Robbie Thomas
Down in the Grosse Pointes – Xmas
Got let go out of work early on a Saturday and one of the things I wanted to do before Xmas arrives is to go to the Grosse Pointes. This time around, I stayed mainly at Grosse Pointe Park. When arriving here, I thought of my trip down here a week before Xmas in 2019. But that day, I spent it mostly in Grosse Pointe Village.
One of the places I wanted to check out was Atwater In The Park. This place was once a church. According to one of the bartenders there, the place was turned into a bar in 2014. While there, a song that was playing piqued my interest, it was called Sparks by Beach house (yes, they apparently lowercase the “h” in house). It was quite interesting song with a gothic feel to it. Quite kept with the atmosphere, a former church later turned into a pub. I later listened to a few songs on that album but one of them gave me the creeps. The song had a similar sound to All Through The Night by Cyndi Lauper. God, I hate that song.
Next up was The Bricks Pizza on the other corner of where Atwater stands, on Kercheval and Lakepointe. The Bricks Pizza was once Pointe Printing. In the summer of 94 or even 95, my friend knew this computer genius that was my age who introduced us to the first version of Microsoft Publisher. He needed a custom cassette inlay, remember cassettes? Pointe Printing later turned into a kids toy store and then in November 2019, it became The Bricks Pizza. Props to Bricks Pizza for surviving Covid-19, for now.
The Bricks Pizza is very nice, they have this big oven with a clear glass divider. One small complaint I have is that you cannot make a custom pizza, you have to get whatever is on the menu. I got the Veggie Pizza. Bricks also has an arcade in the back, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles the Arcade Game. I couldn’t get past Bebop in the second level. Just not good at these games anymore.
Also new in Grosse Pointe Park is a Chinese restaurant. Here’s some more photos of Grosse Pointe Park:
I went to the Grosse Pointe Village next and to my surprise, it wasn’t busy there. The bars were less than half-full. The Kroger and Cold Stone Creamery were open besides the bars and that was about it. I suppose Grosse Pointe Village closes early. Even the Whiskey Six closes at 10pm.
Just before Xmas 2019, I went to Grosse Pointe Village to take some photos and explore a little. I went to T N Thai Bistro, back when they had the dining room available. Now in Xmas 2021, it’s Carry Out and Delivery only. If I remember correctly, I think this was the last time I ever had a meal in an Asian restaurant before Covid-19 came to town. Before that, I went to The Whiskey Six. I do like the interior of the Whiskey Six with the car parked on the “second story” of the bar. When I was there, some carolers were singing Christmas songs there.
It’s quite interesting to think about this before Covid-19 came to town. What “normal” was like. Going into a Thai restaurant and dining in. Seeing quite a few folks floating around in the village (very little compared to 2021).
