Detroit Nesties
mms04
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Any suggestions for a 1st time visitor?
We are going to Ann Arbor for my brother-in-law's wedding in early June. Since we'll be traveling from Texas and airfare is outrageous, I would like to stay more than the weekend. Is there anything fun to do around the Ann Arbor, Flint, Detroit area? We have 2 children, ages 2 and 4. Thanks!
oh, also...does anyone know if there is a place that I can rent a stroller?
Thanks.
mel
Re: Any suggestions for a 1st time visitor?
I would have to think more about specific suggestions, but I read your post and wanted to immediately say that I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT STAYING IN FLINT! Not a nice place. It reminds me of the movie I am Legend.
(Sorry if that offends anyone... I've only driven through it and was scared for my life!)
I'm no help with the stroller rental but as for stuff to do there is a bunch. Like PP said in Flint not so much.
Here is a list of a couple of things that could be of interest to you:
* The Detroit Zoo
* Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village
* Ann Arbor has a great hands on museum for kids
* Cedar Point which is about 2 hours south of Detroit. (an amusement park)
* Franknemuth which is about 90 mins north of Detroit http://www.frankenmuth.org/
* Traverse City (4-5 hours north of Detroit) is an amazing city right on Lake Michigan.
* Mackinac Island (5-6 hours north of Detroit) really fun place to visit.
This is just a short list... I'm sure other people will have better stuff to suggest for the kids. Enjoy your visit
There are tons of things to do here! I wouldn't worry about Flint, that is over an hour north of the Ann Arbor/Detroit area, so I doubt you'll be anywhere near it.
With kids, I would highly recommend The Henry Ford in Dearborn. It is a complex that has a museum, a historical village, an IMAX theater, among other things. You could easily spend a whole day there.
http://www.hfmgv.org/index.aspx Also located nearby is the Henry Ford Estate, and you can tour his home.
There is the Detroit Zoo (in Royal Oak), The Science Center (downtown Detroit), maybe you could even see a Detroit Tigers (baseball) game. You can walk along the Detroit River and see Windsor, Canada on the other side. Just FYI, I know Detroit has a bad rep, but the heart of downtown is actually pretty safe. In the summer there will probably be lots of people around and it will be bustling just like any other city.
I just wouldn't venture too far off the beaten path.
I'm sure there's lots to do within Ann Arbor as well, but I'm not as familiar with that area.
I am pricing flights and found that it is cheaper to fly into Flint. Is there any reason I should pay the extra amount and fly into Detroit?
Flying in and out of Flint is really easy and just as safe as anywhere else. The airport is smaller and much easier to navigate through than Detroit. I prefer it but usually flights cost more so I barely get to go there. As for things to do, nothing in Flint like pp said.
Agree with PP about Henry Ford Museaum & Greenfield Village & the Detroit Zoo. I'm not as familiar with Ann Arbor, but I'm sure someone will jump in that is. There is a ton of stuff to do in the area.
If it's a rainy day and you just want to go to an indoor play area- Java Jungle is supposed to be really good. We haven't gone yet, but my son's working toward a trip there now.
Taste of Ann Arbor I think is the first weekend of June (I think it's linked with a race I'm considering running).
Baseball game?
I assume your brother and/or SIL must live here or are from here? Maybe you could ask them to put together a few ideas for you and your family too.
Getting back to it- my diet and exercise blog
Losing it...Without Losing it
You can check one on the plane for free too!
Getting back to it- my diet and exercise blog
Losing it...Without Losing it
How are you going to get from Flint to Detroit? If you're renting a car, it's probably not going to add a lot of money to fly from Flint. But that's the only reason I'd fly out of Detroit instead - it's more like 30 minutes away, so someone local could pick you up or you could take a taxi. Flint is a little over an hour from Ann Arbor.
Ann Arbor is an awesome city! The Hands On Museum is great. U of M also has a free museum of natural history that is fun for kids. Lots of parks and the downtown area is very walkable.
Regarding the stroller, why don't you just check one?
Actually it's under an hour to get from Bishop Airport to Ann Arbor. It's "technically" in Flint, but nowhere near downtown, just like Metro isn't in Detroit. It's basically in Swartz Creek (sorry, I grew up west of Flint, yes the downtown area of Flint I'd avoid, but there's some nice places in the cities surrounding Flint that are wonderful). My aunt flies out of Bishop all the time & she loves it, esp. that it's smaller, you don't have the lines, etc. So I would do Bishop over Metro anytime if I could. Like ppl said, you can just gate check your stroller (that's what we did last year June & we have similar age kids as you).
Everyone's given tons of Detroit/Ann Arbor places that I think are wonderful. Around Flint, there is Crossroads Village, which is like Greenfield Village, only a smaller version. I would definately spend a day or so up at Birch Run/Frankenmuth.Birch Run has a huge outlet mall. Frankenmuth is a cute little German like town: Bronner's Christmas Wonderland is there, it's open all year round. You have to have a chicken dinner at Zenders or Bavarian Inn. Bavarian Inn also has rooms & they have a pool, indoor putt-putt, etc., it's a nice place for families.
Ladies- Thank you so much for all of your suggestions. I will definitely try to hit as many places as we can.
Regarding the stroller- I haven't flown in quite some time and had no idea that we could check it for free.
Thanks again!
All of the suggestions that are posted are fantastic and I would HIGHLY recommend the AA hands on museum. Our son loves it there!
Word of caution, both of the bolded places above are currently closed. The Henry Ford estate closed this Jan for a multi-year renovation and the Detroit Science Center had to close due to funding.