Yspilanti, MI May 2022

I’ve been taking a look at some vacation photos from May and we found such great neighborhoods to explore and fun things to do, I keep wanting to share. While many of my friends go on vacations to the beach to veg out, these driving tours make me happy and relaxed, plus I get to see so many places I've never been. It's not Paris or Hong Kong, but I enjoy these just as much.

With some down time after seeing all our planned stops in Ann Arbor, we had a late afternoon and evening free and decided to take a drive to see Ypsilanti. My travel companion had been there many years ago visiting her sister who lived and taught in the area but I had never been.

We pulled into town and made our way to the Depot Town area as this is where we thought it might be more familiar to my companion. And it was! Our first stop was at the local Food Co-op where we grabbed a drink and chatted with the staff about what we should see while in town. It was recommended that we visit the main street of Depot Town and take a stroll around as it happened to be some sort of art walk night and many of the local shops were open late.

It made me wonder about the town history, so I asked the google to please expound. “In 1838 the railroad from

Detroit reached Ypsilanti. The first wood frame depot was built in 1838, and a large brick masonry station was constructed two decades later. Adjacent to the depot, a small commercial district arose east of the river known (then and now) as Depot Town. Most of the structures still standing in Depot Town today were built within three decades during the late 19th century. Over the years, Ypsilanti grew and flourished. The early development of the community was influenced and enhanced by the presence of the river and its abundant water power. The river industries of the mid to late 19th century yielded over the years to manufacturing, and the mills gave way to the auto related commerce that would become a major economic force in the community.” When we parked behind the old depot, we found a few little plaques describing the area and its place in local history. The description of the "Ypsilanti Underwear Unionsuit" was particularly charming. They claim Queen Victoria even wore it!

Our next stop was a small art gallery that had a large number of glass items. The Depot Glass Gallery (appropriately named) displays a range of art pieces including wall art, stained glass, sculptural pieces, and clothing, but their passion lies in functional glass. So, I was that many years old when I learned the meaning of "functional glass". Whew boy! It was both beautiful and astounding with some pieces going for 10's of thousands of dollars. Talk about an education. The gallery owner was so sweet to explain these pieces to us old ladies and I bet she had a great time chuckling about us when we left. Seriously though, this was truly amazing artwork, no matter its main function. If you're in town and feel like indulging your, um, hobby, visit The Depot an tell them the old biddies sent you.
https://www.thedepotglassgallery.com/

We figured that the gallery owner should have a pretty good idea of where we might grab an early dinner and she suggested MAIZ Mexican Cantina for some Tex-Mex. Since it was Cinqo de Mayo plus 1 day, we took her advice and walked over. The cantina advertises local ingredients with everything made fresh daily. Being a Friday, the place was pretty busy and we waited for a while for a table. The excellent Margaritas made waiting for our food an easy task. The colorful chips and bright, fresh salsa didn't hurt either. We had our choices of three types of tacos on one platter plus the obligatory rice or beans. I also ordered a premium side of Street Corn that didn't disappoint.

After dinner we stopped in a couple of other shops to browse but it had begun to rain a light drizzle and it was chilly so we headed on to the warmth of the car for a drive through the adjacent neighborhood.

This turned out to be another one of the many cutie-pie neighborhoods we found in Michigan. It was another very old section where the Victorian style homes were being renovated with much love. We spent a couple of hours going up one street and down the next pointing out the beautiful homes. This one in particular wowed us and it turns out it's actually been turned into apartments. Somehow I could picture Mary Richards living on the top floor of this place with Rhoda and Phyllis as her neighbors.

Find more information on travel in Michigan at Pure Michigan

To view the rest of our photos from Ypsilanti visit this link.