Retired in Ann Arbor: Outside Kerrytown

The other day I was walking around Kerrytown, and took a moment to enjoy the quiet time, since I am usually here during farmer's market, when it is anything but quiet!

I wasn't in any hurry, so I also took a couple of minutes and read the historical marker, that I had walked by thousands of times, without ever really noticing.

Here's a short version:
1873-1930 Luick Brothers Lumberyard and wood planing factory was located here, making doors, sashes and 'fancy sawing' for the growing town.

Retired in Ann Arbor: The American Eagle

I finally got around to reading my copy of Michigan History magazine the other day, and the feature article is on the sculptures of Marshall Fredericks.   He was a very celebrated and prolific artist, with around 450 commissions here in Michigan, including the American Eagle sculpture at the entrance of the Big House.  The largest of his sculptures include the Spirit of Detroit, and Christ on the Cross in Indian River.

Marshall Fredericks met one of his most admired artists, Carl Milles, while studying in Europe. He worked with him for awhile in his studio outside of Stockholm, and then continued his European tour.  

The Spirit of Detroit

In 1931, Milles became the resident sculptor and director of the sculpture department at the brand new Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills.  He invited Fredericks to move to Michigan from his position at the Cleveland School of Arts and assist him. 

Barbour fountain at Belle Isle

In 1936, Fredericks won a national design competition to create the Barbour Memorial Fountain at Belle Isle--which was his big break.  He worked from then, until right before his death in 1998, on his sculptures, including an 86-foot-high stainless steel arc with bronze figures that was installed at Milles' burial site in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Detroit News noted that the "Ann Arbor Eagle," sculpted in 1950, sits at the entrance to the football stadium. It represents an important theme in Fredericks' work, remembering the veterans of World War II. The eagle holds a wreath in its talons in memory of the students who died in the war. Since Fredericks fought in the war himself, this subject remained important to him throughout his career."  Check out Arborwiki for more information about other works of his in Ann Arbor, including the location of the above 'controversial' reliefs.

Retired in Ann Arbor: Babo Market

Eating area 

I had a long and lovely dinner with one of my girlfriends the other night, and after we wandered out (of Cafe Zola, of course), we decided to walk down to the corner of Washington and Division, and pay our first visit to the new Babo Market.  We arrived right before they closed at 10PM, so the staff was busy settling the place down for the night-- but they were still very happy to welcome us.

It is a wonderful space, and they have a nice selection of very nice quality food-- and a coffee bar.  Perfect!

What a great addition to a blank spot on that street's canvas!  It will be a perfect place to stop and pick up a few things for dinner-- including fresh meat, produce and prepared food--  my favorite!  A European shopping experience.

Front window-- reminded me of Paris!

Check out their Facebook page here!

Huge windows--

Retired in Ann Arbor: Zingerman's

The other morning, I had a couple of hours to kill, and was dying for a really good cup of coffe and an authentic bagel.

Here in Ann Arbor, we are lucky to have the original Zingerman's Delicatessen-- which gets very well-deserved epic reviews in the worldwide press, and also has some epic lines during weekends and lunch hours.

Fortunately, when you live here in Ann Arbor, you can take advantage of some of the less popular hours, like I did when I arrived at 9 AM on a Friday morning, to no line whatsoever!

Did you know that they are open every day from 7 AM to 10 PM?  (No more excuses that the lines are too long..)

I found a nice sunny table at the Zingerman's Next Door-- which was nicely hopping at this time, and settled in with my bagel, coffee and NY Times.  What a life!

Beautiful cakes for great memories

Check out their timeline to track important events from 1902 until the present.  After reading about some of their awards, you'll understand another reason why so many people are jealous of us who are retired in Ann Arbor.

Nice outdoor seating when it's not quite so chilly!

My favorite olive oil selection in the world

I challenge you to want a cheese they don't have--
not sure what you want?  Ask for a taste and a recommendation.

Retired in Ann Arbor: The Rock

I found a great book at the annual Flea Market at the Ann Arbor City Club, called Ann Arbor Annotated*, published in 1980.

While I was reading this book of Ann Arbor facts and trivia, I learned some interesting information about The Rock at the corner of Hill and Washtenaw.

Retired in Ann Arbor: Road trip! to DuMouchelles and Slow's BBQ in Detroit

The other day we went on one of our favorite road trips, to Detroit!  We have several places that we enjoy visiting while there, but on this trip we were on a mission.  We were going to preview a piece of furniture that was up for auction at one of the best auction houses in the midwest:  DuMouchelles Fine Arts Auctioneers.

Retired in Ann Arbor: Early spring dam to dam walk

The weather has been so unusually beautiful the last few days, that we decided to do a big walk from the Barton dam, past the Argo dam, into Kerrytown (for a break, and a latte), and then back to the Barton dam.  (Round trip:  5.4 miles, 1:52 without the break)  Check out the free iMapMyWalk app to save your stats.


Even though the landscape is still mainly brown, there are signs of spring everywhere!

Michigan 8 man crew

A couple of years ago, I took the Learn to Row class, offered by the Ann Arbor Rowing Club.  What a great experience!!  Everyone in my group was new to rowing too, and there was a good age range of people in the group.  It is great exercise, and a lot of fun.

If you're looking for a new adventure this summer, I recommend it.

There is one log where turtles love to hang out-- last year there were a couple; this year there are a bumper crop!

If the sun is out, you may be able to see them (from the boardwalk on the northeast side of Argo pond).

Barton dam

Barton Dam was built in 1912-1913 to generate hydroelectric power.  The City of Ann Arbor bought the dam from Detroit Edison in the 1960s, and restarted hydroelectric generation in the 1980s.  Check out ArborWiki for more information.

And enjoy this weather-- quick!  before it's gone.

Retired in Ann arbor: Stadium Hardware

Gloves and boots for early gardening

There's nothing like a good old-fashioned hardware store. Remember when you were a kid, and you would go to the hardware store with your dad when you broke a window, or when you were just bored during summer vacation, and tagged along for something to do?

Single screws

Those were the days before the big box stores; where if you needed one screw, you could buy one screw, rather than a package of them.  And, if you weren't sure what you needed, the guys who worked there always did-- and were happy to give free advice.

Nice new clean gardening tools 

And guess what?  That store still exists, here in Ann Arbor.  Stadium Hardware appears to be doing fine-- in fact, they just expanded.  Want to know more?  AnnArbor.com has a nice article here.

Broken handle?  Don't throw it away, replace it.

Cute gift idea for grandkids--
a little Radio-Flyer wagon to pull their toys  $15.99

Stadium Hardware was started about 50 years ago-- when you fixed things when they broke, instead of just replacing them.   Since the world is moving back to the idea of recycle and reuse, I think repair should be added to the list too.

Ladders and wheelbarrows out front

Retired in Ann Arbor Happy hour! at Vinology

Last week we decided to go upscale for our weekly happy hour, so we headed to Vinology.

This is a perfect destination to enjoy your favorite glass of wine, or to try something new-- from their list of 50 wines by the glass, or 100+ wines by the bottle.

If you're not sure what you want, it's also possible to have a wine flight created for you-- or you can try some of the flights that they create.  The next time I am in the mood to splurge, I plan on trying "When dirt tastes good"-- although at $21, it's not in our happy hour budget.

Happy hour ends at 6:00, so we hustled in at 5:50, and announced our plan to take advantage of the special pricing.  We had a very friendly and accommodating waiter, and our choice of nice tables in the bar.  Both the bar and the dining room spaces are very nice-- and the bubble room would be a fantastic space for a party!

Wine by the glass is 1/2 price, and they have an interesting selection.  If you're not a wine drinker, some of the draft beers are $3, but the focus here is on the wine, and they're doing a great job, as illustrated by winning the 2011 Open Table Most Notable Wine List award.



The happy hour food offerings were  sliders and the featured pizza-- both priced at 1/2 off.  As usual, we ordered both, with the intent of splitting them.

A+ sliders, with great condiments

The pizza was also delicious, and was large enough to have been dinner-

Total bill:  under $30 without the tip
Wine  $6.50 and $6
Sliders $7
Pizza $8

Next time we'll probably just do the pizza and wine-- although the salads look fantastic too, and would be a good addition.

This was a great happy hour--  we'll be back!

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Retired in Ann Arbor: Hill Auditorium

One of the special destinations that can be found here in Ann Arbor, is Hill Auditorium.  It is the largest indoor entertainment venue here, and can seat 3,538 people.  It was named after Arthur Hill, a regent of the university from 1901-1909.  He bequeathed $200,000 to the university for the construction of a venue for lectures and musical performances, and when it opened in 1913, it could hold the entire student body.

Ann Arbor News photo from 1912

Decorated for "The Messiah" 2011

Albert Kahn was the architect, and besides designing the beautiful interior and dignified exterior, he also was chartered with creating a building with perfect acoustics.

Looking at the ceiling, from our seats

Wikipedia reports that Kahn wrote to the pre-eminent designer Hugh Tallant, to see if it would be possible to build an auditorium of that size where every seat could hear.  Tallant responded in the affirmative, and designed an auditorium in the shape of a megaphone, with an oval stage.





Kahn's granddaughter reported that after the building was nearly finished, they tested it out by having her drop a pin on the stage, which he heard from the last seat of the second balcony.

Everyone from the New York Philharmonic to the Grateful Dead has played here.  I remember seeing Bonnie Raitt here in the 1970's, where she and her band were standing on the stage, with much clapping and stomping going on in the audience, and she looked up at the crowd and said, "this place is WAY to classy for me!".


Lucky for us, we have a world-class venue, and there is no dress code enforced.  So jeans?  Sure.  Bonnie Raitt?  Yes!  (May 25).  Enjoy the show!

Photo from the Michigan Daily,
during renovation in 2002

Retired in Ann Arbor road trip! Original Gravity brewing company

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On a recent Saturday, we decided to take a mini-road trip and try out Original Gravity in Milan, Michigan.

I had sampled their beer at a couple of beer festivals, (and always found my way back to their tent), so we decided to visit them at the source.

Only 14 Miles south of Briarwood Mall, in MI-lan (accent on
the first syllable, not like the one in Italy)

The dining room is a cute pub space, and the girls were in love with the sandwich menu--  yum!  vegetarian choices and avocado.
(Have you noticed that the guys never seem to have a problem with a pub menu?)

Lunch is available on Saturday and Sunday, and during the week, they are open from 3PM-- check here for hours.

We really enjoyed ourselves, and will return.

Special event on March 10  4PM-11PM
Raise money for the Red Cross by enjoying beer!

Lots of great prizes, including this awesome bike from Sweet Bike Shop.

Retired in Ann Arbor: Matthaei Botanical Gardens

 Happy 50th birthday Matthaei Botanical Gardens!  We decided to visit the conservatory to see the photos of the original construction, and to enjoy the spring blooms.

 Be sure and check out the gift shop-- there are great spring flowers available for purchase for around $5, and some of my favorite children's gifts that encourage outside play and learning.  Who can resist butterfly nets and bug cages?

Century plant

This is a huge century plant-- which can be found in the arid house.  It is now 70 years old, and according to their website, we're still waiting for the first bloom.

(wow......70 years old and still a baby......I like it!)

It was a serene setting, with guitar and flute music floating through the air--


Free admission, but there is a charge to park unless you become a Friend, which we highly recommend.

Looking for an excuse to spend more time here?  Check out the many volunteer opportunities.