The Whitney

I have always wanted to go to the Whitney. The Whitney is a restaurant located in an old historic home on Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit. The house was built in the 1890's for David Whitney, Jr., a lumber baron and very successful businessman.

http://www.thewhitney.com/david-whitney-jr.htm

When I was in 7th grade, my science teacher (Ms. Peterson) was plugged into all thing social, it seemed. She invited the chef of the Whitney to come cook for us at school, so we could sample muscles, clams, caviar, escargot, etc. (We were studying kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species). I heard stories about the Whitney having one floor specifically for dessert, where there was a chocolate fountain. Sounds like heaven. I put it on my bucket list.

With each trip we've taken back to Detroit, I've often told Doug I would like to visit the Whitney. This year, we finally got our chance! Doug's Mom and Dad babysat the kids while we went with Tim and Tracy. We all had fun. Tim drove back to their house by way of Jefferson Avenue, so we got to see all of the palatial houses decorated with lights for Christmas. It was a fun night.

The food was amazing. We all got dessert, as well, and sampled each others' dish. Yum.

The Whitney, located at Canfield and Woodward Ave.


If you look closely, you'll see that the clock is actually built INTO the mantle.

Another picture of the clock

The house was beautifully decorated for Christmas. The rooms are sprawling, ceilings high. I could live here...

Gorgeous stained glass in one of the stairways. There was a wedding rehearsal going on while we were there... a couple was going to be married on one of the stairways in this house, with an hors d'oeuvres party to follow after the wedding.

Me, geeked. Doug was geeked, too... He got to take lots of architectural pictures. I'm now used to him doing this kind of thing... hopefully it wasn't too embarassing for Tim and Tracy! To Doug's credit, there were other people roaming around the mansion taking pictures, too. :)

Tim and Tracy, sitting next to a fireplace.

The valet was nice enough to take this picture of us before we went into the house.

Peace, love and scrumdidlyumptious viddles,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Baby It's Cold Outside!

While in Michigan, the kids were excited to don their snowsuits and boots and head outdoors. Liam looked like the little brother from the movie "A Christmas Story!"

Peace, love and the white stuff,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam



Lawson Christmas 2009

This is the first year we were able to celebrate Christmas at my Mom's new place. She is so happy in this new house, which makes ME happy!

Here are pictures of our celebration.

Shane, Sherry, Jordan and Daymian

Sisters: Sherry and Shelly

The grandkids: Ginger, Shelly, Grammy, Sherry and Jamin (looks like Ava snuck in this picture, too)

Our attempt at a family picture. As you can see, the kids were a little wiggly... :)

Attempt #2 at family picture

Daddy and Liam

Doug and Shelly

Mom, Grandmother and Uncle Danny

The Lawson crew: Ginger, Uncle Danny, Aunt Linda and Jamin

Our gift to Jordan was a Scrabble game. He seemed happy with it!

The tree

Ginger and Ava

Mom opening her toolbox. Now that she's a homeowner, we thought she could use some good tools. Doug visited a local hardware store when they were going out of business and picked up some really good tools for great prices.

Daymian with a Christmas bow on his head. I'm not sure how long it was there until he figured out he had something on his head. ;-0

She is smitten.  Can you tell?

Doug talking to Daymian about guitar chords.

Ava in her "twirly dress"

 

We had a great time celebrating with everyone this year!

Peace, love and togetherness,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam