Known as “The Motor City” for its automotive heritage, Detroit is home to the Automotive Hall of Fame and Henry Ford Museum, but you’ll find the city is much more than a mecca for gearheads.
Detroit is a true midwestern gem that everyone should explore at least once. Driven by entrepreneurial grit, filled with cultural landmarks, and carried by a lively music scene, you may be surprised to find that one visit to Detroit isn’t enough.
Detroit Downtown
Eastern Market
In 1922, with the same trowel that George Washington used on construction of US Capitol, George Mason and Company laid the first cornerstone of the Detroit Masonic Temple. It’s 1926 grand opening was celebrated with a Detroit Symphony Orchestra concert on Washington’s birthday (Feb 22) and the tradition of hosting spectacular musical events lives on today.
The Detroit Masonic Temple is the largest Masonic Temple in the world, one of America’s most impressive examples of Gothic architecture, and it’s an amazing venue to see a live show. Even if you can’t catch a show, you should definitely consider taking a tour.
Across from the Automotive Hall of Fame you’ll find a museum that was founded by Henry Ford himself- the man who revolutionized industry with his assembly line technique and grew the Ford Motor Company to one of the world’s greatest organizations.
The museum doesn’t just catalog cars, it contains an astounding collection of manmade objects that tell the story of American innovation. Inside you’ll find JFK’s Limo, Rosa Parks’ bus, Abraham Lincoln’s chair from Ford’s Theater, George Washington’s bed, Thomas Edison’s Lab, and much, much more. In fact, “The Henry Ford” as it’s called, is among the largest indoor-outdoor museums in the United States.