Biking downtown Detroit? Join the club, just watch your manners

Riding bikes in Detroit, it's been reported, is on the verge of making a resurgence.

Speaking one's mind in Detroit, we're pretty certain, never went out of style. Especially if your target is a quarterback or goalie, but that's another story.

We spotted this sweet rig chained to a pole on Fort Street, one of many roads, incidentally, that will soon feature designated bike lanes. Naturally, what most caught our attention about this chrome-fendered granny wagon was the basket decor.

Gotta love the D!

Nemo's Bar & Grill is still a pre- and post-game sports fan favorite

It used to be the most-famous pre-game bar in Detroit. And it might still be, except the game has changed.

When the Detroit Tigers moved from their long-time home at Michigan and Trumbull a decade ago, Detroit sports fans wondered about the future of places like Nemo's, a Corktown favorite that had become a pre-game cathedral for many baseball fans.

These days, even with the Tigers across town and Corktown a quieter area, Nemo's continues to thrive, thanks in large part to Red Wings fans who have embraced Nemo's as hockey game tailgate heaven. On school buses-turned-shuttles, fans can get to and from Joe Louis Arena in a snap, and while that same shuttle service also carries fans to Comerica Park and Ford Field, it's become especially popular before Wings home games.

If nothing else, a visit to Nemo's gives non-Corktownians an excuse to visit Detroit's most famous corner, get a first-hand look at the flat lot that once upon a time was Tiger Stadium, and get reacquainted with a Corktown neighborhood that continues to look for (and find) new ways to stay cool. Slow's BBQ is right up the street. Other old favorites like Hoot's and O'Blivions are still plugging along.

And in the middle of it all is Nemo's, the bar that many fans long considered the place to go before a game. And many still do.

Gourmet Hotdogs does dogs right at tiny downtown Detroit restaurant

Referencing our trusted Webster's dictionary, here's what we find under the entry for "gourmet": one who likes and is an excellent judge of fine food and drink.

Now apply that to hot dogs.

Despite the presumably unintended juxtaposition, Gourmet Hotdogs in Detroit is steadily earning a rep with the downtown lunch crowd, offering its various twists on our ballpark favorites, from its cole slaw-slathered Slaw Dogs to its signature Polish Boy. Not sure what's on it, I've haven't ventured that deep into the menu yet. Other favorites include classic Red Hots, All-American Hotdogs (Chicago style), Chili Dogs, and New York Dogs (mustard and sauerkraut).

And Gourmet Hotdogs does it all from a minuscule, concession stand-style kitchen on John R just off of Woodward. By all accounts, they're doing a fair business, especially on game days when foot traffic heading over to Comerica Park is heaviest. I, for one, will offer this. It's tough to beat one of the $5 combos – two dogs, a bag of chips and a Coke. It's a great deal on a quick lunch, and though I don't know if I'd qualify the dogs as gourmet, they are good.

Park plans scrapped. Lafayette Building site to be a field of grass

Where once the Lafayette Building stood – rooftop trees and graffiti-covered windows and all – now rests an empty lot, and rumors on the streets have said the city planned on building a park, neighboring the coney island restaurants and across Michigan Avenue from the Westin Book Cadillac.

We, in this space, have spent a little bit of time wondering what the name of the park should be, particularly since Detroit already has a Lafayette Park.

It turns out there might not be a need for a park name, because it turns out there really isn't going to be a park, at least not in the near future. In light of recent news passed along by landscape crew members working on site, plans have been scaled back and the entire area is being seeded. No trees. No sidewalks. No benches. Just a field of grass, which is better than dirt I suppose, but not quite a park.

To revisit our blow-by-blow of the Lafayette Building demolition, click on the Lafayette Building link below this story. There are some pretty cool photos, including a nice before-and-after.