The Holocaust Memorial Center and the Redcoat Tavern.

Today I and many of my fellow primi experienced two very different Detroit area institutions in rapid succession. This morning we took a tour of the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills. Though the Center was the first museum of its kind in the United States (preceding by several years the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC), its present building is a brand-new, state of the art facility. The Center's exhibits on the Shoah and on the history of Jewish life in Europe were carefully produced and tastefully presented, and the docent who gave us a tour did an exceptionally good job. In addition to the tour, we also heard a local Holocaust survivor tell the story of his life. The whole experience was moving and sobering, and several people expressed interest in going again; I'd certainly be up for it.

After our visit to the Center, we went to lunch at the Redcoat Tavern, a locally legendary hangout on fabled Woodward Avenue (of which I've written before). Some say that the Redcoat has the best burgers in metro Detroit, and now that I've had one I'm willing to believe it. Beyond its signature half-pound burgers, the Redcoat appears to offer fish n' chips just the way I like them (i.e., with hard, crunchy brown batter) and serves onion rings that were honestly among the best I've ever had. With its hearty, heavy menu and kitschy, bordelloesque decor, the Redcoat may be considered metro Detroit's answer to the Orleans House. This presumably means I'll have to take family members and fellow Hoyas to the Redcoat when they come to visit me here - something to look forward to. AMDG.