Dearwhat?
Today was a day off in Dearborn, MI. Not on my radar at all, but apparently it is a suburb of the Detroit, MI area.
Hotel
We stayed at The Henry, An Autograph Collection. It is a standard “boutique” Marriott property.
Location
The location is lacking for my taste in this context. It is conveniently located next to a mall and movie theater as well as easy access to the highway. For me however it lacked close “good” amenities.
Room
The room is comfortable although uninspired. It is spacious and has quality amenities:
Big desk with lamp and lots of power
Comfy reading chair with ottoman
Coffee maker - sounds obvious but lately hasn’t been
Refrigerator - thank you for not making me ask
ROBE
The bed is comfortable and the room quiet. There is no shower but apparently they are a disappearing breed.
Summary
Overall the stay is pleasant. Nothing stands out as strikingly amazing or terrible. Would gladly stay here again, but would be better with a great coffee shop nearby.
The Henry - 7/10
Exploring
Attempted ride to beer
I often travel with my Brompton folding bike. It helps save me from hotels like the Henry that are located in no mans land. The best is when I can combine the use for both exercise and exploration.
Not everywhere is bike friendly so I explore google maps with the handy bike trail setting enabled. I saw a nice long bike path that largely paralleled a river, so I searched for a good stop. My search led me to a brewery called Supernatural. I timed my departure for the afternoon so that I would arrive a little after they opened at 4pm.
The ride took me onto the University of Michigan at Dearborn campus where I joined up with the bike path. First I passed a ‘closed sidewalk’ sign so I looked for an alternate route only to realize it was taking me to the highway, so I turned around. When I got back to the closed path I saw a runner go down and thought “why not” I rode down the path for a couple of minutes only to come to a big fence near road work. So I turned around a second time.
Scouring google maps, it looked as if I could backtrack and cut across the river and later meet up with the bike path. The whole time google was telling me to turn around but I kept going. I was close to regaining the bike path (albeit with a good distance still to cover) when I ran into more construction obstructing my path. That was my cue to throw in the towel. I found a different brewery not too far away and headed back.
Lots of dead ends and backtracking
Dearborn Brewing company
I ended up Dearborn Brewing Company not long after opening. It was quiet inside save for a couple of regulars, the bartender, and (presumably) the owner. They had a nice selection of beers brewed in house. I tried the beer of the month - the gose - and a house IPA. The gose was light and refreshing but not crazy interesting. The IPA had a lot of flavor and character. Their snack menu left a bit to be desired, but I was hungry. I ordered some stadium nachos which were exactly as you would expect.
Dearborn brewing company - 6.5/10
The ride back turned out to be quite interesting. Google maps first took me to an entrance to the ‘bike path’ that didn’t exist. Some light circling and I found an alternate way to get on the path. Full adventure mode was activated though. It was a serious single track along the river that was certainly at the edge of what the Brompton was built for. Made for an exciting ride back through dense brush and ducking under trees hearing them graze off of my helmet.
Full adventure mode
Summary
All in all it was a good day off. Dearborn seemed like it would be bike friendly. The paths that I did end up on where great, I just couldn’t link it into a nice long ride. Watch out for the Waterfall Loop Trail. Not only did I not see a waterfall, but it was rugged. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back here, but would not complain if I did.