Although most of the weekend has been hot and sticky, Friday was exceptionally cool. It was so beautiful outside so we ventured out to a park near the edge of town: Bandemer (pronounced Bandy-mere). It’s right on the Huron River, and the trail goes around the river and up into the woods and hills. I don’t think I could run the thing like a lot of people do, but it’s still a pretty good work out.

Yellow!

Family silhouette

Family in the sun

These geese weren’t a fan of us being near them and their babies. They actually started charging at Gryff and hissing. Craziness!

Bokeh

Look up!

I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible because I know soon enough that hot, sticky summer will be here.

The return of Mr. Bunn

Make a wish!

Golden :)

I had a half day at work today and knowing it was going to be a beautiful, sunny day, I took Cam with me downtown to take some pictures. I walked all over downtown. …And I do mean all over. I started in the heart of downtown and then walked down to Kerrytown (Korea Town) to get some more awesome pictures! As always, these photos and more can be viewed on my Flickr.

Nickels Arcade is a little plaza across from one of the University of Michigan quads. It’s full of shops, but it’s also a shortcut to get to Maynard Street from State St.

Encore Recordings is one of Ann Arbors vinyl shops. You can get a lot of vinyls for jazz, classic rock, electronic music, etc. Today was the first day I set foot in this store and it is one neat store. The entire place is STOCKED. I think the floor might be the only place there aren’t vinyls…

Across the street and down closer to State St., is Dawn Treaders Book Shop. It’s a HUGE book shop too. They sell and buy used books and have an amazing, extensive collection of them. I’m only upset at myself for not buying one of the vegetarian cookbooks I saw in there!

On my way to Kerrytown, I walked by this beautiful church. St. Andrews Episcopal Church to be exact. The sun was shining it on it so beautifully that I just had to take a photo of it. Once I had the shot, I decided to make it more dramatic and turned it black and white. I like it more this way.

Kerrytown is a neat little place. The first time I had Bibimbop was at the Kerrytown Market. I walked through and got some pretty cool pictures. This one is at the seafood counter. Mmm fish ;-)

The best find I had all day was Spice Merchants spice shop. It was hands down the coolest little store where there are shelves and shelves of spices in huge jars. You can tell the store owner what you want and he’ll weigh it and then bag it up for you.  When I say they have everything, I mean it. Everything from grill seasonings, sea salts as seen above, and exotic spices. I walked out with some black cardamom so I can finally make my own garam masala at home.

So yeah, I encourage everyone to be tourists in their own town because it’s so fun. You’ll be surprised how many new things you’ll discover. There are always new things I’m seeing for the first time in Ann Arbor. I love it. Give it a shot (heh heh). Oh! And again, the link to my Flickr is here. Happy clicking!

Seva: I love this restaurant. It’s probably my favorite restaurant in Ann Arbor. Hands down. I’m sure you can guess why. It’s one of (if not the only) vegetarian/vegan restaurant in this entire beautiful, cute city.

I love the tag line: “Fresh imaginative vegetarian cuisine” — ah, I love the sound of that. They just put it all out there, so you know they’re full of awesome.

When you walk in, you have two options: Go into the restaurant straight ahead. Or, you can go downstairs to the comedy club.

Did I mention this place is full of win? Because it is. So yeah, you can eat and then catch a comedy show! (And, REB and I have been to the comedy club a few times and the people they have coming though there are hilarious! But that’s a different post…)

Seva is incredibly quaint on the inside. It isn’t super huge, but I think it seats 100 or so people. I think. The hostess stand is right there when you walk in, bathrooms and bar to the right.

So what’s with that shelf and the hallway?

Those are t-shirts and hoodies on that there shelf. You can buy those t-shirts (I have one in black w/ white writing for around $10. But you might ask yourself, “Um, why do I want to do this?”

This is why:

If you buy a t-shirt and travel (like I do every few weeks), you can take a picture of where ever you are with your t-shirt on, bring in the photo and get a free entree. Pretttttty sweet!

If you prove you’ve been some where with the Seva t-shirt, you also get a pin on their U.S. or World Map on the location of where you were.

I’m guilty of not showing them my photos! I have quite a few. I’m sure I’ve racked up enough entrees for a party of 5 or 6 by now. Should get on that. (–___–;

They have a full-service bar with beer, wine and juice! And their juices are amazing, so definitely check out this area of the place. There’s also more seating around the bar area and near the back of the restaurant.

We were fortunate to be seated in the corner in the front part of the restaurant (past the hostess stand), so I could be a creepster and take a picture of this part of the restaurant. I love the streamer lights along the top and the plants. I love the plants. They make the place seem so green and friendly. The wooden walls make me feel like I’m eating in a cabin.

Sigh. The ambiance of this restaurant makes me happy. I feel at peace, if that’s even possible.

How about we get to the whole point of this place.

The FOOD.

Like I said, it’s all vegetarian, but you meat eaters shouldn’t be super upset about this. There are a ton of great items on their menu that even the meatiest meat eater would be satiated. Everything from North African cous cous, spinach enchiladas, portobello sandwiches and Greek salads, to all vegan items like Tempeh burgers, black bean burgers and tofu eggs.

Before you all start gagging, you should give it a chance!

Tonight, I got the Eggs Veracruz, which was a crispy tortilla topped with black beans, eggs (I got mine done over-hard. It usually comes with over-medium), sour cream, guacamole, scallions, tomatoes and salsa. And some grapes on the side. It was pretty much amazing.

And to move onto my next point: They serve breakfast items all day.

It was more food than I could even eat, but it was oh so delicious.

REB got a char-grilled vegetable and goat cheese wrap with a cup of potato & leek soup (also known as vichyssoise). He let me try his soup and it was TO. DIE. FOR. I swear to something/someone divine and holy, it could have been made by the Late and Great Julia Child. …Except it was made with vegetable stock instead of chicken, of course.

In addition to outstanding food, the service is wonderful. We were served by one of the most friendly, and helpful servers. She kept the drinks filled and checked on us often to make sure we were happy. The food arrived fresh, hot and looked amazing.

Now, prices can be kind of high depending on what you get. Their lunch menu is the way to go where you can get half a sandwich with a cup of soup, salad, etc. That runs about $7 or $8. The entrees can get spendy and are any where from $10-15. They do have specials on the back of their menu every day (or week), though. They feature a special appetizer, salad and 3-to-4 entrees. They also make note of a wine that would complement the meal well, which is always nice.

So check out Seva! I’ve never had a bad thing to eat there, and a lot of my carnivorous friends would agree it’s a pile of win. So check it out! I know you’ll love it. And if you don’t, tell you love it any way so I don’t cry from confusion.

We went to a place in downtown Ann Arbor called Jerusalem Garden. It’s located right off Liberty St. and is next to another favorite restaurant of mine, The Earthen Jar. We have never been to Jerusalem Garden and I was in the mood for some Middle Eastern food. There aren’t many places around here that have that kind of cuisine. I gave Palm Palace one chance and the place was the biggest disappointment, so we’ve never gone back. Though, I know my close friend B is all about that place.

Anyway, we loved Jerusalem Garden! It’s a quaint, little place that doesn’t seat a whole lot of people, but the prices are very reasonable and the portions are great. It reminded me of my favorite Middle Eastern place in East Lansing, Woody’s Oasis.

When you walk in you’re in the kitchen! You have the option of being seated (sign not pictured, but is to the right), or you can eat at the bar or order take out. If you go past that wooden post on the left, there are high-top tables if you choose to eat up front near the grill.

Should you choose to dine in (which I recommend), simply wait to be seated. You’ll be taken up three little steps and then into the back of the tiny building to the seating area. Bathrooms are located all the way in the back behind the curtain. There is additional seating outside, which is of course used during the warmer months.

As you can see from the prices, this place isn’t that bad at all. And, like many places in Ann Arbor, they have an entire section of vegetarian dishes. This place already was a winner for us!

We decided to get an appetizer and ordered the hommus served with warm pita. We also each got the lentil soup (which to me, is basically like eating dal straight up).

This portion was enormous! Granted, it was the large, but we didn’t expect it to be this much! Overall, it tasted really good. I could definitely taste the tahini and garlic. I wish it was a little more spice though. Fear not! They have hot sauce sitting right on the table. I had to add a few dashes of that into my soup. I love dal, but I need the heat.

I ordered the falafel sandwich with fattoush. I was in heaven. This was an amazing sandwich! It was warm, flavorful, fresh and seasoned so well. All the vegetables tasted fresh and crunchy and the hommus was an excellent condiment. I could only eat half since I was so full from everything else, but the other half came home with me to be eaten later. REB got the plain falafel sandwich, which he gave two thumbs up (and a big satisfying smile).

Overall, I give this place two very big thumbs up. The service was outstanding and our server was really friendly. The prices are more than reasonable. We got all that food for around $20. Not bad at all. Location can kind of stink, since it is downtown, so you either have to find street parking (unless that’s all for residents living on that street), or park in any of the parking garages in downtown Ann Arbor (which isn’t horribly priced for the amount of time we spent downtown after dinner).

Definitely give Jerusalem Garden a shot! I was really pleased with everything there and will most definitely make a trip back!