On Saturday October 13th @HiroyukiTakisawa and I held a meet-up in my hometown Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA as part of the World Wide Geo Walk Season II ?Hidden Friendship Gems? Explore your neighborhood with your Friend organized by @OSAMA.
In July, we welcomed the newest member of our family and this was our first meet-up as a new family of three! We were very excited to head to downtown Ann Arbor to explore the shops, hang out with friends and family, and visit as many urban fairy doors as we could.
The urban airy doors are one of the hidden gems of Ann Arbor. The story goes that a couple bought an old 100-year-old house in the 1990s. As they began to reform the house they discovered several little doors so small that only a fairy could use. In the early 2000s, the artist installed the first door outside Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea. Since then more and more fairy doors began to appear around town and have become part of the culture of downtown.
Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea on Washington St.
We started our meet-up at a local coffee and tea shop, Sweetwaters, which was also the site of the first public fairy door. Hiroyuki, Len, and I were joined by my brother, Frank, who had flown in from Washington D.C. to visit that weekend. We all enjoyed some coffee and teas (and a lemon cake for me) as we chatted and decided where we should go looking for our next fairy door.
In Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea, above the fairy door, there was a poster with all the different fairy doors in town. Although I had made a map of all the reported locations of different fairy doors, this gave us a hint and some ideas of where to look.
We, unfortunately, didn’t get a chance to go check out it out while we were in Ann Arbor but can you guess which fairy door is located at the Ann Arbor Google Headquarters?
The Ark
The next stop on our fairy door journey took up to the Ark, a music venue that has been in Ann Arbor for as long as I can remember. The Ark and the fairy door there are both currently under construction but they left a little “under construction” fairy door for everyone to visit.
I’m looking forward to seeing what the new look of the Ark will be.
Rock Paper Scissors & Peaceable Kingdom (closed)
The second urban fairy door to appear in Ann Arbor was at the now-closed Peaceable Kingdom. Not having visited downtown Ann Arbor in years I wanted to see if the door still existed.
We went looking for the location Peaceable Kingdom once was and along the way stopped in the store Rock Paper Scissors. Rock Paper Scissors seemed to sell a little bit of everything from Michigan souvenirs, to greeting cards, to toys and baby clothes. Toward the back of the store, we even found materials to make your own wedding invitations!
On we went, and we found the former Peaceable Kingdom. No new store had moved in but the fairy door still existed, although a little in disrepair. I hope whatever store moves in next will integrate the fairy door into their exterior.
Hooper Hathaway Building
Next on our fairy door adventure, we stopped at an ATM in the Hooper Hathaway Building. The door seems locked but all you need is a bank or credit card (any bank or credit card) to swipe at the door and you can get in. We didn’t need any money, we snapped a few photos and moved on.
Michigan Theater & Elmo’s Liberty Street T-Shirts
Not quite ready to call it a day, we decided to make one last stop at the historic Michigan Theater. We found the fairy door by the ticket booth but by the time we had made it to the theater we were all a little too tired to go in and take a look at the interior, so after taking a look at the fairy door and seeing if we couldn’t find a cornerstone to tell us when the Michigan Theater was built, we started back toward our final meeting point.
(The Michigan Theater apparently was opened in 1928)
October is the middle of college (American) football season and on the day of our meet-up, the Michigan University vs. Wisconsin University football game was going to be held in that evening so everywhere you looked there were people wearing the Michigan University shirts, hats, jackets, gloves, etc.
It was hard to fight the urge to join in the Michigan spirit so we decided to visit another Ann Arbor long-time shop, Elmo’s T-shirts, and check out their Michigan gear. The tiny hole in the wall shop was full of all sorts of t-shirts but the majority were definitely Michigan University t-shirts. We even found Michigan baby onesies!
Crazy WisdomBookstore & Tea Room
The planned ending point of our meet-up was the Tea Room on the second floor of Crazy Wisdom Bookstore & Tea Room. We arrive and first visit the fairy door on the first floor while also exploring the bookstore section.
Unfortunately, the Tea Room was closed so we decide to change the final location.
For those who want to visit the Tea Room with a baby stroller, there are only stairs to get to the second floor but you can leave your stroller behind the desk on the first floor and carry your baby upstairs.
Cafe Verde
Not willing to end a meet-up without a cup of coffee, we walked on over to Cafe Verde, a cafe connected to the People’s Food Coop, a natural foods grocery store. We sat and relaxed and enjoyed having conversations after a long afternoon of exploring the downtown.
Little Len doesn’t even know he went on such a big adventure because he slept the entire time!
As we were sitting with our drinks and food, we were surprised to find yet another fairy door! It was a little different from the other fairy doors because it is not built into the wall and has a unique shape but I’m sure the fairies still come to visit!
We had such an amazing time finding the hidden gems around Ann Arbor. It was also nice for me to spend time in my hometown with my Local Guide family.
Check out the full photo album of our meet-up here.
Friendship Forever!
