Windsor, Ontario - Lauren Saelens and Meghan Curis were on a mission Saturday night. Sitting at a table in a smoky club, they discussed their plans while being careful not to spill their cosmopolitans on their outfits. The mission, which they did choose to accept, was to hit up every bar they could - a classic bar crawl. Saelens, an MSU human biology junior, is turning 21 this month, so it doesn't make much sense to her to keep traveling to Windsor to go to the bars. Although she enjoys the Canadian hospitality - and the lowered drinking age - it's time to move on. "This is like the last hurrah for me," Saelens said. She is a veteran, who travels abroad at least three times a week during the summer. Curis, a theater sophomore, is still new to the Canadian scene because she's only been there a few times. "The guys are very friendly, but they only act like that to get you liquored up," she said, laughing.
Regardless, Curis and Saelens still have fun. Whether it's going to a karaoke bar or looking for love, they are just two of many Michigan students who indulge in the nightlife of Windsor.
"I can get away with whatever I want to get away with," Saelens said. "It's in a different country, so it doesn't count."
The nightlife might separate Windsor from other cities, but that doesn't mean there aren't things going on while the sun is out.
"There are a lot of different things to do, especially for our age group," said Chinh Luu, who was taking a break from ice skating with fellow University of Windsor student Scott Eberwein.
Near the waterfront is the Art Gallery of Windsor, which moved to its location on 401 Riverside Drive West in 2001. It's very minimalist, but its modern design gives it a New York feel.
"The city's putting a lot of money in making the waterfront nice and injecting some culture," Eberwein said.
Right now, the gallery is showing an exhibit of Canadian urban scenes from 1795-2001 and an exhibit of photography from Vincenzo Pietropaolo showing Mexican migrant farm workers. Other works of art include some kind of electric element, totem poles made of nails and classic paintings from centuries past.
Both Luu and Eberwein say Windsor's culture scene could be better, but so far it's fine.
John Nietzsche and Natasha Zajmalowski, however, think the city could improve the cultural offerings.
"The city's sort of defined by the downtown area, which is nothing but bars," said Nietzsche. "The culture is missing. But it's a working-class city; it makes sense."
Zajmalowski agreed. "There's really nothing to do until it gets dark," she said.
For other cultural offerings, Windsor's Community Museum, 254 Pitt St. West, has more displays that relate directly to the city of Windsor and Essex County.
The Capitol Theatre & Arts Centre is one of many theater venues in the area. In the coming weeks, "My One and Only," "The Vagina Monologues" and "The Learned Ladies" are a few shows that will be performed. There's also the Chrysler Theatre, 201 Riverside Drive West, and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, 487 Ouellette Ave.
All of these cultural venues are located downtown, in the city's center, which is a colorful area on the Detroit riverfront filled with skyscrapers.
Venturing farther out from the bustling center, Windsor's streets offer several outlet and liquidation stores.
Lots of deals can be found at Devonshire Mall, 3100 Howard Ave. Several stores are found here that can't be found in Michigan, or in the United States at all.
There are some American mall standards such as Gap and American Eagle Outfitters, but there's also Jacob, a New York & Company-style store native only to Canada. There's also The Bay, which is like a Canadian Marshall Field's, and Mexx, which is similar to Express but is only found in nine locations in the U.S.
Hanson Kow, a University of Windsor student, said he likes to come to the mall for window shopping. "It's calm, very calm," he said.
Mike Anderson, a University of Windsor student and clerk at Mexx, said hanging out at the mall is popular among Canadian youth.
But beware of the mall on Friday nights - teenyboppers invade the scene. "There's so many underagers," he said.
Most of those youth are heavy into punk music, which is dominant in the Windsor music scene, said Aaron Botton.
"If Windsor was a bigger city, we'd probably get bigger bands," said Botton, who works at Dr. Disc Remastered, a new and used record shop on 659 Ouellette Ave.
Botton, who wanted to make it clear he does not like punk, said Windsor's music scene could stand to be better.
But Marcel Belanger, who plays in a punk band, disagreed, and said the scene is "decent."
"It's a mixture of that emo-screamo kind of thing," he said, describing Windsor's music scene.
Phog Lounge, 157 University Ave. West, is one of Windsor's popular music venues and features movie nights, open mics and indie bands almost every day.
Taking a stroll down Ouellette Avenue at night in the city center is a chance to see the city come alive. There are restaurants of all kinds to grab dinner at, and the Palace Cinemas has the latest movies. The well-dressed women that approach pedestrians aren't prostitutes - they just want to attract customers to the several nightclubs in the area.
Windsor resident Roman Mauro said he's made friends with Americans in some of the bars. But sometimes Americans can be rude and disrespectful toward Canadian culture.
"They really don't take into consideration the way we are over here," he said.
Mauro says he can tell the difference between a tourist and a resident just by the way Americans dress, talk and even by the way they walk.
"You can tell just by looking at 'em," he said.
All he wants is for Americans to show some respect while they're across the border. But Anderson, the mall worker, doesn't understand why Americans come at all.
"It sucks if you're not 21," he said about Canadians. "Don't bother coming if you're not 19."
But Tanya Archer finds Windsor to be a perfect mix of things for her and her two children - Arielle, 9, and Philip, 6. She says although she sometimes takes her children across the border to Detroit, there's always family-friendly events in the area.
"It's like a city that's a small town," Archer said.
Aaron Foley is the State News MS&U enterprise reporter. Reach him at foleyaar@msu.edu.
