Statue of Gen. Thaddeus Kosciuszko.

Text and Photos
By Shari Benyousky
Guest Columnist

Column Note: This is a new column in the Whirlwind Wanderlust series in which the author and her family and friends explore locations within a short driving distance of Warsaw. Keep an eye out for more in the future.

Are you sucked into the January post-holiday doldrums? Kosciusko County possesses charm for a small place in the Midwest, but sometimes we need the spark of the unfamiliar, the foreign. You don’t even have to hop in your car. Embark on a three-minute whirlwind reading trip to Detroit for interesting history, sights, and food without spending a dime.

How’s The Drive?

The Detroit trip.

Well, first you spend an uninspiring 2 ½ hours driving east through the brown stubble of Indiana cornfields. If you were lucky, you had a good playlist on Spotify and took backroads, so you passed through a few small towns or saw a flock of wild turkeys. Out your window, the scene now changes to the gray winter waves of Lake Erie and the gray industrial factories of Toledo, Ohio. You have less than an hour left. Your GPS has ordered you around a lot, but she has also said: “Welcome to Ohio” and not long after: “Welcome to Michigan”.

Finally, you top a low hill and see Detroit. You’ve heard a lot about Detroit, but your first thought seeing it is: Are there more grain elevators or high-rise buildings here? Depending on how you count, it’s a close call on the south side of the city. But agriculture isn’t the only personality of Detroit.

What’s The Vibe?

I visited Detroit in 2012 as one of a hoard of tourists wanting to see vast tracts of falling down homes, enormous potholes, swathes of abandoned factories, and layers of graffiti. From 1950 to 2010, Detroit lost 64.1% of its population, losing its spot as the fourth-largest city in the U.S. When I visited in 2012, nearly one-third of the square land area of Metro Detroit had been abandoned.

That’s no longer the case. Detroit has been revitalized with multiple projects including the Greenways Coalition which seeks to connect major areas with safe bike routes and running paths, the Ford Company which has rebounded with its new vision of electric cars, and GOOGLE which has invested in Code Next aiming to educate Black, LatinX, and Indigenous Tech Leader high-schoolers. Clearly, Metro Detroit is thriving in leaps and bounds these days with interesting art and intriguing restaurants on every corner.

Before I arrived at a yummy lunch though, I wanted to visit an old friend in Detroit. One with a particular Warsaw connection.

What’s The Connection Between Detroit and Warsaw? General Kosciuszko

Jason and Shari Benyousky pose at the statue of Gen. Kosciuszko in Detroit. Photo by Antony Garza.

Did someone try to make you learn how to spell Kosciusko in elementary school? Well, we got the spelling wrong, although it’s correct on the tiny monument you can find on the north side of the Old Courthouse in downtown Warsaw. Our county is named after Polish and American hero General Thaddeus Kosciuszko (pronounced Kosh-choosh-ko). Our local Historical Society even puts out a publication called The Thaddeus. Of course, Warsaw boasts zero Polish restaurants, and most of us pronounce our county’s name incorrectly.

Who was the guy anyway? From across the ocean, Kosciuszko related to the patriots’ cause with Britain and arrived to help the fledgling American colonies fight in 1776. Eventually, he became a hero and a Brigadier General in the Revolutionary War. Later he returned home and helped Poland win its independence from Russia which gave him the moniker the freedom fighter of two continents.

So, what’s our connection? In 1803, author Jane Porter wrote the hugely popular historical novel Thaddeus of Warsaw, and towns honoring him popped up all over the U.S. Warsaw honors General Tadeusz Kosciuszko. So does Detroit.

In the middle of Detroit stands a spectacular 22-foot high, 10-ton bronze and granite sculpture of Kosciuszko on his horse. This statue came as a gift from Poland to Detroit in honor of the U.S. bicentennial. We parked up the street and walked a block past some great graffiti, a popular bus stop, and some brightly colored bike lanes to crane our heads to see the enormous statue in front of the MGM Grand Casino.

Hungry yet? We didn’t come to Detroit only to get a history lesson. We hopped in the car.

TIP – In Detroit parking is easy to find. An hour costs $1.

What’s The Feast? Baobob Fare

Five minutes from General Kosciuszko, you’ll find food so vibrant and amazing that you’ll want to drive to Detroit JUST FOR IT.

Seriously. Baobob Fare features food from East Africa’s Burundi. As you walk in, you are greeted by bright yellow, hand-woven baskets, and a sign that says: “You are not only our guest, you are our family … Detroit Ni Nyumbani (Detroit is home).” The owners arrived originally as refugees and Detroit embraced them. This restaurant is their gift back to Detroit, and it is a perfect gift indeed.

The menu.

Baobab features enormous windows, so even the wan light of a gray winter day felt warm and welcoming. Our waitress raved about her favorite foods with such affection that we decided not to share, but to get three dishes and try each other’s. My Mbuzi slow-roasted goat shank was melt-in-the-mouth tender. The flash-fried Samaki fish was even better, and the Kuku pan-fried chicken right behind. Each plate arrived with sides of stewed yellow beans, fried plantains, fresh corn salad, coconut or spiced rice, and lots of advice about how to eat along with wide smiles. My belly did feel like it was home.

TIP: Be sure to get the offered house-made Pili hot sauce which is fruit with a bang. We also recommend African tea which is like a spicy chai.

After we three had passed around our dishes with oohs and aahs, our waitress advised saving room for dessert. Baobab not only sells coffee beans and chocolate sourced from Tanzania in the Soko line (in Swahili that means market), but they use the chocolate to make a spectacular dessert called Shokola y’Karanga. That means chocolate mousse with spicy caramelized peanuts. Yeah, it’s as good as it sounds. We also had coco mango which is coconut cream with mango coulis sauce and roasted coconut flakes. Honestly, I would drive up to Detroit for any ONE of Baobab’s dishes. They are that good.

The Finale

Time to hop back in the car and drive from Detroit home. While you’re enjoying the glow of good food and a lovely journey, remember that even the name Detroit contains a glimmer of the foreign you craved. The word “de-troit” is French for “the strait” referring to the river connecting Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie.

Kwaherini, natumai tutakutana tena (I hope we meet again).

Know of an interesting place, statue, or restaurant that you’d like to see featured in this column someday? Send SB Communications LLC an email at [email protected].