Date Night in Detroit: Labor Day Festival + Lafayette Greens Garden

Just popping in here to say hi. Did you go to any festivals Labor Day weekend?

We had planned on going to the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival and the Detroit Jazz Festival, but we were only able to make it out to Hamtramck. I’m so bummed we missed the Jazz Fest. I’ve never been and I’ve always wanted to go!

Detroit Hamtramck Labor Day Festival — Photo I captured at the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival 2019.

WHY WE MISSED JAZZ FEST

It’s a long story, but what had happened was…

I wasn’t feeling well because of bad symptoms from transitioning off of my anxiety medication.
We decided to take Saturday off from going anywhere. (Turned out we really needed that rest time!)
I misread the Detroit Jazz Festival schedule and thought we would be able to attend late shows on Monday. (SMH! What was I thinking?!)

things to do in Detroit — My crew! Elijah had to work so he wasn’t able to go with us sadly.

I am really trying to up my “festival-going game” because there are always SO many festivals to go to in Detroit, Metro Detroit, and across the state.

I want to go to pretty much all of the festivals and it seriously makes me sad that it’s not possible for me to go to every single event or festival that I find interesting. LOL! (Crazy, right?)

music nail art — I even went to get my nails done with a little music note just for the Jazz Fest.

Detroit American Coney Island — On Monday evening, Travis and I went to the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival. Afterward, we headed to Downtown Detroit in hopes of catching the night performances at the Detroit Jazz Fest. We accidentally misread the Jazz Fest schedule and didn’t make it back in time.

A CREATIVE IDEA FOR NEXT SUMMER

I told Travis next Spring we should do a family/homeschool project where we create a BIG calendar of our favorite summer events.

We could let the kids decorate and make our big, summer calendar festive. Then we could hang it up on the kitchen wall and place stickers beside the events we attended.

family life Detroit — Zechariah loved his light-up shark sword and banana milkshake.

Labor Day Detroit — Michala loves going to carnivals. I don’t know how she gets on the rides, though. I can’t handle the roller coaster and rides that go up high. Lol!

At the end of summer, we could have a family summer celebration and tally up all of the events we attended over the summer.

I think the kids would like that, and as the years go by, it would be fun to look over all of the summer calendars we created.

On Wednesday or Thursday, I will share a blog post about our time at the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival. We took the kids on Sunday and then Travis and I went back on Monday for a date night.

detroit date ideas — I wore a colorful vintage outfit because after Labor Day I have to pack away all of my summer clothes and pull out my Fall outfits!

Hamtramck Detroit — Pretty sky after the rain in Hamtramck.

RAINY LABOR DAY EVENING CHANGED OUR PLANS A BIT

Our plan for Monday (Labor Day) was to stop by Hamtramck’s festival and then hang out at the Detroit Jazz Fest. But as soon as we got to Hamtramck, it started raining really hard.

When the rain slowed down, we went to Downtown Detroit to see if the Jazz Fest was still going on. I checked my Instagram for any weather updates and found out the performances were delayed because of the weather.

Wayne County Detroit building — As we drove through Downtown Detroit, I snapped a few photos from the van.

Wayne County Detroit Michigan — Wayne County – Detroit

Jefferson Avenue Detroit — I spotted a rainbow shining over Jefferson Ave. This makes the second rainbow I’ve seen in Detroit within 3 weeks of each other!

DISCOVERING A NEW-TO-US RESTAURANT IN HAMTRAMCK

So we decided to grab a bite to eat while we waited for the performances to start again. When we took the kids to the Labor Day festival, we had walked by a cool-looking taco restaurant.

I had made a mental note to check it out on our date night so that’s where Travis and I ended up going.

Dos Locos Tacos is the name of the restaurant. Have you been?

I’m going to write more about our visit to Dos Los Tacos in my next post about the Hamtramck Labor Day Festival.

Dos Locos tacos Hamtramck — We ate at Dos Locos Tacos in Hamtramck. So good!

Dos Locos tacos — Travis and I loved Dos Locos Tacos! Definitely going back again very soon.

EVENING STROLL AT LAFAYETTE GREENS URBAN GARDEN

After the Labor Day Festival, we headed back to Downtown Detroit for Jazz Fest. Sadly, we left Hamtramck too late and ended up missing the Monday night session. I had misread the schedule and mixed up Sunday’s schedule for Monday’s performances.

Oh well. There’s always next year, right?

So we just enjoyed a nice night stroll in Lafayette Greens– an urban garden located in Downtown Detroit. The flowers smelled amazing and it’s just so romantic. I wonder if the garden was open just for the Jazz Fest or if it’s now open at night every day of the week?