Well, time to give the report on Saturday night in Detroit for Super Bowl weekend.  To sum it all up, I had a GREAT time and this will be a bit long…

I picked up my brother and then my friend Cricket around 9:00… I figured that if we got there a bit later that it might save us all some money.  From Cricket’s house we headed to Wayne State where I was hoping I could park with my One Card and save the $10 they were charging everyone else to park there.  And luckily it paid it off! We trudged across the snow to find the shuttle pick up spot that would take us down to the festivities.  It was snowing pretty good, so by the time we finally got on the bus my hair was soaked, but the bus was nicely heated so I was fairly dry by the time we finally arrived to the overly crowded and hectic corner of Cass and Fort.  From there we tried to call my friend Jackie but I wasn’t able to get through to her. So we literally squeezed onto the People Mover.  After a couple stops we were able to get in touch with her.  She was the Renaissance Center so we got off, one stop too early and made our way to meet her there.

The first stop was, of course, to get the three of some alcohol.  Though a bit over priced it was nice to quench the thirst.  We walked around the Ren Cen a bit and even watched the end of ESPN Sportscenter being broadcast.  (See picture of ESPN set in photos).  Once that was done Jackie suggested we head back to Woodward and find some more of her friends and a bar.  As we were walking to the People Mover (PM) station my brother spotted Scott VanPlume (sp?- the Sportscenter broadcaster), we waited a minute or two and he asked him to take a picture, which I snapped. Anyway, after THREE attempts to get the five us (see other pic in My photos) on the PM we finally managed to squeeze in.  It was so tight that I was a bit worried my bro was going to get pushed out.  I literally could NOT move it was so tight.  Cricket suggested I take a picture but I couldn’t even move to reach my pocket.  After a few stops the PM got to be a bit roomier, I could at least lift my arms, if needed.

We got off near Comerica Park and decided to walk down Woodward and look at some of the sites.  They had some really cool ice sculptures on display.  One was a car (see pics).  They also had the logos of each NFL team carved in ice.  Although it was pretty late by this time, somewhere around 12, there were people everywhere with drinks in hand.  We attempted to get into Jackie’s friend’s bar but as they weren’t letting ANYONE in because of the crowd we decided to head to the larger Hockeytown Café, which we got into after a short wait.  We stayed in Hockeytown, surrounded by Steelers fans, until close and then walked our way back to Fort and Cass to catch the shuttle back to WSU.

It was 2:30 by this time and as the shuttles were supposed to stop running at 3am, our bus driver decided to wait around until after 3 before heading back to campus.  So finally, with a full bus of tired and drunk people we made our way back.  I had a very loud girl behind me arguing with a boyfriend (I think).  In an attempt to bring peace and camaraderie to the bus I tried to get a sing along of Kum-by-ah (sp?) started. That didn’t work so I tried out a few other ‘peaceful’ songs including “Give Peace a Chance” and “All You Need is Love”.  One of the guys sitting near us said to me, “You’re evil!”  A bit hurt by this comment I said, “What are you talking about?” Pointing to my heart,  “I am filled with love. Love!”  For some reason he didn’t seem to believe me.

Anyway, we finally made it back to my car, after getting to know our fellow passengers, whom were all very nice, sometime between 3:30 and 4am.  Handing my keys to my brother he drove us home.  I think I finally landed in my bed around 4:30-5am. Whew, what a long, but very fun night.  It was neat to see Detroit actually looking half-way decent and filled with people.  Most people we met (with the exception of a crabby worker or two) were super nice.  Everyone seemed in a good, festive move and just excited to be there for the celebration.

Although the Super Bowl is now over, Detroit is still buzzing with talk of the event.  I for one was surprised that Detroit was able to pull off such a large event.  I know, that I, and many others were worried that it was going to be an embarrassment and were pleased to see that it was put together so well.  Kudos to Detroit, now how about keeping up the good work and make it respectable once again?  One can only hope…