Detroit's Eastern Market551

Detroit's historic Eastern Market is more than just a place to get fresh produce and plants. It has become a community icon, a gritty gathering place that draws city folk, suburbanites, and tourists alike. Some 45,000 come to the indoor-outdoor market every Saturday.

During the peak season (May-October), there's a cornucopia of produce that's a thing of beauty for the eye alone, not to mention the palate.

Spread out over 43 acres, this granddaddy of Detroit-area farmers markets offers organic and nonorganic fruits, asparagus, heirloom tomatoes, strawberries, hot and sweet peppers, fresh corn (what child wouldn't rather have it on the cob?), carrots that make those mini ones that come in a bag taste like cardboard, meats and poultry, cheeses, fresh milk, and more.

You could spend the better part of a day wandering around here. Flowers and plants abound, and adjacent restaurants and retail and wholesale shops pack 'em in.

Stink warning! By the end of hot summer days, loads of discarded produce in the alleys will wrinkle your nose - but the kids will love the gross-out. Street musicians frequent the market; you'll often see a toddler or two rocking out - or dozing off. Be sure to bring along a lightweight stroller if you have a little one, and grab a shopping bag or five from home. And if you've got free hands and a lot to buy, a bring-it-yourself cart is a must - there are no free carts disguised as plastic red cars available here!

The market's annual Flower Day (held the Sunday after Mother's Day) is recognized as the world's largest bedding flower market and draws 100,000 shoppers each year.

Cool facts: During the period of the Civil War, Generals Ulysses S. Grant, George Custer, and John J. Pershing marched troops through this area. And under these streets, slaves escaped to Canada through the Underground Railroad. The Eastern Market moved to its current site, which was a hay and wood market, in 1891; at that time, tons of produce was brought in and out on horse-drawn carriages.