Now that I've overcome the forces of MySpace and No Internet...

We had days off on Tuesday and Wednesday, which we spent in Ann Arbor, MI. There was a huge contrast between Ann Arbor and Detroit, probably because at least half the population of Ann Arbor is the same as the college population.

Tuesday, we slept in pretty late-- which we really needed-- and spent a couple of hours walking around town. There's a venue there called the Blind Pig that we failed to find, but Owe keep hearing it's a cool place to play at; hopefully next time we're in Michigan we can hit it up. The town was like one giant college campus, very clean, but oddly enough there were many (and very nice) homeless people asking for change. We got hit up for change a good three times within the span of 10 minutes (we told them we were musicians, which is when they started laughing at us).

Exhausted from all the walking/crying about our financial status, we spent a couple of hours at a coffee shop to replenish and siphon some free internet. We got to talking to one of the baristas, and it turns out he was just in Boston for a week or two recently; we shot the shit about the old Beantown, and for a few minutes I was a little homesick. Just a little. The better part of the next two hours we had ourselves a little band meeting talking about what the hell to do when we got back (namely, not working day jobs). Hopefully, lots of this cool stuff we've been talking about will come to fruition. I love being in a band.

Wednesday, we mostly spent hanging about the house we were staying at. We may have set the record for most TV ever watched in a single day: Live Free or Die Hard; Knocked Up (twice); Mrs. Doubtfire; a few episodes of Entourage; ... I can't remember the rest, it all pretty much blends in after that.

We did manage to get out for the evening, though. The folks we were staying with treated us to dinner at a place called Zingerman's Roadhouse. It's something of a steakhouse, so the burgers there are excellent (meat is murder... tasty, tasty murder). Tried a new beer called Oatmeal Poet Stout that was amazing. I've been on a low-key beer tasting expedition out here in the Midwest, and I haven't been disappointed yet. My favorite so far is the Two Hearted Ale from Cleveland. Nom nom nom.

Our hosts also had another house guest, an older gent from London, who was great to talk to. He lives in a prime location in London and has rubbed elbows with some pretty prominent people. It was great hearing stories from him and shooting the shit (as I'm sure he was enjoying his "50% discount" on everything in the States). His daughter is in a band as well, so if you get a chance, check out Liza Finn.

Afterward, we headed back into town to meet up with some of Ross' friends who either live in Ann Arbor or were in town. We all had a good time with some beer and the jukebox, and a short, but awesome, conversation with our server about Oasis and Champagne Supernova.

We parted company around 2am, grateful for the couple of days off. After that, off to Chicago (which I will write about in the next blog).

Cheers,
Henry

Labels: tourdiary