Your Detroit Memories! (Dearborn, Redford, Buchanan: catholic schools, live, restaurants)

[Blue Grass Fever]

Originally Posted by and the

That would be Telway, much better than W.C. For a number of years there was a Rally's, I think, next door. Bad idea to locate next to a Detroit original like Telways. Rally's couldn't hang and is now boarded up.

Yes! Thanks!

Another memory: eating at the old Senate Coney Island off of Michigan Ave just south of Livernois and while i was sitting in the booth eating, i noticed a rat walking behind the counter. I got up an left in an instant without saying a word. (wasn't really sure of what i saw...) A short time after that, the place burned down.

[and the]

Another memory: eating at the old Senate Coney Island off of Michigan Ave just south of Livernois and while i was sitting in the booth eating, i noticed a rat walking behind the counter. I got up an left in an instant without saying a word. (wasn't really sure of what i saw...) A short time after that, the place burned down.

Michigan, WEST of Livernois. I think the rat was the mascot. Spent lots of time there watching the action go in and out of the 52nd Show Bar across the street.

My favorite bar in that area is Abick's. Still in the same family for about 80 or 90 years. Nothing in the place has changed in that time. Same pictures on the same nails in the walls. Same clock in the pictures from the 20's is still on the same nail on the wall, ticking away.

One of the siblings who owns the place still works the bar on the weekends. He was in the 2nd Naval Beach Battalion during WWII. Did you see "Saving Private Ryan"? The guy with the red half circle on his helmet who was there to blow up beach obstacles before the first wave came in? That's what he did, at Sicily, North Africa, Italy and Normandy. Not many of those guys left.

[Maxine3]

and the--
you really get around, and seem to know every inch of Detroit
A real "people person", as they say.
You should write a book!
Thanks, for sharing.

[MidwesternBookWorm]

I'm late joining the conversation - sorry, just saw it.

I grew up in Royal Oak, lived there from 1957 to 1975, and still have many memories of Detroit, though I haven't been back in decades.

I remember Vernors ginger ale; it was pretty spicy for my childish palate, but that was the only kind my folks would buy, so I learned to like it. Any other variety tastes insipid now.

I remember the Tigers' fabulous 1968 season so well! My dad took my mom (7 months pregnant) and me to several games that season, including the one when Denny McClain won his record-setting victory. I remember hollering and cheering for him at the end of the game, until he finally came back onto the field to accept the adoration of the crowd. I always wished that he had been able to handle his success better; it was sad to see him implode in the years that followed.

At one Tigers game we attended that summer, Dad went down to get us hotdogs, and while he was under the seats at the concession stand, there was a huge roar from the crowd. He hurriedly paid for his purchase, scooped up the 'dogs and raced back to his seat, asking us what had happened. The baseball ignorami (that would be my mother and me) turned puzzled faces to him and replied "the guy in the next row over said something about a triple play." Poor Dad, who had been attending Tigers games since he was a boy and had never witnessed a triple play, nearly fell over!

I remember going to the speedboat races on the Detroit River every summer with my dad when I was a teenager. I had a huge crush on the guy that drove the boat for Allied Van Lines - can't for the life of me remember his name now - and one year Dad took me downtown during the time trials during the week before the race, and I got to shake my idol's hand. I refused to wash that hand for days....

I remember my then-boyfriend (now husband) coming to visit me in the summer of 1976, after my first year of college, where we met. The poor fellow, who was from Kalamazoo and had never driven in Detroit, was absolutely white-faced by the time he pulled into my mom's driveway from the experience of driving on I-94. My dad encouraged us to go out to dinner together in Greek Town, but neglected to mention that the usual exit was closed for construction. We had an "interesting" time driving around in circles trying to find a place where we felt safe enough to get out of the car and find the restaurant! Though once we did find a place to park, we had a wonderful time and a great dinner.

I remember the Detroit Zoo with great fondness, even though it wasn't quite in Detroit proper. We'd go there every year many times, and when they installed one of the world's first penguin exhibitions, I remember taking out-of-town visitors there to see the little tuxedo-clad fellows swimming through the huge glass-walled tank.

Wish my dad was still alive; he grew up on Wabash, working in the family's print shop, and had dozens and dozens of stories. Thanks for starting this thread, and giving me an excuse to reminisce a bit!

[and the]

and the--
you really get around, and seem to know every inch of Detroit
A real "people person", as they say.
You should write a book!
Thanks, for sharing.

How's it going Maxine? Yes, I find that different people are what makes life interesting. I spent last night in the hangar at Willow Run Airport where Henry Ford made B-24 Bombers. The Yankee Air Museum lost almost everything they had in a fire a few years ago, but they still have a B-25, B-17 ,C-47 and a Stinson. Last night there was a 101st Airborne symposium with 4 vets, each of whom jumped in to Normandy, Holland and fought in the Battle of the Bulge and Rhineland campaigns. Also met some guys from the 555 Parachute Infantry Battalion, an all black parachute infantry unit formed in 1944. It was a very interesting night.

I know the west side pretty well, but I'm fairly lost on the east side.

[Maxine3]

Not going that great the past 8, or so, years, but thanks for asking
Guess that's why I am going back to the past so often.
I was born and raised on the west side. Schaefer & Plymouth area.
The east side was like a foreign country to us west siders.
Were you military or just interested in history?
I hope you will keep sharing your adventures.
Thanks.

[and the]

Not going that great the past 8, or so, years, but thanks for asking
Guess that's why I am going back to the past so often.
I was born and raised on the west side. Schaefer & Plymouth area.
The east side was like a foreign country to us west siders.
Were you military or just interested in history?
I hope you will keep sharing your adventures.
Thanks.

Just a history buff. Mostly WWII and the Indian Wars out west. Small world, you grew up right by where one of the vets from last night's symposium grew up near Schaefer/Plymouth. Can't remember what street he was on. He was telling us about the Depression. He used to trap rabbits in Rouge Park for dinner. Joined the Army not long after Pearl Harbor and volunteered for the paratroopers. After the war, he bought an airplane and flew all over the country. He said he held just about every job there was and didn't keep any of them for more than a week. This went on for about three years before he came back to MI.

My mom also grew up in the area on Allonby and later moved to the Lonyo/McGraw area (St. Cunnegunda's). I still go to the Supreme Bakery on Proctor.

[Maxine3]

I'm old, but not that old
I wasn't quite here yet during the depression.
My Dad lived on Cabot near Lonyo/McGraw from 1923 until he and my mom married in 1934. My Mom lived on Reuter.
I was born on Hartwell, one block east of Schefer.
Small world.

[and the]

Yeah, I didn't think you'd know those guys....They're all early to mid 80's now. Some of them are in better shape than I am....

[Jeanie Hoholik]

I grew up in Detroit and live in Minneapolis, now. I own properties in Plymouth, Michigan.

I really did live smack dab in the City of Detroit. I remember the riots, etc. I bet some of you on here know me. I went to Denby High School. I graduated in 1971. I am truly a lucky girl to have lived there. It has totally made me what I am today...I tough chick that doesn't mess around! On the other hand, I have a sense of humor. You'd pretty much better, or you're toast!