Ann Arbor: Day 2

We began our second day in Ann Arbor with a hike in the Nichols Arboretum, which is run by U of M. We had to fight through a sort of fratty neighborhood with many red Solo cups to get there, but we found it.

Nichols Arboretum

The arboretum was a fun walk. You could walk the whole thing in a couple of hours without really seeing the same trail twice, although it's not so big that you feel like you could get lost. We had a fun time.

After that nice long walk, we went to lunch at Sava's, where we were unfortunately still full enough from breakfast that we had to split something. If you come hungry on a weekend, there is an unlimited brunch buffet that looked really good.

In the afternoon, we visited the locally beloved Dexter Cider Mill for a tasty apple cider donut and wine tasting. It was a small place and really cute.

Yes, it is literally in a barn.

We had a while before dinner and no other sights we wanted to see, so of course we boozed it up. We visited HOMES Brewery for some absolutely outstanding IPAs, then Ann Arbor Distilling Company for Dave to get a flight of spirits.

Herein lies booze.

Dave got his flight and ended up purchasing two spirits - (1) a coffee liqueur that he's going to rock as an after-dinner sip OR a bitchin' white Russian, and (2) a gin with fall botanicals. He's not a gin guy, but he really liked it. 

The distillery is set up to make a wide variety of cocktails with their spirits, so you can get more than a flight. And we happened to show up right when a neat jazz band was setting up! We enjoyed a few sets and had to jet to dinner.

Random bands are the best bands.

I had made dinner reservations as a popular Asian fusion spot, Pacific Rim. The food was really fantastic; I got something with scallops that really blew my mind.

After dinner, we stopped at Beer Grotto to try a flight of some more local beers, but I don't think our hearts were in it. We had kind of had enough booze. But the place still had a great selection. The beer garden just across the street looked cute, too, but we didn't have time to get there, and their selection didn't look as wide as Beer Grotto.

Final thoughts on Ann Arbor

I enjoyed our visit to Ann Arbor - it's mostly a very walkable town with a variety of things to do to fill a weekend. The people could be a little preppy and sometimes acted like anyone who doesn't live in Ann Arbor must be an idiot. But they have the food and beer chops to back up their town as a destination for foodies and beer lovers. And probably if you like football, you'd enjoy that, too!