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Woodward Avenue (M-1) - Automotive Heritage Trail
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| Departure: | Charles Wright Museum of African American History, Michigan |
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| Destination: | Cranbrook Art Museum, Michigan |
| Time to allow: | 2 days |
Travel Woodward Avenue and wander the halls of some of the best museums in America. Immerse yourself in civic and African-American history, play with scientific exhibits, or revel in indoor art and outdoor sculptures.
This tour begins in Midtown Detroit. Go to an area near the intersection of Woodward and Warren and park at any of the underground or surface parking lots.
Day 1
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Start: Charles Wright Museum of African American History
Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour 30 minutes Start your tour at the first of four downtown museums that are within eyesight of each other. Step into the world's largest museum dedicated to the African American experience. The core exhibit, "And Still We Rise: Our Journey Through African American History and Culture", will take you from man's earliest beginnings in prehistoric Africa through ancient and modern civilizations to the present day. Learn about the horrific impact of the African slave trade on many lands, particularly the North American continent, and the struggles and triumphs of the African-Americans to overcome this tragic chapter in the history of the United States and other nations.
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Stop 2: Detroit Science Center
Directions from previous place: Walk west on Warren Avenue. The Science Center is next door to the Wright Museum and on the same block.
Distance from Previous Site: 0.1 miles / 0.2 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 5 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 3 hours The Detroit Science Center makes science fun with many hands-on exhibits and demonstrations and facilities, such as the Children's Center (for budding scientists aged 6 years or younger), the Dassault Systèmes Planetarium, the Space Laboratory, The Tornado and Molecular Motion Chamber, the only Omnimax Theater in Detroit, and much, much more.
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Stop 3: Detroit Institute of Arts
Directions from previous place: Go west and cross John R Street. Turn north (right), go one block and cross Farnsworth Street to reach the Institute.
Distance from Previous Site: 0.1 miles / 0.2 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 5 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 2 hours Walk the Halls of the fifth largest art museum in the United States. The DIA's collection comprises a multicultural and multinational survey of human creativity from prehistory through the 21st Century. Notable items include the following: Mexican artist Diego Rivera’s Detroit Industry fresco cycle, considered Rivera’s most important work in the U.S.; Vincent van Gogh’s Self Portrait, the first van Gogh painting to enter a U.S. museum collection; the masterpiece sculpture Nail Figure from Zaire; and a rare Korean Head of Buddha.
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Stop 4: Detroit Historical Museum
Directions from previous place: Take Farnsworth Street west and cross Woodward Avenue. Turn north (right) on Woodward Ave and walk one block to Kirby Street. The museum is on the corner.
Distance from Previous Site: 0.25 miles / 0.4 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 10 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour 30 minutes At the Detroit Historical Museum, you can enjoy a host of permanent and temporary exhibits that will help deepen your understanding of Detroit's rich history. Visitors young and old can walk back in time to the cobblestone streets of 1840s Detroit, watch a live “body drop” in front of an authentic assembly line, learn Detroit's part in the Underground Railroad, and much more.
From classic automobiles and vintage gowns to artifacts from Detroit’s Boblo Island Amusement Park and a wide range of sports memorabilia, exhibits at the Detroit Historical Museum will delight residents of the region, as well as visitors.
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Overnight Point: Overnight Lodging in Downtown Detroit
After a day of visiting Detroit's fine museums, stop at one of the equally fine downtown hotels, bed-and-breakfasts or other lodging options and get a good night's sleep to be ready for your second day at Woodward Avenue's museums and attractions.
Total Distance Traveled in Day 1: 0.45 miles / 0.7 km
Day 2
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Stop 1: Detroit Zoo
Directions from previous place: Drive north on Woodward Avenue. The Detroit Zoo is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Woodward Avenue and 10 Mile Road (I-696) in Royal Oak. Just look for the water tower painted with animals.
Distance from Previous Site: 5 miles / 8.0 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 30 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 4 hours Your first stop on this second day of your visit to Detroit will be the Detroit Zoo. Opened in 1928, it was the first zoo in the United States to make extensive use of barless exhibits. Situated on 125 acres, the zoo is a natural habitat for more than 1,500 animals and more than 700 varieties of trees, flowering plants, and shrubs.
Visitors can enjoy some of the zoo's most fascinating animals in a whole new way. At the Australian Outback Adventure, patrons can get face to face with our red kangaroos and wallabies. Instead of looking through glass or over a moat, visitors move along a winding path bordered by knee-high cables on both sides, while the marsupials are free to bound wherever they want.
The most unique feature of one exhibit, the Arctic Ring of Life, is a spectacular 70-foot-long clear tunnel that winds through a vast underwater marine environment. This Polar Passage, which is a twelve-foot-wide, eight-foot-tall tunnel, takes visitors underneath diving and swimming polar bears and seals.
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Stop 2: Cranbrook Science Museum
Directions from previous place: Drive north on Woodward. Look for the Cranbrook sign on the west (left) side of the road. Turn west (left) into the campus drive. Follow the directional signs to reach public parking for the Science Museum.
Distance from Previous Site: 12 miles / 19.2 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 25 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 2 hours Join 200,000+ visitors who every year appreciate the Institute’s fascinating exhibits, hands-on activities, and planetarium shows. Picnic on the lovely grounds, or have a snack in the museum's café. Here you will discover family-friendly events, up-to-date scientific information, and outstanding sights, such as sparkling diamonds, a towering Tyrannosaurus rex, and the "Bat Zone."
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End: Cranbrook Art Museum
Directions from previous place: Follow the campus directional signs to the Art Museum.
Distance from Previous Site: 1 miles / 1.6 km Travel Time from Previous Site: 5 minutes Suggested Time at This Site: 1 hour 30 minutes End your trip through Detroit's museums with a journey into fine contemporary art. The exhibits feature the work of local, national and international artists in many forms, including paintings, sculptures, ceramics, metalwork, and even furniture. The works of Swedish sculptor Carl Milles, based on characters and scenes from history, legends and myths are among the most popular of the outdoor art at Cranbrook.
