Downtown Ann Arbor and Dart for Art!

Today was another mellow day as Leah and Scott had to work and we had time to explore Ann Arbor on our own.

We began at the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. In yet another stroke of genius, this museum was so interactive. It explained so much of the simple, everyday things we take for granted like a flushing toilet, magnets, light bulbs, etc. I am not sure who had more fun, the kids or my geeky science teacher of a wife. Either way, it was a great way to start a rainy morning.

After the museum we met Jen’s mom and her Aunt Liz downtown for lunch at the Mongolian BBQ. If you have never had the pleasure of eating at one of these joints it is a must do.

After lunch we had a few hours to kill and went window shopping in downtown Ann Arbor. The best way I can describe the eclectic nature of shopping Ann Arbor to my NC friends would be to think of a larger downtown Asheville; so many different types of stores and items from all different backgrounds and cultures. One of the cool features of downtown AA is that many of the older shops and buildings have fairy doors on their outer facade. They are each unique in their own way and people often leave various small items outside the doors for the fairies (pennies, stickers, etc). Jake was instantly obsessed with finding fairy doors at every shop we went to.

After shopping, we went to pick up Leah and headed back downtown for an event I had in mind since well before the trip. Ann Arbor has one of the nations #1 art fairs each summer (unfortunately it starts Wednesday) but one of the fundraisers is a one mile race called the Dash for the Arts. Although a mile sounds basic this is a very serious event that attracts racers from all over the Midwest. The event began with the men’s elite class which had about twenty runners. The men’s winner ran a 4:08 mile and the slowest of the 15 runners ran a 4:28. The men’s race was followed by the women’s elite class (10 runners). The top woman ran a 4:42 and the slowest was a 5:08. All of these runners were varsity collegiate athletes and some on pace for Olympics.

After watching such stunning performance, my goal was to not fall down at the start and take out the other 750 runners in the event. Prior to the race we gave Jake and Emma a challenge. If they broke 10:00 they got ten dollars, if the beat me they got 20. Jake took the second part of this challenge very seriously and shot out of the starting gate at a pace similar to the men’s elite class. Due to his small stature he was able to dart through the crowd much quicker than I was. Fortunately, I passed his wheezing ass around the ¼ mile mark and left him in my dust. By the half mile mark I was wheezing also, but happy that I was almost done. The finish line was amazing as the last quarter of a mile was lined with people screaming for everybody. I finished in 8:09, Emma had a late surge that put her past Jake at an 8:53, and Jake ran a 9:07 and learned a great lesson about pacing while running. The cool part was that every finisher got a hand-made ceramic medal from the arts council and a beer (+21).

Jake at the start of the race...

 

Jake at the end of the race...

After the race we had some dinner and played trivia before heading to the Townie Party in North University. If you don’t know what that means we are not allowed to tell you, you don’t belong.

The night ended with the ceremonial shaving of my head by Leah’s husband Scott. We had all decided that my scar had healed and would be fine, which it was. It is a strange sensation to have a completely bald head and I think it wigs Emma out.

Although we wish we could stay for many more days we head back to North Carolina tomorrow and wouldn’t trade a minute of this experience for all the money in the world.