Arrived at Detroit airport yesterday and called the hotel. “How do I get to you?”
“Okay, you take the south exit of the airport, get onto route blah, go 8.8 miles and take exit blahblah,….” I interrupted: “I’m not renting a car. Is there any public transportation?”
“Oh. Well, I think there are cabs somewhere near the Ground Transportation area.” All-righty then. This is the first airport I’ve ever been to that didn’t have a $15 bus that stopped at all the major hotels. Into the cab I got. Half an hour and $36 later I arrived at the hotel.
At the front desk after checking in I asked, “Is there an Appleby’s or Chilli’s or something around here to eat?” This was Sunday at 8:00 PM, I wasn’t looking for a fancy wine list.
“Sure,” he says. “Go out of the driveway, take a right. Go to the end of the street, take a left. Go 3 miles and there’s a bunch like that right there.” I said, “I didn’t rent a car—is there anything within walking distance?”
“Oh. Hmm. Well; not sure. Just past that Best Buy I think there’s something.”
Cue Laurie Anderson: Hey Pal! How do I get to town from here? And he said: Well just take a right where they’re going to build that new shopping mall, go straight past where they’re going to put in the freeway, take a left at what’s going to be the new sports center, and keep going until you hit the place where they’re thinking of building that drive-in bank. You can’t miss it.
Anyway, here’s a guy who knows the restaurants three miles away but doesn’t know what’s next door?
And then I realized, hello, Notio, you are in Dearborn, MI, on Mercury Drive, just off of Ford Road, about 0.2 miles from the Ford world headquarters. No wonder there’s no public transport. And hey, didya notice? There aren’t any sidewalks either!
Welcome to Motor City.
September 18, 2006