Coolest Small Towns near Detroit (Wyandotte, Ypsilanti: restaurants, shops, eat)

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by Heather67

Lexington's a nice place to visit, especially if you're into boating. My sister and brother-in-law plan to retire there from the Pontiac area.

"Near Detroit", my ass, though...

[usroute10]

MONROE

It has a downtown teeming with historic architecture, is right on Lake Erie, is the location of a Fortune 500 company (Laz-E-Boy), and has a really nice state park adjacent to it (Sterling State Park)

BRIGHTON
Does Brighton have a downtown? It has a nice state park and a decent skiing area.


AMHERSTBURG, ONTARIO (25 Miles south of Detroit, MI)

-tourist sites includes the 1796 Fort Malden and a museum chronicling the town's contribution to the Underground Railroad and the lives of African Canadians who settled in the southwest Ontario area after escaping the U.S.
-nice sized small town downtown
-enviable location on Lake Erie and Detroit River

LEXINGTON
Lexington is less than 1.5 hours from downtown Detroit. It is basically a straight shot up I-94. The beach along Lake Huron looks magical.

CHELSEA
Jiffy Tours, beautiful downtown, near Waterloo State Recreation Area (like 21,000 acres!)

[North 42]

^ Amherstburg is a really nice, historic town, with a beautiful waterfront! Fort Malden is great, the DT is very quaint and historic, and the main wine region of Essex County is between amherstburg and Kingsville, home to almost 20 wineries with tasting rooms and restaurants. Also craft breweries and craft distilleries in the region as well.

https://www.epicwineries.com

[Coldjensens]

Nearly everyone from our township used to boat over to Amherstburg. It was a really neat little town. Last time I went there everything had closed up. The boarder crossing changes since 911 killed it. At least along the waterfront. It is a mess to get over there and back by boat now, especially if you have kids with you. Most people just don't bother anymore. I really like the town, but now, if we are going to sit though the crossing lines, we are probably going to go somewhere deeper into Canada like Toronto.


I forgot Chelsea, which is funny since i am often touting its charms.

Brighton has pretty quaint little downtown. It is quite nice now but expensive. Good luck finding a hamburger for under $20. You can, but it takes some looking.

I forgot about Monroe too. It is not real happening, but we got there in the spring or fall and go to garage sales. they seem to have lots of nice garage sales spring and fall. We looked at a really cool historic house on the river there before we decided it was too far away from everything and not real good school options. Still sometimes fun to wander around the area of that house and imagine what things would have been like. They have a park commemorating the Frenchtown Massacare during the war of 1812, and some Custer things. Interesting for a few hours.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by usroute10

BRIGHTON
Does Brighton have a downtown? It has a nice state park and a decent skiing area.

Sort of. It's just off Grand River, south of I-96. There's not much to it, but it's kinda cute.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by usroute10

[b]
BRIGHTON
a decent skiing area.

Mt Landfill is basically a speed bump with a chair lift. Even the snow is fake.

[highlanderfil]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Mt Landfill is basically a speed bump with a chair lift. Even the snow is fake.

Yeah, but it's pretty much the only thing we have remotely close to Metro D.

[usroute10]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Nearly everyone from our township used to boat over to Amherstburg. It was a really neat little town. Last time I went there everything had closed up. The boarder crossing changes since 911 killed it. At least along the waterfront. It is a mess to get over there and back by boat now, especially if you have kids with you. Most people just don't bother anymore. I really like the town, but now, if we are going to sit though the crossing lines, we are probably going to go somewhere deeper into Canada like Toronto.

That is really sad to hear. I bet that was a nice little perk to be able to boat over there and enjoy some things. Why is it so difficult to cross over? The Border Police?

[usroute10]

Originally Posted by highlanderfil

Yeah, but it's pretty much the only thing we have remotely close to Metro D.

Are Mt. Holly, Alpine Valley, and Pine Knob landfill hills as well, or are they natural hills?

[North 42]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Nearly everyone from our township used to boat over to Amherstburg. It was a really neat little town. Last time I went there everything had closed up. The boarder crossing changes since 911 killed it. At least along the waterfront. It is a mess to get over there and back by boat now, especially if you have kids with you. Most people just don't bother anymore. I really like the town, but now, if we are going to sit though the crossing lines, we are probably going to go somewhere deeper into Canada like Toronto.


I forgot Chelsea, which is funny since i am often touting its charms.

Brighton has pretty quaint little downtown. It is quite nice now but expensive. Good luck finding a hamburger for under $20. You can, but it takes some looking.

I forgot about Monroe too. It is not real happening, but we got there in the spring or fall and go to garage sales. they seem to have lots of nice garage sales spring and fall. We looked at a really cool historic house on the river there before we decided it was too far away from everything and not real good school options. Still sometimes fun to wander around the area of that house and imagine what things would have been like. They have a park commemorating the Frenchtown Massacare during the war of 1812, and some Custer things. Interesting for a few hours.

Amherstburg is doing well now, lots of new stores and restaurants have opened up in the past couple of years. The 2008 crash hurt many of the towns and cities in Ontario, but the economy is really good now!
Duffy’s Motor Inn on the waterfront had closed years ago because they wanted to retire, and their kids didn’t want to continue to run it for them. The town bought the property and is in the process of planning a redevelopment of the property, hoping to put in a municipal marina.