We just finished our second-to-last week in metro-Detroit; we have 6 days left before we leave for Bay City. The past couple months have gone by quickly – faster than I would have imagined! It’s sinking in how close we are and is making us want to cram in as much as we can before we leave. I’ll write about our last month here a little later, but this article is about our last day in Detroit. Full disclaimer here – it was actually a combo of 2 days, since I am still working during the day.

The view of the ballpark from our seats

Wednesday evening, we drove down to attend our last Detroit Tigers game (baseball, for those not in the know). We have loved attending games over the past 12 years of living here, going to anywhere from 1 to 6 per season. We have been lucky enough to attend some playoff games (made possible by locking myself in my office the morning tickets go on sale, with my computer, laptop, and phone all fired up and ready so I could get the best seats possible). The game we attended Wednesday evening was our first of the season, but also our last – we’ll only make it to the one game this year. It was a beautiful evening – mid-70’s with a few clouds in the sky. The Tigers ended up winning 5-1 against the Seattle Mariners. We had great seats – first base side (our favorite), first row of the second level. It was a memorable time and we savored every inning and every at-bat, knowing it was our last time for awhile.

Pierogi and beer at Polish Village Cafe

Thursday, I was fortunate to be able to leave work a couple of hours early. We drove downtown and parked, then went to eat an early dinner at Polish Village Cafe. Ever since our trip to Warsaw, Poland back in 2013, we have loved eating Polish food and found the restaurant to be our favorite. We ordered our favorite meal – a starter of mixed pierogi, dill pickle soup, the mixed Polish plate for Jon with kielbasa, stuffed cabbage, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, and pierogi, and the Hungarian pancake with goulash for me. We drank our Polish beers and toasted “Na Zdorovie” to our last dinner there. It was delicious and exactly what we wanted.

After dinner, we spent a little bit of time at Greektown casino (parking was free if you play for 30 minutes, so we got comfortable at the penny slots!) before heading to Ford Field (the football stadium). We bought t-shirts at the merchandise booth outside before making our way inside for the Guns N Roses concert. It was an exciting show – opening by Alice in Chains, then a set full of classics by GNR. They played until after midnight, causing a late return home for us. It was well worth the shortened amount of sleep I got before going into work the next morning!

Guns N Roses concert

Now, we have the weekend in front of us with no activities planned. We will work on our trip – checking things off our to-do list. We’ll make yet another trip to REI (I’m starting to wonder if my paychecks could just be direct deposited there instead of to our bank account!) and have brunch at Roadside Bar and Grill for our last visit with friends.

The day (OK, two days to be technical) in Detroit was the perfect send-off for our trip. We have enjoyed going downtown for sporting events, concerts, mouth-watering meals, and to just enjoy the city. We both love living here and having the opportunity to do so many diverse activities – it will be hard to say goodbye. But we hold this day in the city in our hearts and minds fondly, and will be happy to have had 12 wonderful years living here.