I have never been a huge fan of long road trips. The most I can really handle without being irritated is 5 hours and that is pushing it. Now don’t get me wrong I have done the long drives (Virginia 14 hours, New York 13 hours, and Alabama 10 hours.) We did several stops and left at night so that we could be sleep for the bulk of the trip. I was still pretty moody by the time we made it to our destination. However I am never the driver I am mostly the DJ, snack provider, and comedian. I don’t like to drive in Chicago let alone in another state.
When my husband and I decided on traveling to Detroit for his Birthday I looked up the driving time and I was pretty excited to see it was around 4 and a half hours. That was impressive! I was confident our drive would be smooth thanks to the 2018 Subaru Crosstrek we borrowed for a week. When I tell you this crossover was loaded! Everything you needed in a car/SUV was there. Comfortable seats, safety features, gas mileage and a banging sound system.
Another great feature is the GPS its’s integrated so well in the system. If you are listening to music while you have the GPS on it will turn the song down while it reads the directions out to you. When traveling out of town this is a huge plus because you really don’t know where you are going and the street names etc. Driving around another big city felt werid and exciting at the same time. By the time we headed back home we knew many of the major streets of Detroit and Expressways too.
Gas Mileage was so good! We made it to the D and still had half a tank of gas left. We didn’t stop to get gas until the next day. Now we did stop to grab a quick bite to eat because I was starving about 3 hours in. I was so frustrated because we drove for about 20 minutes looking for a quick place to eat that wasn’t the typical McDonald’s or Subway and couldn’t find any. We ended up eating some Mickey D’s and getting back on the road. Can you believe about 10 minutes later we drove past a rest stop that was loaded with so many different restaurants to eat from. Dennis and I couldn’t help but laugh. We know next time. LOL. Also on the ride home we didn’t stop all for gas.
Once we arrived to the D we headed straight to the hotel to check in and drop our bags off while freshening up. Our hotel was so nice and they treated us well. Our accommodations with Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center went well. We had a river view and was right across from Canada. We were so close that Dennis’ phone started roaming and sent him a “welcome to Canada” text. I had to quickly call T-mobile to let them know we were in Detroit and right by the Riverwalk.
The View from our room the next morning though…
Visitor Tip: Most venues and hotels in Detroit charge for parking especially if you are staying by the Riverwalk (very popular) expect to budget at least $30-$50 per day for parking. If you are from a big city then you may expect to take public transportation, which they do have, but be mindful they may not operate like the bigger cities Chicago and NYC. Because our schedule was so packed and full of activities I couldn’t chance the bus to get us to our destinations on time so we passed on trying out Detroit’s buses. (I’m currently working on the blog post reviewing some of the places we went on our trip and our total agenda.)
We left out the hotel around 9 to hit the city. Our first stop was the MGM Grand Detroit. We walked around for a while and then did some light gambling. Dennis won a round on the Blackjack game and bought us dinner with his winnings. LOL. I didn’t hit anything and after my $20 was gone I was done.
Our time down there was so EPIC! We were driving around the city like we owned the place. We had a blast exploring Detroit. I can’t say it enough Subaru outdone themselves with the Crosstrek and I am praying that I can get one of these for my family this year. It’s a perfect fit with the right price tag with a load of luxury included. If you are currently in the market for a crossover vehicle I suggest you check out the Crosstrek!
*Special thanks to the Subaru family for allowing us the opportunity to test drive the Crosstrek across the country to celebrate my husband’s birthday! This post is sponsored but 100% all my honest thoughts and feeback.
We’re headed to Toronto this weekend. What are some must sees in Detroit?
Oh man just seeing this but here’s the must sees: http://arealurbanmom.com/top-things-must-visiting-detroit/