Greenfield Village/Henry Ford Museum, Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit Zoo, off the top of my head. Fox Theatre and the other one (I forget it's name), Tigers games, what else?

Very true. Lemme see if I can't work something up. At the very least, I can try the Marriott Ren Cen. Where's one of those bid thingies we've used in the past?

Hey Maria - get us the GM discount!! Ha ha.

Aimee, don't let me push you into doing anything you don't want to. I just have very fond memories of Detroit, particularly of Greenfield Village, growing up. It was a must see every summer on vacation. It's indelibly imprinted on my psyche now and I can't separate the city and the place in my mind. Just because I wouldn't mind having an excuse to go visit again, Detroit does have it's drawbacks. Like Memphis, the downtown area is not exactly the nicest and getting to outlying areas is not the easiest. Midwestern cities (other than Chicago) have suck for public transportation.

Oh, not at all! I don't feel pushed! And downtown is actually quite nice. Amazing what hosting a SuperBowl and legalizing gambling will do for a downtown.

As a side note for Madison--if anyone flying in wants a cheaper flight, they can check Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee. It's 20 minutes away from me and I can pick up/drop off. We're almost 2 hours away from Madison, but we have ample space for guests on their way into or out of town.

If we do decide on Madison, I can pick up anyone who can only fly into O'Hare and we can drive up together (I'm about 20 minutes from O'Hare, and my car will fit three passengers semi-comfortably). Same for Ann Arbor, but the Detroit airport is probably more accessible than Madison's.

Milwaukee is also an option for flying close to, though not in, Madison.

Milwaukee's cheaper, but less easy to find easy transport from the airport back to Madison. Chicago O'Hare has the virtue of also being the main bus depot. Van Galder runs between Madison and Chicago every 1-1 1/2 hours starting at 6:30 am until 10:30 pm. $24 one-way.

There's also a bus service running from O'Hare to Madison. At least, there used to be back in the '80s, and I can't think of any reason it would have been canceled.

Is there a rail line that goes to Madison? When I lived in Chicago commuter rail only went as far as Kenosha.

No, there isn't. They've been talking about bringing light rail into Madison, but I think that's kinda stalled, forever.

Although, I think there's passenger service to Columbus, which is around 30 miles out from Madison.