Lunch and cars are a perfect combination for Detroit, especially for those that remember Detroit as the Car Capital of the World.  We were going to see a private car and other collections that is only open to the public one day of the week.  He had cars that were driven by the Great Leslie and Professor Doom, as well as a car with a “flux capacitor” and it was going to be a Yabba Dabba Doo Time; I guess you must appreciate cars and films to follow my thought process.

We were traveling out to Chesterfield, Michigan so we thought that we would invite one of my Bride’s sisters and her husband to join us for lunch and the museum.  We went to Sugarbush Tavern, and we got there just in time, because they became packed right afterwards, which is always a great sign for a restaurant. My Bride had a Caesar Salad with Salmon, her sister had Sautéed Perch, my brother-in-law had a Cheeseburger, and I had an order of Barbecued Ribs, since I was assured that the meat would fall off the bone.  The restaurant had a very small selection of wines, so I ordered a bottle of Bonanza Lot 9 Cabernet Sauvignon California NV. Bonanza Cabernet Sauvignon Lot 9 California NV. Bonanza is part of the Wagner Family of Wine which includes Caymus Vineyards, Caymus- Suisun, Mer Soleil, Conundrum, Emmolo, Red Schooner, Sea Sun and Bonanza.  This wine is bulk production and run overseen by the grandson of Charlie Wagner Sr. The collection began in 2019.  This is a non-vintage wine that is made to maintain wine consistency over time, using bulk wine techniques and blending procedures.  A ruby red colored wine that offered notes of dark fruit, currents, roses, toasted oak and some terroir.  On the palate this medium-bodied, well-balanced wine displayed tones of blueberries and blackberries, and vanilla blending with silky tannins to end with a medium-count finish of fruit and baker’s chocolate.

After lunch, we went to Stahls Motors & Music Experience created by the passion of the founders Mary and Ted Stahl. They are inspired and love both mechanical musical instruments, classic cars, neon signs and plenty of ephemera to round out the displays. They are open on Tuesdays from one to four, they accept voluntary contributions and are basically manned by enthusiastic volunteers, who can make offer to play some of the mechanical musical instruments that begin with player pianos and then other instruments like violins, drums, accordions also play along seamlessly.  I had some enjoyable talks with some of the docents who could speak of the history of the cars and even would assist us in taking photographs of us alongside and sometimes in the cars.

I tried my best to twirl my imaginary handlebar moustache, but that is something that I don’t have.  I just imagined doing it, while standing alongside Professor Doom’s Hannibal 8 and later a docent opened the mechanism to show the cannon that would pop-up in the car and shoot a cannon ball to eliminate other entrants in The Great Race.  A film by Blake Edwards that starred Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, Jack Lemmon and Peter Falk among many other stars and features to this day the longest pie fight in the history of filmdom.  If I knew how to do AI, I would have stood next to the Great Leslie’s car, because periodically when the camera would focus on Tony Curtis, there would be glint either from his teeth or from his eye.  What a great memory from a kid that remembered seeing that movie on the big screen when it originally played at a Downtown Detroit theater. My dear Bride went begrudgingly at first, but now she wants to go back to spend more time and trying to get others to join us.