Ann Arbor Epiphanies

Jake and I made our way to Ann Arbor last week to explore our for-the-next-two-years hometown, find a place to live, and check out nursery schools. I had the whole trip outlined on an Excel spreadsheet (what, you don't carry your schedule, apartment office phone numbers, and comparative rent prices on your person?), but I was thrilled to have experiences I couldn't quantify. Like:

1.

Zingerman's lives up to the hype. (That above is a Sherman's Sure Choice from the Deli, but we also visited the Roadhouse twice and had amazing dinner and breakfast foods. Zingerman's Roadhouse also offers refills on mashed potatoes and sweet potato fries. So.)

2. You can get from anywhere to anywhere in 4-10 minutes. The no-traffic thing is pretty great, though the roads are utter crap right now after their terrible winter.

3.

Midcentury modern advertising is alive and well and living in Michigan.

4. "It's hard to park in downtown" means something different to people who haven't lived in the DC area for 15 years. We had no problem finding parking in downtown Ann Arbor.

5.

Grocery stores sell wine and beer! And the one just around the corner from our apartment (by the way, we have an apartment!) has a "Build a Six-Pack" program, with a fantastic display of local beers! Also, both Flying Dog and Dogfish Head distribute in Michigan, which means we get two more years before moving to The Land of No MD/DE Beers, aka Missouri.

6. Ethnic foods abound in college towns! We ate sushi in a restaurant full of Japanese people, so you know it was good.

7.

Fairy Doors really are a Thing! I found two of them on our brief trip: we randomly passed by the one set in the front door of The Ark (pictured on the left), and I sought out the one at Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea (pictured on the right) while we were waiting to be seated at a brewpub across the street. They're awesome. Two down, five to go!

8. Marriage Equality passed while we were there! We immediately saw a car with tin cans attached to the bumper. In real life!

9.

There is no shortage of fantastic places to get fantastic drinks in Ann Arbor. Besides the three (?) brewpubs within spitting distance of each other, there are also great wine and cocktail lists. The above is an Ill Fashioned at The Ravens Club.

10. There are bookstores. Honest to god bookstores with books made out of paper. While walking up Main Street, Jake and I counted three used bookstores within two blocks of each other, as well as two stores for new books. I can.not.wait. to go to there.

While making these epiphanies, we also had time to find an apartment in an awesome location, and toured three nursery schools...which we've narrowed down to two. It's a hard decision, but I'm sure whichever choice we make will be the right one. I'm crazy-nervous to move, but also crazy-excited. This was a good visit.