We made it to Elwood's around 6pm, but after waiting 15-20 minutes for a table to open up, walked over to Ford Field to eat. I really hated doing that... I'd been thinking about an Elwood burger all week. Ended up spending $40 on some rude and overpriced stadium food :bang: ... I'll never do that again.
Parking can be ugly and expensive, but I know of some close spots that are free... or at least not patrolled by meter maids very well. The one nice thing is that you can jump on the freeway within a few minutes. I've waited in the Silverdome lot for up to an hour some years (didn't park in the right spot). I was home by 11:30pm this year.
Bringing the kids into the inner-city was an eye-opening experience for them. They're getting old enough now to see the difference between suburbia living versus the ghetto. Study hard, work hard, make good decisions was the take-away.
I missed being able to walk around the pits, but I think they'll do this again once they have the whole Ford Field logistics figured out. Even though the Silverdome is much bigger, I think the upper level seating is better there compared to Ford Field. The 'Dome had some pretty steep seats... it put you closer to the action... more on top of it. The seating at Ford Field is at a more gradual angle, so you're farther away. Attendance was light... only about 40,000 from what I read. The end-zones were mostly empty.
Racing was good behind Stewart.... although he was long gone after turn 1. He had the bunny hop down going across the rollers on the starting field.... most others had a little endo-bobble thing going on as they flew across.
:cool: