Thankskilling, Pt. I

Hey gang,

Thanksgiving, as you all know, is not the most anticipated Holiday of the year for Yours Truly. I've never been a huge fan of it, and most of that stems from the fact that it's more less a celebration of food, and relatively unhealthy food at that. Starches of shapes and sizes, sugar-laden desserts and dressings, tons of carbs and fatty dishes, and everything is some shade of brown for whatever reason. As someone who has made it a point to eat relatively healthy ever since I was in high school, having survived my middle school years overweight, there's not a whole hell of a lot to get excited about.

Abby grabbing something in the van's trunk on the drive down.

That, and the fact that growing up the Hough family was more or less cursed on Thanksgiving growing up. But I won't get into all that again, I've discussed all that before.

For the last decade or so, Kris and I have driven down to Romulus to celebrate Thanksgiving with her extended side of the family. Establishing headquarters at her Uncle Wayne's house, we'll spend most of the day with her mom's side of the family before swinging east (I think) about twenty miles and then popping in to her Uncle Jeff's to visit with some of her dad's side of the family. We make a day trip out of this downstate venture these days, usually getting home around 9pm or 10pm or so, and we've stuck to this routine every year since moving back to Michigan (with the exception of that Covid year, where, you know, society shut down and everything.)

Well, that's all gone out the window this year.

Abby tried out for and won a place on Michigan's All-Star Pom Team (back in July, during her Pom Camp at Northwood.) They take the best pommers from various schools around the state and create this giant, super-team of pommers, and they perform all over the world - going on trips, marching in parades, putting on shows and events, etc. We dropped a few hundred on Abby getting registered with this team, which seemed weird and frivolous 'cause it's not like they get together to practice or anything - they just pay for their spot then they have the option to participate in these big events that take place throughout the year.

Which brings us to today. Abby and the All-Star Pom Team were getting to march in Detroit's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, straight down Woodward Street into the very heart of the city. The pommers were to be staying in a Sheraton hotel in Novi (pictured above), and had to be there around noon on Wednesday (today) in order to sign in, get their room assignments (they'd be staying in rooms of four to five girls from their school), and then start rehearsals or whatever. 

And, of course, this was an additional $300/$400 fee - the hotel room, the dinner, the shuttling of girls from the hotel in Novi to the staging point for the parade start in Detroit, their pom uniforms, etc.

Dropping Abby off at the Sheraton Hotel in Novi.

The rooms were only for the girls, mind you, so Kris, Alayna and I had to find our own lodging for Wednesday night. Kris wanted to be somewhere downtown so we didn't have to drive in at the ass-crack of dawn and fight tens of thousands of other spectators for parking, and began scouring the Internet for Airbnbs. Eventually, we found a spot about a block from Little Caesar's Arena, and about equal distance to Ford Field - right in the middle of everything. This area just off the I-75 ramps, on John R Street, looked like a mix between classic, Detroit sketch and hipster up-and-coming'ness. Kris fell in love immediately, but as I kicked an empty bottle of vodka on the sidewalk aside in order to access the front door of the 1920's-era apartment building (our rental was an apartment up on the fourth floor), I had my doubts.

So, after dropping Abby off and getting her situated with the pom coaches, her fellow teammates, and helping her find her room, we loaded back up into the van and drove down to our Airbnb. We unpacked our things and settled in, then loaded back up into the van and drove downtown to walk around and check out all the Christmas-y stuff they had set up down there (in like the Campus Martius and other public spaces down there.)

This will be the first installment of a Thanksgiving Trilogy, if you will, that will see us round out our first evening downstate with a lot of walking around in the frigid cold, following by an even colder morning watching the parade (for, like four f***ing hours), then driving about a half hour away to once again pass another Thanksgiving with Kris' extended side of the family in Romulus, before returning home late Thursday night. Finally, the very next day, we set off for Clare to have our becoming-traditional, day-after-Thanksgiving family get-together with my parents and siblings.

Then, you know, the whole putting up the Christmas Tree thing later that night (while drinking Christmas cocktails and watching Some Like It Hot, as tradition dictates.)

An exhausting, busy three days, to be sure, but we got a shit-load of great pics and video out of the ordeal, all for your viewing pleasure.

Behold. . .

Arriving at the rear-side of our Airbnb, early this afternoon.

Floor of the lobby from the main entrance. The Jacobs is over a hundred years old, and is in pretty rough shape (check out this news story from Fox 2 Detroit) - the elevator was busted so we had to haul all of our overnight stuff up four flights to get to our apartment rental.

Fortunately, when we got into our room, we were relieved that it was much nicer than the rest of the building. Clean, plenty of space, and well-decorated (we only rent places from top-tier owners on Airbnb, it's the only way to use that site.)

Well, I wouldn't call the view 'scenic' by any means. . .

The bedroom Kris and I stayed in for the night. The pillows were garbage and we both slept like shit, but the bed itself and everything else was fine.

The living room (or, the only room in the apartment.)

The bathroom was nice and clean, but definitely old.

Looking from the bathroom back into the living room/kitchen area.

Setting up the Cannonball's bed for the evening (the couch folded down and came with pillows and blankets, but Alayna - ever the princess - brought her own pillow and blanket from home.)

The kitchen (we utilized the fridge and the coffee maker while we were here, that's about it.)

Patiently waiting for my roommates to get situated.

Cannonball approved.

Once everyone was settled, we bundled up and set off for downtown.

Exiting the ca. 1910 lobby.

A couple-minute drive later, we were downtown, driving around looking for a parking place (I had kiboshed Kris' earlier plan of walking from our Airbnb into Downtown Detroit - while it would've been safe at 2pm, I wasn't convinced it would be so at 8pm.)

It took us a bit to circumnavigate the roads down here, because Woodward was completely closed off in preparation for tomorrow morning's big parade.

We were lucky enough to find cheap, $10 parking for the entire evening right across the street from Detroit's Music Hall.

Kris wanted to grab a late lunch/early dinner at this trendy spot she had seen on social media, so she plugged that into Google Maps and we started heading that way. Along the way, Yours Truly attempted taking as many pictures as possible, but my hands froze quickly whenever I took off my gloves to do so.

Saw a few plays at the Fox Theater back in High School on field trips - pretty awesome inside, worth checking out if you ever the get chance.

Kris nabs a selfie with Alayna (and me, in the background.)

Comerica Park, across the street.

This one block of Columbia Street (I think that's what it's called), had lights and leaves strung up overhead it's cobblestones, so Kris wanted to get a pic with this stuff as well (you're going to see a LOT of Kris selfies in this post, folks - you've been warned.)

Some old-ass firetruck, parked here illegally, I'm sure.

Kris saw this place on Instagram or Tik Tok or something, and wanted to check it out. Happy wife, happy life.

Inside is like an old, retro shake joint, but they also serve booze, which is sort of odd.

Waiting to be seated.

After being seated, Kris ordered this $16 sangria she saw (yes, online), that had prosecco and pinot grigio in it along with the usual sangria and fruit.  

She was very excited about this drink.

I spent a similar amount of money on a bloody mary, which came with a whole bunch of stuff (including a miniature hotdog, which was weird), but honestly it was a huge let-down. I've had dozens of better bloody marys at restaurants before, and even when I make my own they're way better than what I ordered here. Oh well, lesson learned.

The Cannonball and her giant shake, which had a person's weekly allowance of sugar all in one serving (just look at all the cookies, donut holes, and frosting lining on that thing. . . I'm surprised she didn't develop diabetes consuming that.)

The joint was all decked out for the Holidays, which I guess was part of the appeal for Kris, who was really wanting a Downtown Detroit Christmas experience this evening.

My roommates ordered some food, but I was good with the miniature hotdog that garnished my sub-par drink.

The Cannonball of course ordered a cheeseburger. No surprises there.

Kris may have broken her own personal record of Number of Selfies Taken in a 24-Hour Period.

Not sure if this is for SnapChat or Instagram, but it's certainly for one of 'em.

Kris found this hilarious.

After our meal, we headed back out onto Columbia Street or whatever the hell it's called and found that it had gotten even windier outside while we had been eating indoors.

Continuing on towards the heart of Downtown.

This dude on a kid's bike rode up to us as we were making out way down Woodward Street and tried peddling his crappy rap album to me for $5, but I lied and told him I didn't have any cash on me. He asked if I'd take a picture of the CD and share it on social media for him (whatever you say, crackhead). He also ad-libbed a few bars about my sideburns while we were standing there, so I guess I got a little rap for free. So I got that going for me. 

Woodward Street, all blocked off for tomorrow morning's big parade.

Kris was hunting for this giant, lit-up bear that was sitting outside Hudson's - she had some kinda checklist of things to do downtown that she kept referencing.

We popped into a few shops here and there as we walked down Woodward, but we didn't buy anything - just browsing indoors from time to time in order to stay warm.

This giant tree in some square downtown. Kris attempted to get a selfie of us in front of it at first.

They had this ice skating thing set up for people, along with a few porta-potties that were available for paying customers (we asked if we could just use it without renting ice skates, and the Gen Z'ers working the entrance couldn't have cared less.) 

Kris asked some old lady at one point if she would be willing to take a picture of us in front of that giant, Christmas tree, 'cause she didn't like the way her selfie turned out. The lady at first video-recorded us by mistake, then had a hard time figuring out how to work Kris' phone camera. Eventually her exasperated husband stepped in and saved the day.

After getting some pics around the tree area, Kris wanted to walk down Fort Street to visit the old church her and I got married in back in 2006. It was like a four-block walk, and we were definitely leaving the Christmas-y, tourist attractions downtown, but it seemed safe enough. Along the way, I spotted this billboard advertising a Private Investigator course. . . I didn't realize that was still a thing.

Fort Street Presbyterian Church, where Kris and I were married about twenty years ago.

Alayna wanted a couple with the two of us posed in front of it.

These are the doors we walked out of a couple decades ago, opens up to the main sanctuary.

After getting a few pics, I was all about heading back towards all the touristy stuff - it was getting dark out and we weren't around a ton of people or anything.

It was dark when we made it back to the Tree (I think this is the Campus Martius square, but I could be wrong.)

They had some little pop-up shops around too, kind of like a heated Farmer's Market, selling crap like candles, and Michigan-related gifts, kitschy home decor, etc. We didn't end up buying anything, but feigned interest so we could duck inside the shops and warm up (it was brutally cold out by this point in time in the evening.) On the far side of the row of shops, they had this 'lodge' erected, with tons of fake Christmas Trees and seating inside, food and drinks, and - most importantly - plenty of heating. 

We skipped the drink line (pictured here), I was far too cold to be enjoying a beer at this point.

Warming up by the fake fireside. We hung out in here for about twenty minutes, until we had thawed enough for our walk back to the van.

The previously-mentioned row of shops, with that giant Christmas Tree in the background.

Kris and Alayna, making a friend on the way out of the lodge.

We hit up a bunch of shops on our long walk back down Woodward, towards where we had parked Kris' van hours earlier. I'm not sure what store this was taken in.

. . . or this one.

Coming back to Columbia Street, now that it's all lit up. 

Yet another family selfie downtown.

After a long, frigid walk through Downtown Detroit, we finally arrived to the parking lot and found Kris' van just as we had left it. The building adjoining the lot was all lit up for the Holidays as well.

A (very) short drive later, we were back at Jacobs Manor. It was kind of pain in the ass to park out back behind the complex because there was a Red Wings game going on a block away, and a bunch of people had crowded into the private lot (which is permit only - we had one that was left in a lockbox for us so Kris' van wouldn't get towed.) Eventually we moved a few traffic cones and created our own spot for the night, then made our way up the four flights of stairs back up to the room.

Bye, Felicia.

We dropped off Alayna and all our crap, locked up the apartment, and then Kris and I went back downstairs. She really wanted to get an up-close pic of the Little Caesars Arena for Abby, who's been really into hockey the last year or so. It was only a half a block walk from our apartment building, and there were people out and about, so it wasn't too perilous.

Back upstairs, Kris and Alayna finished off their leftovers and I had a couple Christmas-y beers that I had packed for the trip (this one was pretty decent.) 

We watched Brooklyn 99 for a few episodes as we wound down for the evening, Yours Truly whittling down pictures off his phone and Alayna working on college assignments. Stay tuned for tomorrow's installment, gang.

- to be continued. . .