Seems the NSNC is not the only one re-discovering Detroit these days. No less than the New York Times is featuring travel articles about the city and how it is making a undiscovered comeback. While the rumors you heard about its decline were true, its demise has been exaggerated. And it is currently reinventing itself at an astonishing rate.
Many of the places mentioned by the New York Times are the very spots we’ve been talking about visiting at our 2011 NSNC Conference. Motown’s Hitsville USA, has not gone away. It is loaded with the memories and memorabilia of those fabulous years when the Motown Sound was the biggest buzz around. Rumor has it that the tour guides there are almost as entertaining as the tour.
Another not-to-be missed landmark is the Detroit Art Institute, newly refurbished, where we will be enjoying our Saturday night dinner. If you think you are unfamiliar with Diego’s famous fresco call “Detroit Industry,” you are probably going to be surprised when you recognize it from the dozens of times you’ve seen pictures in movies, magazines, and other places without knowing what you were seeing. Only this time you will be seeing it with your own eyes instead of through someone else’s.
What else did The Times find of interest in Detroit? Only the very hotel where we be staying and having our convention, The Westin-Book Cadillac. After falling into disrepair in sadder times, a $200 million restoration has brought the establishment back to it’s original glory from the golden era of Victorian times.
Surely you know that the automobile industry is the heart of the city and that there are factories and museums to testify to the part it has played, and is still playing, to make Detroit the Motor City capital of the USA. But, did you know that Detroit’s theater district is second only to Broadway? That’s just one example of Detroit’s surprises.
Of course, we have other places to see and other things to do to celebrate the historic past and surprising return of this often underestimated American city. Check out the New York Times for suggestions on other things you might find time to do before or after the Conference. But whether you come only for the fun and the terrific stories you will write, or whether you come out of curiosity to see how Detroit is reinventing itself, be sure to come. And there is no time better than the present before the rest of the world arrives.
