My Town: Mitch Albom’s Detroit Travel Picks

Travel back in time at …

Franklin Cider Mill offers sweet treats in a family-friendly atmosphere.

Courtesy Mitch Albom

Franklin Cider Mill. I live in Franklin, a small historic town that goes under the moniker, “The Town That Time Forgot.” In the 1800s it was a gristmill, and today it’s an apple cider mill where they take thousands of apples and press and bottle their own apple juice. You can view the entire process and buy apple cider, apple pie, apple doughnuts — all kinds of great things. Cider season runs from Labor Day until the first weekend after Thanksgiving. Apples are big here in Michigan, and Franklin Cider Mill is such a beautiful place. There's a little brook that runs through the property, and people sit there and feed the ducks. It’s kind of a throwback to what America once was.

Pack a picnic and head to …

Franklin Park features two tennis courts, a large gazebo, a walking path, two baseball and softball fields, and a barn.

Courtesy Mitch Albom

Franklin Park is a park in my town that has a baseball field and a little gazebo where people get married. Every Sunday in the summertime they have a farmers market, and on Wednesday nights they have little bands that give concerts in the park. Families all get together there, and although we live in a very cosmopolitan city, in Franklin you feel like you’re going to the same places people went to 100 years ago, and pretty much doing the same thing that they did back then. It’s beautiful, green and calm — a great place to just relax and have a picnic.

Shop til you drop at …

The Somerset Collection mall is an upscale shopping destination with more than 180 specialty stores.

Nicholas Eckhart/Flickr

The Somerset Collection mall is a cut above the typical shopping experience. People come from other states to shop there. It’s so big that it crosses a major boulevard and has three levels with every kind of high-end store you can imagine. You can cross a sky bridge from one side of the mall across the street to the other side, without ever going outdoors. It’s become a destination when the weather gets very cold here, as it does. It’s a beautiful mall with fountains and architecture, skylights, and it’s very bright and beautifully lit.

Groove to jazz music at ...

Cliff Bell’s features a restored art deco vibe that blends classic with contemporary.

Courtesy Paul Howard

Cliff Bell’s. It is a small jazz club that has been around forever. Detroit has such an incredible music scene, and so many great jazz musicians have started out in Detroit and went on to national prominence. We’re fortunate to have Cliff Bell’s, where you can just go any night of the week, have dinner and drinks, and hear live jazz.

I’m a former musician, and jazz is my love. I play in a band of writers called the Rock Bottom Remainders, which is myself, Stephen King, Amy Tan, Dave Barry, Ridley Pearson, Scott Turow, James McBride and many others. Some of us play our instruments, and some just kind of stand there and sing a little. We’re not particularly good, but we’re punctual, and we don’t keep any of the money we raise — it all goes to help literacy efforts. We’ve done that for decades and get together once a year to perform. Bruce Springsteen played with us, and Warren Zevon used to tour with us.