Yesterday morning, we got out and about much earlier than usual for a Saturday. We hadn’t been to the Ann Arbor Art Fairs in years, and we were itching to get out of town and do something different — or, at least, Aaron and I were. Connor was just along for the ride.
We took advantage of the $8 shuttle bus from the mall, rather than attempting to find parking within a reasonable walk of downtown. It deposited us at State Street and South University, by The Guild’s section of the art fairs.
We browsed the Guild booths up State Street, transitioning into the State Street District Art Fair without really noticing. Then we turned down E. Liberty and continued through the State Street District booths — eventually finding ourselves in the Washtenaw Non-Profits section, which felt more like running the gauntlet than actually seeing what they had to offer.
If we’d studied the map from the nice Lilly representative a little more closely, we might have avoided the Non-Profits section altogether. As it was, though, we were a little blindsided by the self-proclaimed monk who tried to give me a stack of books about yoga in exchange for a donation. That was actually one of the more unusual and unexpected parts of our day, as he commented on our t-shirts and tried to engage us in conversation.
I was wearing my new “The Floor Is Lava Championships: Pompeii, Italy” t-shirt, Connor was wearing his Metroid t-shirt, and Aaron was wearing his Dinosaur Jr. t-shirt. Overall, Connor’s shirt got the most comments over the course of the day, but Yoga Dude latched onto Aaron’s Dino Jr. shirt, claiming to have played in a band with one of the members, and also claiming that at least one of the members is a proponent of eastern philosophy.
The back-and-forth about J. Mascis and other Dino Jr. members gave me time to come up with a truthful way out of a donation. I politely handed the stack of paperbacks back to him with both hands, a gesture that most proponents of Eastern philosophies will recognize as a gesture of respect. I explained that I already own several yoga books, and suggested that he save them for someone who needs them more than myself. That seemed to placate him without being unnecessarily rude, so we bowed politely and parted ways.
Other highlights of the day: enjoying Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches for lunch at the Ginger Deli, record shopping at Wazoo Records, browsing the comics and games at The Vault of Midnight, stopping for iced Americanos and a caramel Frappuccino at Starbucks, and playing ticket games (Connor) and Dance Dance Revolution (me) at Pinball Pete’s.
We didn’t come home with any art — honestly, most of the pieces that caught our eye were much too rich for our blood (as my Mom might say). We did get several business cards and a few Instagram links for possible gift purchases in the future, though.
Aaron and I weren’t sure how Connor would hold up to a day of walking around Ann Arbor, but we were pleasantly surprised when he didn’t actually complain much. His feet and his back would hurt every now and then, but dealing with a reluctant tween is much less stressful than dealing with a reluctant toddler used to be.
Sunshine, pleasant weather, exercise, art, food, family… that’s a day in the Win column if I ever had one.