WTF? It was 2am. Mike was sitting up in bed, having a blast. I felt left out. I started the sleep-talking intervention.
What's so funny!?!?
We're playing HOT POTATO! It's sooooo GREAT!
How could hot potato be soooooo GREAT? Especially at 2am? He must be playing it with a cute ex girlfriend, I thought, or worse, naked with a stripper. Suddenly, game over. Mike and company were done passing the potato. His head hit the pillow like a ton of bricks. Operation Snore Like A MF commenced. And there I was, wide awake. Nothing to do but keep thinking until my thoughts bored me to tears and/or sleep.
I reflected on what we did that day. We had spent 8-10 hours in the car, driving through the suburbs of Detroit exploring options for our relo. Due to overwhelming feelings of guilt, Mike drove the entire time. No wonder he was playing hot potato in his sleep. The poor guy was delirious and trippin' from all that road trippin'.
We started our exploration at 9am. Before venturing into uncharted territory, Mike swung by Walmart. He insisited on buying some local maps and wanted me to play Chris Colombus. (He has a weird Genoese navigator fetish.) By 9:20am, I threatened to hurl myself off the boat. We screeched back into the hotel parking lot. I sprinted into the business center and furiously plugged coordinates into Google maps thereby ensuring we would never be a team on The Amazing Race. Or if we were, we'd be the annoying couple who disagreed on everything.
Five reams and two staple-happy kids later, We hit the road and explored Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills, Bingham Farms, Northville, Plymouth, Canton, Grosse Pointe Woods, Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe. I got grossed out. It ain't pretty reading maps while driving around in circles.
"Why didn't we move to Philly?" I bemoaned.
Suddenly, we came upon the Grosse Pointe yacht club and a neighboring mansion. I estimated its worth at $10 billion. Things started looking up. Mike offered to buy the family a yacht for agreeing to move to Detroit. Unfortunately, sarcasm escaped the kids and they began naming their new vessel.
We covered so much ground, yet I was still lukewarm to Detroit. After living in Cleveland for 5+ years, there's simply no place like home. For me, Cleveland's calm. It's comfortable. It's a known quantity. Living here was effortless and I loved it.
But, what's life without some twists and turns? Don't the challenges keep it interesting? Detroit might be "meh" to me now, but I'm hoping it'll be as much fun as hot potato later. A girl can dream, right?
A Detroit Billboard: Billy Dee -- Lookin' smooth for 72!
If what you say is true, I might stock up on some
after we move.
Downtown Plymouth: Li'l Eminem loses himself
in the music, the moment.
1 comment:
I'm originally from Michigan - living in Cleveland now. My sister actually found an amazing deal on a foreclosed home in Bloomfield Hills. Great schools, great city and not terribly far from downtown.
I agree Detroit isn't Cleveland but there are a few good things about it - they are definitely trying to improve the city with the new stadium and baseball field and the casinos. At least that's a little somethnig positive to look forward to, where Cleveland seems a bit stagnant. I love it here but wish Cleveland would make the same strides Detroit has even though they have much farther to go.
Good luck in your search, I'm interested in following and seeing which community you choose.
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