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From stopping to smell the peonies to exploring works of public art, we saw a lot during our recent getaway to Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ann Arbor is more than just a college town – home to the University of Michigan. It is one of Michigan’s cultural and artistic hubs. It’s also a beautiful green city with lots of tall, old trees. Buildings and towering historic stone churches blend right into the leafy skyline. If you love parks and trails, you’ll be spoiled for choice on which to start with.
My family and I don’t often travel over to southeast Michigan so we made the most of our time here. If you enjoy art and nature, this is the perfect destination for you. And if that isn’t enough, everyone we interacted with was extremely friendly! Read on to discover some of the best attractions to explore in Ann Arbor.
~ Some Brief History on Ann Arbor ~
Ann Arbor was settled by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey and originally named “Annarbour”. The “Ann” came from the fact that each of their wife’s name was Ann. The “arbour” or today, “arbor” comes from the bur oak trees that originally covered the land here at the time of purchase. Leading up to Michigan’s statehood, the town set aside land to become the new state Capitol but lost to Lansing. (Check out my day trip article to Marshall, which also was in the running to be the state Capitol – but lost by one vote!) After losing, the land later was used to form the University of Michigan. The town continued to grow over the past couple centuries thanks to the arrival of the Michigan Central Railroad, the university, and new industry coming to town.
~ Getaway to Ann Arbor Map ~
~ Getaway to Ann Arbor Summary ~
When: Memorial Weekend (but we stayed only 1 night)
Why: We’ve never been to Ann Arbor before!
Time Traveled (one way): 2.5 hours from Grand Rapids, 45 minutes from Detroit, 1.5 hours from Kalamazoo, 1 hour from Lansing, 4 hours from Traverse City, 4 hours from Chicago, 4 hours from Indianapolis
Time Spent at Destination: overnight stay and 2 days
Budget: $$$ – overnight stay, food, gas, parking, shopping
What We Did During the Getaway to Ann Arbor
The first thing we did was visit the Peony Gardens at the Nichols Arboretum. After enjoying the flowers, we explored some of the many trails in the arboretum. Then at 4pm, we checked into the hotel and relaxed a bit. Once we settled in, we wandered around the University of Michigan campus and downtown Ann Arbor. Before heading back to the hotel for the night, Tony and I split a flight of mead and cider from Blom Meadworks.
On day two, we woke up and grabbed a small breakfast from the coffee bar at the Graduate Hotel. Then we checked out and went to Gallup Park to explore and give Winston time to play at the various playgrounds there. Once lunch hit, we ate at The Jefferson Market – which I highly recommend! After lunch, we headed to County Farm Park for my son to play a little more before heading home, but he had other plans. When we made it to the park, he was already asleep so we decided to save that park for another visit.
Where We Stayed
Located between the University of Michigan campus and downtown Ann Arbor is The Graduate Hotel. This hotel is amazing for U of M fans, alumni, and even travelers who appreciate a great theme. The lobby of the hotel is sophisticated with chandeliers and a long, scholarly table. A coffee and snack bar as well as a restaurant and cocktail lounge also make up the rest of the first floor.
As we made our way to our room, the hallways had collegiate comics and artwork displayed on the walls. The rooms were decorated with Michigan themed throw pillows and artwork. We absolutely loved our stay here! Our view was overlooking the neighborhood behind the hotel. Because there are so many mature trees throughout Ann Arbor, the view is extremely scenic. I bet this view is amazing during fall when the leaves change color. If you’re a U of M football fan, consider staying here if you’re watching a game.
The check in time is 4pm; check out is 11am. And if you’re planning on parking a car, this hotel is valet only and costs $30 per night.
Finally, a brand new Graduate Hotel opened in East Lansing on June 14, 2021. If you’re a Spartan’s fan, add this to your Michigan bucket list!
Other Things to Explore
Consider converting your trip to Ann Arbor into a tour of southeast Michigan and visit Detroit! I also put together a getaway itinerary of Detroit here. If it’s your first time visiting Detroit, this itinerary provides some excellent must see suggestions.
Recommended Items to Carry
I highly recommend carrying comfortable walking shoes if you’re planning to visit and explore Ann Arbor. Going along with that – make sure to carry sunscreen, sunglasses, and bug spray. And of course, if you have a little one, don’t forget a stroller. If you’re looking for a strong yet comfortable one to hold up in rough terrain, I highly recommend this one. We’ve been using it for all our day trips.
~ Getaway to Ann Arbor Details ~
Day One: Getaway to Ann Arbor
Nichols Arboretum
Our first stop when we arrived in Ann Arbor was the Peony Garden at Nichols Arboretum. As a flower lover, this was one of my favorite stops of the trip!
If you’re planning to visit the garden and/or the arboretum and are stopping by during the weekend, park at the M28 lot on the University of Michigan campus. This is where we parked, and it’s free on weekends. Unfortunately the lot isn’t large so plan to arrive early to snag a parking spot without waiting. This lot is also extremely close to the peony garden entrance.
Once you enter the arboretum, there’s a gravel path with two column’s of peonies. At each peony bed is a map indicating the name of the peony variety planted there. To the right of the main path are bed’s with specific varietals such as peonies from France, Japan, China, etc. There are also several benches on either side of the peony garden to relax and take in the beauty! Once you’re ready to move on, there’s a path that runs up and behind the peonies to enjoy the sights (and smells) of rhododendron, bottlebrush buckeye, and azalea plants.
Besides the peony gardens, the arboretum is full of wildflowers, trees (of course), and trails! There are trails that go down to the Huron River, which is a popular spot to kayak and canoe, and others that offer valley views. The valley is a beautiful spot to lay out or bring a picnic, which we saw several people doing.
As another little FYI, we used an off-road jogging stroller to push my son, which worked well. This stroller can handle a lot, and my son is always comfortable whenever we use it.
Nickels Arcade + State Street
After we checked into our hotel and grabbed a quick bite to eat, we were off to explore the town. The first stop in downtown Ann Arbor was the shops along State Street, which included the Nickels Arcade.
Nickels Arcade is a place you don’t want to miss if you love picturesque places, historic architecture, or local shopping. Built in 1918 and listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, this indoor/outdoor mall is home to several independent stores and businesses like Detroit based fancy chocolatier Bon Bon Bon, Comet Coffee, and the Caravan Gift Shop.
While exploring this side of Ann Arbor, we grabbed some ice cream from Michigan Creamy. A fun fact about Michigan Creamy is that they sell multiple brands of Michigan made ice cream like Hudsonville and Guernsey Farms. If you aren’t into ice cream, they also sell chocolates made by Gaylord’s Alpine Chocolat Haus. There’s also a fun mural of ice cream floating all around downtown Ann Arbor so what’s not to love?
One thing you may notice during the warmer months is a large section of State Street is blocked off from vehicular traffic. So you can grab your ice cream and walk around State Street or cross onto the University of Michigan campus and wander around the Diag.
University of Michigan Law Quad
Another stop we made while exploring Ann Arbor was to the University of Michigan Law Quad. I appreciate architecture and love looking at the details that go into the buildings. The Gothic style buildings around the Law Quad were completed in 1933 and named after William W. Cook, a successful New York based attorney and alumni. He approached the University to fund the creation of its law school.
Then in 2012, the Law Quad received two new building additions constructed with the same stone from the same quarry as the original. It was important for the new to merge seamlessly with the old. Many of the details, such as the exterior lanterns attached to the buildings, reminded me of what we saw when we visited Alnwick Castle in England. Alnwick was the castle used to film the Hogwarts scenes of Harry Potter!
Being the quad is surrounded on all four sides by these impressive buildings, with a green space in the middle, we let our toddler run around here. He enjoyed chasing birds, checking out the lights and every so often stopping to marvel at something. We hope some of that collegiate spirit rubbed off on him during our time here.
Graffiti Alley + Murals
Known for it’s annual Street Art Fair, Ann Arbor is truly an artistic place to visit. There are murals, there are statues, and there are even mini, fairy doors on the sides of some buildings around town. I once read that the City of Ann Arbor budgets around $250k to public art endeavors annually.
Graffiti Alley
If you’re visiting Ann Arbor, one sight you shouldn’t miss is Graffiti Alley. Located on Liberty Street to the left of Taste Kitchen, Graffiti Alley is an always changing alley continually being painted and repainted by local graffiti artists. Graffiti Alley, also known as Bubble Gum Alley or Poet’s Alley, unofficially started in the 1980s. Then, people were always spray painting in this alley.
Hoping to transform the alley, the city of Ann Arbor had artist Katherine Cost paint a mural in 1999. That mural titled, Infinite Possibilities took 5 months to complete and covered 5,000 square feet. Shortly after completion, graffiti started popping up over the mural until finally in 2008, vandals painted over the rest of the mural with white paint. Since then, Graffiti Alley’s remained a place for local artists to come to express themselves, create content, take photos, and dance. This is one spot I plan to visit each time I’m in Ann Arbor given its ever changing nature.
Murals
In addition to Graffiti Alley, there are several murals painted throughout the city. I’ve included a couple photos of my favorites in the gallery above. The murals and their physical locations are:
- The Bullfighter at the Aventura Spanish restaurant
- Drifts by Louise Jones (aka Ouizi) at 200 Ashley Street (kitty-corner from Grizzly Peak Brewing)
- 3D Life in Ann Arbor mural by Mathew Sharum at 300 S. State St (behind Potbelly)
While I couldn’t find a map featuring all the murals in Ann Arbor, the below sites showcase a number of murals and other public art:
Downtown Ann Arbor + Blom Meadworks
Being it was our first time visiting, we enjoyed walking around downtown and looking at all the buildings, storefronts, and restaurants. We saw the iconic Michigan theatre just nearby Graffiti Alley, read many of the historic informational signs posted along the buildings, and marveled at the integration of old and new.
Our walking route was down Liberty Street until we reached Ashley Street, then we zig zagged up and down Main and 4th Streets until we reached Blom Meadworks.
Blom Meadworks
There aren’t too many places in Michigan where you can go Mead tasting so we decided to take advantage before heading back to the hotel to sleep.
My husband and I split the prearranged flight of 8 samples, which included 4 meads and 4 ciders. I anticipated the mead to taste overly sweet knowing it comes from honey, but their mead is smooth and refreshing. In a way, it tasted similar to cider. Blom is creative in infusing flavors – one we tried was hoppy and reminded us of an IPA. All of their ingredients are locally sourced and they work with local beekeepers to procure the honey used.
If you’d like to visit, Blom is open Wednesday through Sunday for inside and outside tastings. To enjoy your tastings inside, you must show your ID and proof of vaccination.
Day Two: Getaway to Ann Arbor
Gallup Park
After we checked out of the Graduate Hotel, our first stop was Gallup Park. This park is one of the most popular in the Ann Arbor area. It’s on both sides of the Huron River and contains a loop trail, three playgrounds, picnic areas and grills, concessions, and canoe, kayak, and paddleboat rentals. The loop trail is paved and we saw plenty of bikers, rollerbladers, joggers, and walkers. There are also several benches just off the path to stop and appreciate the beauty from.
As for parking, there are plenty of places to park. The area nearest the canoe livery was full when we visited on a warm and sunny spring day, but as we drove further into the park, we saw lots of spots.
We pushed Winston in his stroller from one small playground to the Rotary Centennial Playground. He loved being bounced on the large teeter totter but also loved the giant swing they had. The playground is enclosed with a low to the ground rope with a couple outlets to the walking path. The ground is also covered with rubber cushioned flooring. The entire play area is quite large so even though it was a busy day, there was plenty of things to play with.
The Jefferson Market
After all that playing, we worked up an appetite for brunch! I wanted to check out an independent restaurant located outside of downtown Ann Arbor and found The Jefferson Market in the Old West Side Neighborhood. This place was exactly what I was craving and the perfect setting for a Sunday brunch.
Coming out of the COVID pandemic, this eatery still takes COVID precautions seriously. All ordering & payment is done prior to being seated. There was no indoor dining when we visited. And masks were required to walk to and from the tables and even when the servers were placing food and drinks at your table. While many people at this point are fully vaccinated, it’s nice to see the level of care The Jefferson Market takes to make sure their employees & patrons are safe and healthy.
Now for the ambiance… it is amazing! Only outdoor dining was allowed but there are several garden tables with umbrellas and trees for shade. Lush green ferns circle the parameter of the outside eating area and it truly is a beautiful setting.
The food is also delicious. We ordered a carrot muffin, avocado toast, and breakfast plate with scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, bacon and roll. All three of us split and enjoyed everything – Winston especially was impressed with the carrot muffin. But the avocado toast in my opinion was the best I’ve had. The amount of avocado on the toast is exceptional. Besides what we ordered, the Jefferson Market also sells bakery items, coffees and lattes, several breakfast entrees and sandwiches for lunch.
Jefferson Market is up Wednesday to Sunday from 8am to 2pm.
County Farm Park
Our extremely brief final stop before driving home was County Farm Park. We planned to go here to allow Winston to play and get out his wiggles before the drive, but when we reached, he already decided to start his nap. So we only made it as far as the parking lot.
However if you are visiting Ann Arbor with children, County Farm Park was highly recommended to me by southeast Michigan bloggers. The playground itself is designed to look like a farm with a barn play structure, windmill, tractor, coop and more! I guess we will need to come back soon to experience it! 🙂
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Have you spent any time exploring Ann Arbor?
from Michigan with Love,
Jackie
