Out and About in Detroit - Warm Day 1

The weather this past week has been in the mid 60's in Detroit (except for today), so I took advantage of the warm temps and headed out and about for a walk. Darius lives in the University District of Detroit, and when getting onto some of the expressways we travel on Livernois. The street is lined with businesses, some opened and some closed or boarded up. I decided to set out for my afternoon walk along Livernois and check out some local Detroit businesses. Throughout my five mile walk I came across some stores that I can't wait to go back to:

My first stop was at Foot Locker where I discovered my next pair of running sneaks. As I walked down towards 8 Mile, I saw a few clothing stores, salons, and an old furniture stores. Nothing that I was really looking for, so I didn't stop in the stores. I crossed over Livernois at 8 Mile and head south on Livernois. This side had a lot more places that interested me.

The first being Bakers Keyboard Lounge. I've heard about this place a few times from locals and it must be a historic lounge. Darius and I have a "Things to do in Detroit" list and this is one of the places on it. They have Jazz artists almost every night of the week. Stop by the website and pick a night that may be of interest to you. If you're one of my friends here in Detroit and are interested in going then lets make it a date together! Baker's also has dinner and lunch menus for dining in or carrying out.

The next place I stopped was a shoe store, I didn't grab a card, but I think it was called SHB. Either way I was loving the fact that I saw this little bar area as you walked in. Very cool. They had a few other items besides shoes: purses, sunglasses, belts, and a few hats. One hat in particular that I loved, but as a full-time college student it is currently not in the budget.

I continued down the street and came upon 1917 American Bistro (the carryout menu says the website is coming soon, so I put the link in for future reference). Darius mentioned this place, so I figured I would grab a menu. It was a quaint little bistro with a nice atmosphere. They are open daily: Mon-Sat 11am - 11pm, and Sunday 10am-3pm. They offer catering services onsite and off, and also have carryout available. They invite large parties as well.

The next place entered was SCCS - Simply Casual Clothing Store, and found a shirt that I will have, maybe not right this moment, but I will be going back to buy it. As I continued to browse around, oh what to my eyes shall appear...another bar like I saw in the other store. So I had to ask. These stores are owned by the same person and on Friday and Saturdays you can enjoy some complimentary drinks while you shop. Such a cool idea! Can't wait to go back and sip some wine while I buy my new shirt!

My next stop was Shabach High Praise Bakery....YUM! They had a ton of baked goods and everything looked delicious! Not figure friendly, but sweet tooth and chocolate craving heaven! They do custom cakes and also have bagels and ice cream. Be sure to stop by and visit them. As I continued down the street towards McNichols I kept seeing this boy with a green apron on pushing a cart. Since living in Detroit, I've become accustomed to seeing almost anything and everything that I never though existed, but once I finally caught up to this boy I saw one of the coolest market and business ideas. Shabach Bakery had an employee out walking the streets to spread their sweet treats to other local businesses. GREAT IDEA!