Greenfield Village / Ford Museum in December

My wife and I will be in the Detroit area for Christmas and have a couple of kid-free days (a rarity). I%26#39;m looking for fun things to do on Dec. 21-22 and am considering the Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. Cold weather aside, is Greenfield Village worth visiting in winter (i.e. is everything open)? I%26#39;d like to do the Village during the day Sunday, go grab dinner, then come back for the Christmas (err Holiday) event at night.

Any alternate recommendations in case the weather is bad? I can deal with a Ford-type museum with the nostalgia, etc. No art museums or music. I%26#39;m not that cultured.

TIA

Greenfield Village / Ford Museum in December

Christmas season is a particularly popular time of the year in the Village, so Greenfield Village definitely will be open during your visit and is worth a visit. In fact, the Village would be beautiful were we to have snow. Website is www.thehenryford.com.

If the weather is bad, the indoor Henry Ford Museum is adjacent to the Village (there are managed as a single entity) and you easily could spend several hours there.

Also nearby is The Henry Ford Estate, now part of the University of Michigan Dearborn campus. The Estate is open for scheduled tours and they have an on-premises restaurant. Website is: www.henryfordestate.org. They are offering a candlelight tour on Dec 21, but it sounds as though you plan to get back to the Village after dinner.

Greenfield Village / Ford Museum in December

Hello hikingmood,

Here is a web site the list events going on in Detroit and the Detroit area.

http://www.visitdetroit.com/

Here%26#39;s another, with a bunch of links.

www.downtowndetroit.org/ddp/calendar.htm

How old are you and your wife and what are your general interests? This may help provide alternate suggestions. Where are you staying? this can help as well in suggesting places outside detroit but more in the suburbs

I personally found the village boring. It%26#39;s old buildings moved from their original location. some have artifacts in them some are just empty with a note on what they are and where they came from. The museum is interesting. It%26#39;s not based around Ford - its various historical aritfacts form clothes to toys to cars of course

I live in the suburbs but in downtown there is the motown museum, science center (more for kids), Detroit institute of Arts, african american museum, Greektown (shopping and dining), Casino%26#39;s (3), or there might be some sporting events I think the Lions are playing the 21st (they suck so you can probably still by tics if not I can help).

There might be concerts, plays or comedy acts going on at one of the various downtown venues such as the Detroit Opera house, state theatre, Fox Theatre etc. Go to ticketmaster.com - enter in Detroit as your location and select to see events by date. It will give you a list of events by category in your date range

Thanks for all the feedback and links. I%26#39;ll check those out. Carrie, the Lions are an interesting option - you%26#39;re right, they stink but any football is better than no football.

Thanks again.

You can always go see ';White Christmas'; at the Fox Theater in downtown Detroit.

See a comedy show at ';Second City'; in Novi or ';Mark Ridley%26#39;s Comedy Castle'; in Royal Oak. Both cities offer numerous restaurants to chose from.

If you want to shop... Somerset Collection (in Troy) is worth checking out. Plus, they have some wonderful restaurants as well.

Of course, as mentioned... The Henry Ford is worth taking a tour through. A few years back I toured Greenfield Village in the winter, it was decorated wonderfully, but a lot of the buildings were closed.

Have fun and enjoy your kid-free time!

Hikingmood, you may already have plans complete, but if you get the opportunity, try breakfast at the Detroit Breakfast House and Grill on Woodward. It%26#39;s a couple blocks from the Westin, which by the way, has some decent rooms, for the downtown area. Have a great trip, and the Lions, even when not winning can still be a good option.

Thanks for all the comments. I think on Sunday we%26#39;ve decided to either go to a church some old college friends attend, or go see a movie. Then in the afternoon we%26#39;re going to try to find a sports bar and watch the Titans and Steelers. Way off topic from the original thread, but any suggestions? Our hotel is in Dearborn but we%26#39;ll have a car.

Cheli%26#39;s in Dearborn on Michigan Avenue may be the closest sports bar.

To close the loop on this, the weather was horrendous when we were in Detroit. Lots of snow and bitter cold temperatures, so we went for low-key, unplanned days. Some of the things we were able to sneak in:

- Titans/Steelers at Buffalo Wild Wings in Dearborn

- We checked out some great recommended restaurants, including La Pita and Buddy%26#39;s Pizza in Dearborn, Original Pancake House in Southfield. All were top notch!

- Courtyard by Marriott was nice. Not luxury by any stretch, and not having wireless internet was a pain, but we%26#39;d definitely stay there again.

- Movie - Yes Man (don%26#39;t recommend at all)

We had time to go to the Ford Museum but decided against it to allow for more leisure time.

Thanks for all the recommendations!