BAM! BUTTERFLIES!

Collecting treasures is in my blood. I only hope to some day live up to my Grandpa's collecting legacy. I have these great memories of exploring his house and garage opening drawers and finding amazing collections of watch parts, coins, knives, you name it. So, I just had to take Jean back there to see to see the treasures.

I must say, Grandpa did not disappoint. The house was a time-capsule...everything virtually the same as it was when I was a kid. This time, we could truly enjoy the uniqueness and thoroughness of his collecting: wood duck decoys, scores of antique clocks, walls papered with early license plates, classic toys, old farm tools, and more of just about everything.

Then, there were the BUTTERFLIES! We were given free reign to explore the garage when I noticed some particular well made wooden boxes scattered and haphazardly stacked under his work bench. I pulled one out, opened it up, and BAM! BUTTERFLIES! Rows and rows of them! We pulled out box after box with each yielding a different display of these winged creatures.

It turns out that my great Grandfather had a huge collection of butterflies from around the world that he donated to Michigan State University after he died. These were what was left of his collection after that. It's just incredible that they were in such great condition. You definitely don't see collections like these anymore. Check out my flickr photoset for more photos. fd

-Dylan

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

Best Mac and Cheese on Earth (still)

There's a small diner in my hometown of Port Huron, MI where every Friday the world's best macaroni and cheese is served up to its patrons. The place is called Cavis' Diner and they have always been legendary in my family for their cheesy delicacy. Part of the mission of our trip was to journey back to see if it really was in fact still the greatest. I have to say that it did not fail to tantalize my taste buds yet again. It's an amazing homemade concoction from secret ingredients that make an incredibly rich, slightly sour flavor. If you ever happen to be in Port Huron, Michigan on Friday around lunch...stop by and have plate of mac cheese served with a side of mashed potatoes and canned green beans (not so good). Don't forget the chocolate milk (it's the real deal).

-Dylan

More photos of Cavis' and Port Huron, MI live here.

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious

God Save Detroit!

Jean and I just got back from vacation in exotic Michigan. My home state! It was the first time I had been back in 15 years and the first ever for Jean (lucky her!). It was actually a great time...I forgot how beautiful it is there this time of year (spare the mosquitoes).
This should be the first of a series of blogs about our visit. Our first stop was Detroit and what a grandly bleak stop it was! First of all big big thanks to Design Sponge's city guides. It was our saving grace after we chose to stay in an extremely sub-par hotel and were ill-prepared to find suitable eats, drinks, and sites. To sum it up we arrived late and was too scared to go back out, so we had couple of chocolate bars as our dinner (only edible thing we had). We put out some sheets we brought and went straight to bed.

In the eery abandoned ghost-town category, the city lived up to all our expectations and more. It's just incredible to walk on the empty streets knowing that this was the center of the industrial universe not long ago. There are literally ruins in the making every where you look - gorgeous art deco relics and fancy Victorian mansions now completely abandoned. Granted there are still people living there and doing some cool stuff, but I have to say...they're few and far between from a visitor's perspective (even though we had d-sponge to guide us). If numbers help put things in perspective, the city's population has gone from 1.8 million in 1950 to around 900,000 today. Very few modern cities can claim the loss of half their population in 60 years!

We were totally jazzed to be there though because we love good ruins and urban decay. Here are some our favorite spots:Grand Central Station: An amazing defunct train station that must have been incredible in its day. Also see the site seedetroit.com for photos of the inside (ultra creepy).

Victorian Mansions: There are entire neighborhoods of these elaborate homes left to decay. One of the most complete is Brush Park. A select few of these are slowly starting to be renovated, but most are being left to meet their doom.


The Heidelberg Project: A long ago neglected neighborhood in a not so nice part of town transformed into environmental art/political protest by artist Tyree Guyton and his grandfather. Really an incredible thing to walk through considering how it transformed the neighborhood.

Avalon Bakery: Thank god for them and their delicious coffee, breads, and wi-fi. Not a ruin, just a really good cafe.
422 W Willis St
Detroit, MI 48201
(313) 832-0008

More Detroit photos live here. More Michigan stuff to come. Stay tuned!

Ladies and Gentlemen Home: For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious