Ann Arbor

There really is no other place like it. I just can’t get it out of my head and I can never get enough of it! In fact you could say, I crave it. The bright lights, the blossoming bands and musicians roaming the streets and putting on cheap yet rewarding performances, the aurora of smells coming from the many restaurants, the laughter and chatter filling the air, and the warm humid breeze making you forget you have a care in the world. I’m talking about my hometown; Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ann Arbor is one of a kind. I lived in Ann Arbor until I was eight. I remember when my parents told me we were officially moving; I gave them the silent treatment because I didn’t want to leave. I got over it and learned to love Saline, our more suburb “rich” town, but I was happy we were still close enough to hop in the car and drive to my beloved Ann Arbor.
Summer is incredible there. You of course see the parties outside that every frat house is having, volleyball courts and music blaring, boys and girls incessantly flirting hoping to score some digits. But then there were my friends and I walking through Ann Arbor. Walking through the Diag and seeing all of the interesting people. I remember on a few occasions even seeing Bible bashers in downtown Ann Arbor on opposing street corners going at it. Very amusing! There were the homeless people who everyone knew by name because even they loved living in Ann Arbor. Shaky Jake was a personal favorite, may his soul rest in peace. Shaky Jake was an older African American who had been in the streets since I could ever remember walking up and down Ann Arbor alone. He was always smiling and yapping’ away to on comers. He was friendly and good.
So what was there to do in Ann Arbor? I always went with different friends. Laura, Allison, Kelsi, Danielle, random boys. It was always so much fun! Our favorite restaurant was there. Mongolian Barbeque. It’s not one of those Barbeque restaurants with Mongolian food like you are thinking of. It’s a one of a kind, Mongolian BBQ restaurant that I have literally failed to find anywhere else I’ve been. We went almost every Friday night unless we couldn’t find the $14 it cost to cover each of our meals. Even then we’d still go and one of us would cover for the one who was short. The group who went was always the same; me, Laura, Danielle, Kelsi, and David, or as I started calling him when he became one of us “Davelina” so he felt more comfortable about being the only boy in the group. We were all LDS and we all loved hanging out together because it was the only time we didn’t feel pressure to have to give into our standards. Mongolian was a safe haven; something familiar and something we looked forward to that got us through every week. Those are some of my best high school memories with those friends, sitting in that restaurant. One time in particular I will never forget because it was in one simple word; hilarious. We were there as always getting our meal, when a complete stranger came over from his table and took a seat at our table. We all looked a little baffled I’m sure wondering what this twenty-fiver year old man or so would want with a group of 18 year old girls and Davelina. He introduced himself as Steve so we of course, called him Steve-O. He was a riot! Talked to us about his exercise routine and everything else under the sun. He had shaved his head so Laura was rubbing lotion on it because apparently he needed a good moisturizing head massage. Then, he told me he really liked my nose ring. Only one problem; I don’t have a nose ring. What he was referring to as a nose ring was a tiny white head pimple that I had been feeling very insecure about. It was one of those so embarrassing moments then where I gave him an awkward glare but now it is something we crack up about whenever the infamous “Steve-O” is brought up.



Told you Laura put lotion on his head!



This is me when Steve-O said he LOVED my "nose-ring"...

As you can see, Ann Arbor was full of great stories for us.
Bubble Island was also another favorite place for us to hit up whenever we were in Ann Arbor. I should mention, I talk about Ann Arbor as if it was this town that was far away, but in all actuality it was only about a fifteen minute drive. The difference between Saline where we lived, and Ann Arbor, was a huge difference though. Anyways, back from my tangent. Bubble Island was the BEST! It was this Chinese tea type of place, however we got the cold drinks, the slur pies. All of their drinks had these bubbles though; literal bubbles in them that you could drink and pop in your mouth. They gave you these huge straws to drink the bubbles out with and you really have to try it to know what I’m talking about. I always got the pink drink with the colored bubbles. My absolute favorite!
Another hilarious memory I have in Ann Arbor was on Saint Patrick’s Day. Laura made all of us girls dress up in our prom dresses and go to Olive Garden for her birthday dinner which is the 13, very close to the 17. So despite the weird stare downs and whisperings, we did that. Then, we went to Ann Arbor to walk around and laugh at all the silly people out on St. Patrick’s Day. Laura, who is only 4’11, was referred to by someone who was potentially not in their right state of mind, a “fairy” because of how little she is! It was a riot! The person calling her fairy I may add was carrying around a “staff.” Like I told you earlier, no other places like Ann Arbor. We then almost got pulled over on the sidewalk because we seemed to be intoxicated even though we were not. That’s what people always thought about us because we had so much fun that we were constantly crying of laughter with tears streaming down our faces. It was the best time with those girls and that group of people!
I don’t think there was a time I didn’t go to Ann Arbor, where I didn’t come home to Saline happier than I had left it. It was just the best place around!