184. DeVries & Co. – August 21, 2016 – Detroit, MI

Hello, all! Happy Wednesday! I hope you are having  a lovely week and getting some exploring in. I try to remind myself that even weeknights can be special, a chance to discover somewhere new.

This past weekend, I was down in the D for a Tigers game. One of my friends works in the Crain’s office complex, which is amazing, because it means we have its free, gated parking at our disposal. Her work is about a three quarter of a mile’s walk from Comerica Park; it honestly doesn’t feel even that far. I tell her she can never stop working there!

Because of our parking spot’s close proximity to Eastern Market, we decided to meet our other friends who were attending the game with us there. Before pre-game lunch and drinks, we stumbled across a charming market called DeVries and Co. It’s been around since 1887, providing gourmet cheeses, meats, jams, pickles, and other items, many of which are locally made. One more gem in the city!

2468 Market St.

Detroit, MI 48207

166. Parker Street Market – February 27, 2016 – Detroit, MI

My purchase from Parker Street Market.

I’d been craving a visit to Detroit all week, which is how I ended up at the corner of Parker and Kercheval earlier this afternoon. A jaunt into our lovely city is the perfect antidote to the residual effects of a week of soul-sucking corporate office drudgery (someday I will get out!). And Parker Street Market is the antidote to soul-sucking, disconnected corporate grocers and convenience stores. There it rests, at the helm of a quiet residential area, a beacon of organic and artisan goods. Doing the good work! That’s the phase that ran through my head after my visit.

I’d read about Parker Street Market in Hour Detroit and added it to my long and ever-expanding list of places I want to visit in the city. I liked the sound of it, how the owner (who I believe was the friendly guy helming the front counter when I was there) curated the items of this tiny store with care, how he featured locally-made items such as the lovely-looking Gus and Grey handcrafted Blackberry Bourban Vanilla Jam I purchased. (I’d read about Gus and Grey’s exquisite-sounding jams when the founder was featured in an issue of Hour, as well. So excited to try this stuff!)

Besides locally-made food items, Parker Street Market sells a range of other items, such as healthy packaged snacks, environmentally-friendly cleaning products, craft beer, and wine. And according to its website, it will deliver your grocery order to anywhere within the city of Detroit for only $5 – a pretty sweet deal!

1814 Parker St.

Detroit, MI 48214

www.parkerstreetmarket.com

135. Eastern Market’s Sunday Street Market – August 16, 2015 – Detroit, MI

So I can’t believe it, but it’s been almost a month since I visited Eastern Market’s Sunday Street Market! I vow that I will be more regularly updating this blog going forward! Fall is here now, and fall is a great time for writing and introspection – and of course, exploring! And one place you can still enjoy exploring through October is the Sunday Street Market. It’s different from the traditional Saturday market, which is more focused on produce – and which I hope to hit this fall. I haven’t visited the Saturday Eastern Market since childhood, about 20 years ago, and don’t remember much at all about it, so I figure this is a good place to declare that a statue of limitations has expired and that it’s indeed a new place for me! The Sunday Street Market, on the other hand, is packed full of vendors – a few selling produce, but it’s more focused on artisans and their various wares: jewelry; Detroit-centric T-shirts and artwork; hats; vintage clothes; gourmet popcorn – you name it! I bought a wrap dress made from recycled saris that can be wrapped in a zillion different ways. And when you are done shopping, you can grab lunch from one of the multiple food trucks clustered around the area. A perfect Sunday-afternoon-in-the-D destination.

2934 Russell St.

Detroit, MI 48207

Held every Sunday, 10 a.m. through 4 p.m., from June to October

http://www.easternmarket.com/attend/sunday-street-market