Engineer's Daughter

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

ann arbor pics

It might be a few days or so before I get a full trip report posted (jet lag currently kicking my butt + busy week + recovering kitty), but in the meantime please enjoy a photoset from the recent visit my brother and I made to Ann Arbor, Michigan, plus an added bonus family day in Holland to help our grandmother celebrate her 98th birthday.  We stayed right on the Michigan campus in that there magnificent ediface pictured above, and whole city charmed my damn socks off.  More details soon!