On Nov. 18, the Seattle Kraken play the Detroit Red Wings in Detroit’s Little Caesar’s Arena. But you don’t have to be a sports fan to have fun in Detroit, a city with multiple nicknames: “Motor City,” reflecting Detroit’s car-manufacturing history. “Motown City,” thanks to its enduring music legacy. “Hockeytown,” self-explanatory. “The 313,” Detroit’s original area code, dating back to 1947. With more churches per square mile than any other U.S. city, it’s sometimes referred to as “City of Churches.” And my favorite, “The Paris of the Midwest,” reflects Detroit’s Beaux-Arts architecture and wide boulevards.
Did you know that a fifteen-minute tunnel trip from downtown to Windsor, Ontario, takes you south of Detroit? Settling into my (lovely) room at Caesars Windsor, a huge hotel and casino across the Detroit River, overlooking the U.S. city’s skyline, I thought I was facing south. So, if the sun sets in the west, why was it sinking in what I thought was an eastward sky? Turns out the international boundary between the U.S. and Canada — the Detroit River — curves sharply, placing Windsor on its southern bank, and Detroit to the north. Fun fact!
That wasn’t my first surprise. When I learned that Caesars is a casino hotel, I expected to walk through a gauntlet of cigarette smoke to reach the front desk, access the elevators to my room or the pool, and visit the restaurants. I was thinking Las Vegas, where you practically need a change of clothes each time you enter and exit hotels. In Canada, indoor smoking isn’t allowed. Anywhere. So, you reach your room in a casino hotel without smoke clinging to your hair and clothes. Nice. Why book a room in Windsor? Hotel rates are nearly half of U.S. costs. And Windsor, like Detroit, is a city on the rise, priding itself on delivering “southern hospitality.”
Both cities are associated with distilling whiskey and brewing beer. Windsor is also home to family-owned wineries that compete with larger, corporate wine producers in the Niagara region. The region is especially good for Cabernet Franc grapes. An $18 bottle from the Trius winery is only $13 in U.S. Dollars, and would hold up in a blind tasting against $50 bottles from Washington, California, or France.
Walk around and discover Windsor’s street-art. Beloved wall artists “Derkz” and “Denial” have multiple large-scale works on the sides of buildings throughout the downtown core, and especially the entertainment corridor known as WIFF Alley, where the Windsor International Film Festival is held each year in late fall. The 2025 festival runs Oct. 23 to Nov. 2.
Photo by Mindy Stern A classic Detroit Coney Dog.
Windsor and Detroit each have signature foods. In Windsor, it’s pizza. Detroit has Coney Dogs. Legend has it that two Albanian brothers who hate each other opened side-by-side joints on Lafayette Boulevard. A classic Detroit Coney Dog is a steamed, all beef hot dog and bun, topped with beef-chili (no beans), diced onions, and yellow mustard. I tried the $4 dog and $1.75 pop at old-timey Lafayette’s, the smaller place. Though half the size of a Costco hotdog, the toppings made it special. Next to me, a father and his young daughter sat down at the counter. “I’ve been coming here since I was her age,” he said. But the little girl wasn’t chowing down, causing the ancient waiter to eye her suspiciously. In heavily accented English, he demanded, “Why you no finish the hot dog?” Her dad was forced to apologize for her lack of enthusiasm. Maybe it’s an acquired taste!
The sign outside Antonino’s Pizza in Windsor advertises Angry Canadian pizza. The jovial owner, Joe Ciaravino, is anything but angry — friends came up with the name as a joke, and it stuck. Using secret recipes and cutting his pizzas with an enormous curved knife, he ensures that every pie is pizza-perfection. Don’t skip dessert — cannoli shells from Sicily filled with fluffy ricotta from a Windsor dairy. Yum.
For decades, Detroit’s grand old buildings sat empty. The distressed city lacked funds to tear them down, a blessing in disguise. As Detroit began its revival, money poured in and the Fisher Building, Penobscot Building, soon-to-open Michigan Central (train) Station, and others have been magnificently restored. Take an architectural tour and marvel at craftsmanship from the early 1900s, still glowing today.
It’s easy to reach Detroit and Windsor from Seattle. Check out the upcoming Windsor film festival, root for your favorite team, and explore what these cities have to offer. Delta and Alaska offer non-stop flights. And if you can, visit SeaTac’s brand-new Delta lounges by gate A-11. Looking out at Mount Rainier, you’ll remember why it’s always good to come home to Seattle.
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Meanderings is an award-winning travel column by Mercer Island resident Mindy Stern. For more essays, or to comment, visit www.mindysternauthor.com.
