When I offered to check out nightlife in Detroit the few evenings before the Super Bowl, I figured it would be insanely busy. If you know me, you know that heading into large crowds is no big deal, and I live for checking out big events that come to the Detroit area. I never figured just how busy the downtown area would be until I found myself in the thick of it however.

The Super Bowl brought a lot of excitement to downtown Detroit; and will bring in a lot of revenue for the city. I am still shocked at the sheer volume of people that crammed into downtown, even if it was just for one weekend. Here are the details of the experience that was Super Bowl XL- Hater’s Log Style:

Tuesday, January 31st:
Is this Super Bowl Week, or an average Tuesday night downtown? The streets are quiet, and it seemed like an eerie feeling, sort of like the calm before the storm. You could actually walk right into Old Shillelagh, and get a beer with no problem. The casino was dead, and the usual Greektown bums were still hanging out. Later in the evening, I did get asked by a “vendor” if I wanted to buy a gold necklace on the cheap. After telling him that I get all my good jewelry out of Kmart vending machines, I headed over to St. Andrew’s Hall to see Fort Minor.

After the show, I headed over to the Baltimore Lunch bar. One of the few places that I hadn’t been to before, and I liked the low-key vibe of the place. But like everything else in Detroit, it was the calm before the storm. Somehow I knew when I came back, it wasn’t going to be the same….

Wed. & Thurs. Feb. 1st & 2nd:
DNCDT (Did Not Come Downtown), due to stomach illness (non alcohol related, so don’t even try it.) From what I heard, Wednesday was slow, but Thursday night’s crowd grew exponentially. I didn’t feel so bad about missing the Pepsi Smash show with Kanye West. From what I saw on VH1 later, it looked like a complete corporate suck-up fest. I am better for resting up for the weekend.

Friday, February 3rd:
I expected it to be nuts; but I did not expect Detroit to turn into the downtown traffic jams that are normally reserved for Saturdays nights in Las Vegas or South Beach. After being shut out at every lot in Greektown, and Foxtown, I had to go all the way over to Joe Louis Arena, and park with everyone for the Kid Rock show. I was the only person not in a cowboy or NASCAR hat in the parking structure, as I headed towards a piece of public transportation that I would usually only want my worst enemy to ride: The People Mover. The usually quiet People Mover was packed, and I was afraid the usually mechanically hindered People Mover would ride off the rails. But I reached Bricktown safely, and started hitting the bars with a furious vigor.

When you get into the area surroundingCampus Martius, the sea of Black and Gold begins, and the “Let’s Go Steelers” chants begin. Early on, you can tell that half the city of Pittsburgh has made the five-hour drive to Detroit, to celebrate their first Super Bowl in 10 years. The Steelers fans outnumber the Seahawks fans 20 to 1. I truly believe that the fans of Pittsburgh spent half their monthly paycheck on Steelers outfits, and the other half on the drive and hotel for the weekend trip to Detroit.

They have invaded the Winter Blast, and all of the makeshift bars, that have probably closed up by now. There were a lot of new bars all of a sudden along Woodward north of the Compuware building. Somehow, I don’t think they will be open long enough to see Valentine’s Day, let alone St. Patrick’s Day. Anyways, the Winter Blast seems to have the perfect weather for the event, in the low 40’s. It may have hurt the dog sledding business, but it made for it to be comfortable while walking around.

After hitting a variety of Detroit bars (thanks to The Hub,Detroit Beer Company, and Pulse Detroit), and watching the gridlocked traffic, we headed back to the People Mover, which was like watching 30 people shove each other into a phone booth. When back at Joe Louis Arena, the shoving to get into the People Mover turned into a fight, and had me heading for my car. Even with all of this, I knew Saturday would still be busier than Friday night.

Saturday, February 4th:
After leaving downtown at 1:30 am, it was a shock to my system to be back down in the craziness around 2pm Saturday afternoon. I found a good parking spot at the Millender Center and started walking. Greektown was busy. The roving gangs of Steelers fans were drinking and wearing their Terrible Towels, probably arguing about who was the worst Steelers quarterback: Mike Tomczak or Kordell Stewart.

Heading over to the makeshift Broadway bar, near the Opera House, we realized we had reached Steeler Central. The group of 5 that I was with was the ONLY group not wearing something Steelers related. Approximately 16 “Let’s Go Steelers, Let’s Go!” chants were started in the 45 minutes we were in the area. The overly intoxicated crowd didn’t fully appreciate my chants of “I-80’s That Way, Go Home!” After drinking a few seven-dollar beers, I decided to brave the cold and snow once again.

If there was one great thing about Detroit this weekend it was that no one cared that you walked around with a beer in your hand. I walked from the State Theatre area to Jefferson Avenue with a beer, passing several officers of the law along the way. At dinner, a Steelers fan asked us for ketchup, and my friend asked him “How did you feel about Jerome Bettis almost blowing the game against Indy with that fumble?” It was obvious we weren’t getting that ketchup back…

After waiting a while for our food, my appetite was set, and ready for Kid Rock. After the show, I took that long walk from Joe Louis to the Millender Center. I watched as all the trendy people waited in lines for Terrell Owens’ party at Envy, and P.Diddy’s “sexy” party at Elysium. But with a hat, fleece and winter jacket on, I looked more ready for tackling the Arctic Circle, then trying to impress P.Diddy.

As I headed out of the downtown area in the heavy snow, I realized that this weekend was great for the city of Detroit, even with the weather. The weekend generated positive press, and brought a lot of people here that would normally not come here. This weekend may actually shut up the naysayers for a while, or at least until the Pistons get into the finals. The Super Bowl committee and the volunteers (who were almost overly friendly) did a great job, and should be commended for being helpful to locals and out of towners alike.

Now, I just have to thaw out, and get the Steelers chants out of my head…