where you can click on a decade and find out what was happening in our town at that time. In addition it lists just about everything happening at the museum and within the Historical Society.

So if you’re looking for a fun afternoon for you and your friends or family, put the Detroit Historical Museum at the top of your list, k? Hope you enjoy a great Holiday Season.

Launched a little less than a month ago, Detroit 1976 is a great new site put out by Naviciti, the Detroit company behind the easy-to-use Map Detroit. Like Map Detroit, the site has an interactive map – but the cool part is, it’s a map of Detroit’s central business district (CBD) in 1976.

There are loads of other cool features, such as the ability to see aerial images of the CBD from as far back as 1949, but rather than regurgitate the post I just wrote about Detroit1976.com, check it out here.

Just finished viewing the documentary on the Guardian Building at Griswold and Congress. The film is being played on a 42″ plasma inside the lobby and it goes about fiftteen minutes. In glorious color, the images pop out at you. There is an informative narration of it’s history, the architech, Wirt C. Rowlands who also did the Penopscot Building across the street, and scenes of the D’ in the late 20’s. Really worth the time if you are in the downtown area. The film plays continuously all day.

By the way, when you enter, say hi to the extraordinary and ledgendary doorman/concierge/greeter, Christopher Roddy. He is the wagon master for free tours of the building everyday, Mon thru Fri from 10am to noon.

There’s been a lot of talk over the years that the small, 11,000-resident city of Farmington should “merge” (for lack of a better word) with its close neighbor, Farmington Hills, which has 84,000 residents. Tomorrow night, results from an $83,000 study – commissioned by the city of Farmington Hills – will reveal whether or not the experts think it’s a good idea.
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I already love Target for providing Target Free First Sundays at the Charles Wright Museum of African American History. To sweeten the deal, the museum has coupled its film series, which too is free on the first Sunday of each month through July 1, 2007. The Charter One Foundation has followed in the footsteps of Target and offers free admission to the museum on the first Wednesday of the month.

If you have a Santa costume or even a Santa lid, check out the annual Santarchy pub crawl tonight. This event is held every year since 1994. What started out with a dozen or so has grown to over 300 people. The only requirements are some type of Santa appearal and $20 to board a bus. The party starts at the Gaelic League, 2068 Michigan Ave. at 8:30. and proceeds to the Corktown Tavern, Lager House, the Old Miami, Harry’s, the Comet Bar and the 2500 Club. Here’s a hint for the guys out there. The women seem to wear less and less red and white every year! Happy Holidays!

The Ann Arbor Folkfest is coming! January 27-28 2007 at the The Ark in Ann Arbor
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I somtimes stop in the Caucus Club on Congress for an adult beverage before I head down the street to work. The other day I was coming out the door and, to my surprise, a man was on his hands and knees crawling into DeAvila’s flower shop across the hall. They have an electronic devise that beeps when a customer enters. Obviously he was a thief becaise he was trying to defeat it by coming in under the radar so to speak. I followed him in and, sure enough, he had already grabbed an expensive gift and was heading toward the door.
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The idea of buying or leasing “air rights” for space above a structure or plot of land seems absolutely ludicrous, but it is bit business in cities across North America. It appears that Detroit is getting in on the action as well. According to Crain’s the space above the Book Cadillac garage will be up for sale. I do not know much about this type of transaction, but I hope there are limitations to the air rights in the sense that a 200 floor building cannot be built that would obstruct the view of people who dropped thousands on the down-payment for a condo. In the case of the Book Cadillac, it looks like only 80 condo units will be built, but it is something to keep in mind when investing.