ann arbor 2012

Wednesday
-Mental soundtrack ---> Hangovers
-Picking up 88.3 WCBN Ann Arbor on the drive from Detroit
-Feeling like a student (in a good way) at the wonderfully homey Inn at the League
-Dinner at Frita Batidos: a black bean frita topped with shoestring fries, Muenster, tropical coleslaw, avocado spread, and chipotle mayo + loaded plantains + a passion fruit batido with a splash of dark rum
-The students are far too young for me, but maybe a professor...

Thursday
-Mental soundtrack ---> Beach House
-I am just destined to have rain on all my vacations this year
-Breakfast at Angelo's: eggs Florentine + fresh-squeezed orange juice
-Handsome men's clothing at Van Boven, a mocha at Comet Coffee, estate jewelry, old maps...all in Nickels Arcade
-A maize and blue fantasia at Moe Sport Shop
-Teeming hordes of students in the Diag, gorgeous reading rooms at both the Harlan Hatcher and Law School libraries, the amazing architecture of the Law School quad (even under construction)
-Lunch at Zingerman's Deli: a Skokie Skidoo veggie Reuben + garlic potato salad + a clementine Izze
-Rain having stopped, an afternoon stroll through the trees by the Huron River in the Nichols Arboretum
-Sangria on the front patio at Dominick's
-Dinner at Pacific Rim: a Hendrick's cucumber martini + taro-mushroom pierogi + a farmers market salad + Thai basil pesto fettuccini + a trio of ginger, vanilla, and green tea creme brulee
-Lori McKenna singing love, loss, and hope at The Ark

Friday
-Mental soundtrack ---> Familia Pilco
-Breakfast at Zingerman's Roadhouse: a chai latte + house-made granola with vanilla yogurt + biscuits with sorghum syrup
-Antiquities galore including a five-sixths replica of Pompeii's Villa of the Mysteries at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
-Rembrandt, Monet, Frankenthaler, Hepworth, Diebenkorn, Picasso, many Buddhas, Jesper Just, Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries, all at the University of Michigan Museum of Art
-Lunch at Monahan's Seafood Market: a fresh-caught crispy fish sandwich on a Zingerman's Jasper roll
-Zingerman's vanilla gelato for dessert too, dunked in their Spanish drinking chocolate
-Used CDs for tomorrow's drive to Holland from Wazoo Records
-Northville cider outside the Arbor Brewing Company as the clouds gathered overhead
-Dinner at Mark's Carts as the drops started to fall: a ginger ale + a 5-spice tofu banh mi on (you guessed it) a Zingerman's roll from San Street
-Seeing the amazing doc Searching for Sugar Man at the State Theater amidst a crowd who were clearly well aware of the Detroit locations Rodriguez was singing about

Saturday
-Mental soundtrack ---> Oberhofer
-Breakfast at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market: a chai latter from Sweetwaters + an apple batter donut from Wasem Farms
-The drive across the state to Holland through rainstorms, rainbows, changing leaves, and a few highly questionable billboards
-A huge hit with the relatives: the video I took on my iPhone of Chuck and Richter singing for their supper
-Giant cupcakes from the Cakery courtesy of Carla to help celebrate Grandma's 98th
-Honeycrisp apples, apple cider, and photo albums of old family pictures from Kristy
-Back to Ann Arbor in time for dusk
-Dinner at Logan: a Bell's Oberon beer + tomato broth amuse bouche + asparagus tempura + seasonal mushroom gnocchi ragu + truffled goat cheese ravioli + a wee bomb of chocolate mousse with creme anglaise and pistachios

Sunday
-Mental soundtrack ---> Saint Etienne
-Breakfast at Cafe Zola: fresh-squeezed orange juice + a buckwheat crepe with tomatoes, mozzarella, basil
-Goodbye Ann Arbor and thank you for such a lovely time
-The rich mix of historical architecture and abandonment in Detroit's Corktown
-Lunch at Slows Bar BQ: a lemonade + a veggie chicken sandwich topped with slaw and pickle strips
-Asian muscle cars doing the Tokyo drift in a demonstration just next door
-Savoring a Michigan honeycrisp in the Midway airport, and my pecan pie from Slows somewhere in the air between Chicago and Oakland