Sam Barrett has lived in Detroit for nearly five years and has spent nights and weekends exploring the city with his wife and friends.He gives us a fascinating glimpse into this famous, yet somehow mysterious city and its environs. You can find out more about Sam at his website here. I especially like his suggestion to take the family to the roller derby–a fun day for everyone? I wonder if he will still recommend that when he has a two year old in tow? I think he would and if I ever get to Detroit that will be first on my list.

1. Give 5 adjectives that you would use to describe the “feel” of Detroit and its residents.
Hardworking, rough, loyal, forgiving, enthusiastic

2. What is your favorite neighborhood in Detroit?
Royal Oak is a hip neighborhood with trendy shops, a community college, and many production studios used to cut commercials for the auto industry.
Hamtramck is a blue collar German town right north of downtown that is home to a few famous dive bars where the MC5 played.
Ann Arbor is home to the University of Michigan and is the liberal hub of Michigan with many professor types and a new Google office.
Personally I love Hart Plaza downtown with the giant matte black arm swinging from a pendulum, and all the old relics of a once thriving powerful city.

3. Which cuisine do you think Detroit does best? What is the runner-up?
Detroit has the best burger joints in the nation. In fact I saw in a poll, 3 out of the nation’s top 20 burger joints were in the Detroit metro.
A close second would either be Greek salad or Mediterranean food. La Shish is a hugely popular Mediterranean restaurant chain in MI.

4. What is the best free thing to do?
It used to be the Detroit Electronic Music Festival which was the largest free Electronic Music festival in the world. Now it would be the Dream Cruise, a summer event where car enthusiasts gather around Woodward Avenue to see classic and current hot rods drive the strip.
Visiting one of the Great Lakes is free and beautiful. Michigan has the longest fresh water coast line in the world. Looking at the state on a map you’ll see it is made up of two peninsulas.

5. What is your favorite type of entertainment?
Roller Derby – Detroit has the best roller derby teams in the nation.
Hockey – Detroit borders Canada and the Red Wings just won their 11th Stanley Cup.
Music – World class rock legends have come out of Detroit. The Stooges, The White Stripes, Bob Seeger, Kid Rock, MC5, Patty Smith, Eminem, Detroit Cobras, etc.

6. List the best family friendly activity.
Roller Derby – The bouts can be brutal but the musical chairs, hula hoop, and high school gymnastics in-between periods make it fun for everyone.
Detroit Auto Show – The biggest most influential auto show in North America. Showcasing cool future cars, new green technologies, and tons of people, the whole family could spend all day dreaming of their next ride.

7. What spot would you send a couple, looking for a romantic weekend?
Either Traverse City, South Haven, or the Renaissance Center downtown.

8. Describe a perfect day…one that captures what your area/city is all about. In 3 sentences or less.
A perfect day in Detroit would be attending the Blues festival at Hart Plaza, swimming at Belle Isle (a ten minute drive from downtown), and watching an old black and white at the Detroit Theatre.

9. Tell us about a place that you love to go, whether it is in the guidebooks or not.
Ann Arbor art fair. It is huge and it envelops the entire college town for a week.

10. What should we have asked, but didn’t?
• What’s your favorite sports team in MI? Detroit and the Midwest in general go nuts about sports.
• A question related to the auto industry. People here live and breathe by the success of the Big Three (GM, Ford, Chrysler).
• A question about Canada or Ohio to drive people crazy.

Want to share, brag, or tell about your town? If so, send an e-mail or comment on this post–then you can be our next local expert!

If you’re planning a trip, check out flights to Detroit.

This local’s perspective is by Miles Traer. Miles grew up in Chicago’s backyard and so knows the city through and through. He speaks knowledgably- and so passionately about his hometown that he has convinced me to put Chicago at the top of my ‘short list’ of places to visit. Whether you prefer beer and baseball or fine cuisine and architecture, Miles has covered this city as only a local expert can. Enjoy!

1. Give 5 adjectives that you would use to describe the “feel” of Chicago and its residents.

Proud, enthusiastic, sarcastic, jovial, gregarious

2. What is your favorite neighborhood/area of Chicago?

There are so many niche neighborhoods in and around Chicago, but my personal favorite is Wrigleyville. It has everything you want in a Chicago neighborhood: great people, that 1920’s style architecture, great bars, and a ton of places to pick up a polish sausage and watch the baseball game. For something a little more unique to Chicago, check out Greek town. Some of the best hidden restaurants in the city are here.

3. Which cuisine do you think Chicago does best? What is the runner-up?

Chicago is home to some of the best food in the country. But if you had to pick a single style, it would have to be the steak house. Going all the way back to the time of the Union Stock Yards, Chicago has steak down to a true art form. There’s Morton’s Steak House for a fabulous atmosphere and a fantastic meal, or Gene and Georgetti’s for a classic Chicago meal – get the garbage salad! There are too many runner-ups, but I’d be remiss not mentioning Frontera Grill (best Mexican in the country), Pizzaria Uno (birthplace of deep-dish), and the Billy Goat Tavern (home of the cheezborger).

4. What is the best free thing to do?

Provided you can keep your wallet safely locked in your pocket, a walk down Michigan Avenue is the way to go. Otherwise, a walk along Lake Michigan during the summer with a stop by Buckingham Fountain is a beautiful way to spend a day.

5. What is your favorite type of entertainment?

There is nothing that compares to a baseball game during the day at Wrigley Field. After the game, run over to Second City and catch the late-night improv set.

6. List the best family friendly activity in Chicago.

A trip to any of the amazing museums in Chicago. For the kids, the Museum of Science and Industry is amazing – hands on, entertaining, and the coal mine exhibit still gets me.

7. What spot would you send a couple, looking for a romantic weekend?

A stay at the Drake Hotel in a room overlooking Lake Shore Drive is about as perfect a stay that I can imagine.

8. Describe a perfect day…one that captures what your area/city is all about. In 3 sentences or less.

The perfect day starts with a game at Wrigley Field. After that, take a cab over to the Chicago River and take the architecture cruise while catching some sun. Finish the day with dinner at any of the fantastic restaurants and a spin on the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier.

9. Tell us about a place that you love to go, whether it is in the guidebooks or not.

The Art Institute of Chicago is an absolute must for anyone visiting for the time, and anyone living there for that matter. It houses the most impressive collection of art outside of the Met in the country.
A personal favorite that you won’t find in any guidebook is the midnight show of “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind” at the Neo-Futurarium (5153 N. Ashland). This is an improv comedy club that won’t kill the wallet the way the top shows at Second City might (just $7 plus $1 times the roll of a die). Hilarious.

Want to share, brag, or tell about your town? If so, send an e-mail or comment on this post–then you can be our next local expert!

Thanks to Laffy4K for the Chicago picture!

This local’s perspective was written by Betty Osborne. Betty spends half the year living in Santa Fe and has done this for the last 10 years. She was a devoted vacationer there even before that. In my opinion, there is no better expert on the restaurants and culture of Santa Fe. Read below for her expert guide on one of our country’s oldest and most beautiful cities.

1. Give five adjectives that you would use to describe the “feel” of Santa Fe and its residents?

Diverse, Eccentric, Different, Historical, Beautiful

2. What is your favorite neighborhood/area in Santa Fe?

The central Plaza (and I include up Canyon Road in a sweeping sense) is a great mix of old and new and in spite of a growing generic feel to the shopping, still retains a specific character. There are so many surrounding scenic spots that it is hard to target any one, but they are mostly at a driving distance. Because so much is “behind adobe walls” neighborhoods here are hard to “see.”

3. Which cuisine do you think Santa Fe does best? What is the runner-up?(feel free to share your favorite restaurants)

Northern New Mexican cuisine is very fine here from the freshest at La Casa Sena, Café San Estevan, Mucho Gusto & Santa Fe Grill to the more predictable at La Choza, and Maria’s. Then there are the multicultural, French, Fusion, Mixed Southwest, American restaurants– with Geronimo, The Compound, Santacafé, Ristra, and the O’Keeffe Café-at the top end and Celebrations, Tulips, Café Paris and Agua Santa- in the middle. For Italian fare, go to Il Piatto, Il Vicino and Osteria. Try Harry’s Roadhouse and Bob Cat Bite for the low end. All mentioned have superb freshness as part of their offering. There is a broad offering of many kinds of food at varying price levels. Santa Fe is justly proud of it’s breadth of restaurants, especially for a town of it’s size.

4.What is your favorite type of evening entertainment in Santa Fe?

Hands down, Eating Out is best. The nightlife is fairly limited, though a few bars are open after 10:00pm. It is really not a “late night” town. Certainly, in the summer, the music is splendid. The Opera runs mid-July to three quarters into August and there is nothing more glorious than sitting in this partially outdoor theater, looking through to the mountains. A Chamber Music festival runs simultaneously and music of excellent high quality (big name performers love to come) can be found day and night.

I must mention here the sheer number of Fiestas/Festivals in Santa Fe. Though they are primarily daytime, they often have night functions. There is the famous Indian Market (which has been around for decades), Spanish Market, Folk Art market, Wine & Chile Festival, Jazz Festival, the Lavender Festival and even the very old and more local “Fiesta” in September- where Old Man Zozobra is symbolically burned away, as one lets go of all the bad feelings of the year. It is combined with a historical pageant too.

5. List the best family friendly activity?

Well, I will be honest here—while there are many fun things for kids to do in Santa Fe (and even a BOOK about them! Santa Fe with Kids From A to Z) I feel it is more a city for adults. Having said that, if I had to pick one spot for families, it would be Museum Hill where there is a fantastic Folk Art Museum with a kids area, an Indian Museum with a kids area, and the tiny Spanish Colonial Arts Museum with a tiny kids area. There is a ‘magic labyrinth’ in the middle and a very good restaurant for when you are exhausted from touring. There is enough space for small children to run around too!

6. What spot would you send a couple, looking for a romantic weekend?

If expense were no object, either the Inn of the Anasazi or the Inn of the Five Graces are very fine. There a many excellent B&Bs too. I am partial to the old St. Francis Hotel, but only certain rooms. La Posada keeps having management problems and La Fonda, while the oldest and most charming, is loud. Start with breakfast at Pasquals, then wander up Canyon Road and look at the art galleries. Santacafé is good for a long lunch with good wine and visit Ten Thousand Waves for a dual massage and a dip in their private hot baths. For dinner, Geronimo would be my choice of a top table in the evening. A more casual evening would find you at El Farol where they often have live music-but it is not so intimate. This is not a cheap day!

7. Describe the perfect day…one that captures what your area/city is all about? In three sentences or less.

A beautiful, perfect cerulean blue Santa Fe sky, three fine meals at excellent restaurants, a walk through galleries and museums, a short hike to a hill-just high enough to see the magnificent Northern New Mexican mountains, and if the weather permits- sitting outside somewhere with a glass of wine or a margarita or two. There is a sense of timelessness in Santa Fe that seems to slow you down and make you take time to savor small things.

8. Tell us about a place that you love to go (that might not be in any guidebook)

There is something heart-stopping about the overlook at White Rock in Bandelier National Monument that puts you in your place in the world. Take a picnic as there are many tables. But, just driving around Santa Fe’s tiny old neighborhoods with their eccentric folk art, native plants and charming adobe wall is sight-seeing enough for me.

9. What question did we not ask that we should have (and answer it, of course!)?

Somehow there was not a place to mention the splendid Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and it’s two properties at Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch. This museum has brought the quality and level of seriousness in art and public offerings up a big notch in the last ten years. It should be on anyone’s list of things to see in Santa Fe. For a little town this is a very culturally interesting place.

Want to share, brag or tell all about your town? If so, send an email or comment and you can be our next local expert!Thanks to Puroticorico for the nice Santa Fe picture.