No ticket to the Final Four games? Or maybe there’s just really no interest at all? (Uh-hem -- yes, that includes me and probably several other people — sorry sports fans).
That’s okay. You don’t have to be a part of the games or even give a damn about them at all -- even if you're stuck in the dirty mitten during Final Four weekend. Here are some alternatives to try while you’re in the D, as opposed to just watching the college hoops.
Art anyone?
Believe it or not, culture comes in all shapes, sizes, colors and genres in metro Detroit.
Turns out there are lots of local exhibits to choose from this weekend, too. Take a ‘trip’ back in time as the Lorenzo Cultural Center in Macomb County presents "The Sixties: A Decade That Defined A Generation."
Dreams of a more perfect world can be sought after at the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn during the “Utopian Visions” art exhibit. The junkman art of Michael Dion and the catastrophic hauntings by Joan Painter Jones can also be found in “Spontaneous Combustion: Found Art by Joan Painter Jones and M-80” at the Zeitgeist gallery in Detroit.
Bowling for J-O-Bs
Basketball ain't the only sport scoring this weekend.
Any pinhead can go to many of the area Detroit bowling alleys where it’s not only cheap fun, but it’s where Goodwill Industries of Detroit is wrapping-up their fund-raiser Bowling for Jobs’where some of the proceeds go to a good cause -- keeping the economy going.
Shine up those balls and hit the lanes because we all want and need them -- jobs that is. What did you think I was talking about (Get your mind out of the gutter - ha!)?
Other game options: one of metro Detroit’s casinos, like the MGM Grand or the MotorCity for cards, or try your odds at Euchre night with the Metropolitan Single Professionals at Drakeshire Lanes in Farmington Hills (shoot, you might as well be considered single if your man’s tied up with the Final Four games.)
Eats, booze and bars
You can’t take a trip to Dee-trooiit without hitting up the area iconic restaurants and bars. Snag a classic Coney at Leo’s Coney Island, sip some brews at the Detroit Beer Company on Broadway, and do some tasty shopping at the Eastern Market. The club/nightlife definitely comes alive in the Motor City once the sun’s down too, so why not head to Town Pump Tavern for beers and burgers, martinis and DJs at Centaur Bar, a music variety at Northern Lights lounge and Recession-Proof Fridays at Harpo’s.
Show tunes and live entertainment
Maybe catching some live theater and musical entertainment is more of your thing? There’ll be plenty of it this weekend with “Sweeny Todd” at the Fisher Theatre and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at Wayne State University.
Comedians should check-out Joey’s Comedy Club in Dearborn or Livonia or “The Go Comedy! All Star Showdown” at the Improv Theater in Ferndale. Open-mic night poetry takes place at the Russell Industrial Center in Detroit, while music can be heard at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, the Magic Bag in Ferndale or the art of hip hop at the Artists Village in Detroit.
