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Ypsilanti
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Also
called 'ypsi' by the locals, Ypsilanti is a dirty little town compared
to
its posh upscale neighbor of Ann Arbor. No we don't have twenty
different Starbucks and yes there might be a little bit of a seedy
underbelly, but for those who are adventurous and willing to sift
through the so called 'gems in the rough' may find the experience worth
while -- if not at least interesting.
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Pictured to the right is
one of the many Elvii who came to entertain for the July Elvis festival
on Frog
Island.
During the late hours, after the crowds have left with the overly
repeated
"Blue Suede Shoes" still ringing in their heads, it's common to
witness groups of Elvii stumbling in and out of Depot Town
bars reliving the glory. Buy one a drink and get your arm signed. Its
fun.
Link: Depot Town, Elvis Fest |
Elvis Fest
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Dreamland
Theater
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Here's a treasure you
won't find from the Ypsilanti
tourist bureau. Across the street
from the local Déjà Vu is a neat little venue
called the Dreamland Theater.
Owned by Naia Venturi who plays a biotechnical engineer by day and a
masterful puppeteer
by night, the Dreamland theater hosts music events, art exhibits and
puppet
shows. Not your ordinary puppet shows. Nope. Weird ones.
Link: Dreamland
Theater |
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You've
got an art fair, they've got an art fair, hey we've got one too. Once
in July and again in December, local artists set up booths at the
Corner Brewery peddling affordable wares that you can eat, wear, or
stare at. Corner Brewery is pretty great already, but drop in a shadow
art fair bomb and you get something better than average. Music, beer,
and stuff to buy. What an amazing concept!
Link: Shadow Art
Fair, Corner
Brewery |
Shadow
Art Fair
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Tap Room
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Looking
for an old fashioned dive bar with old fashioned charm? Well then
pucker up to a tasty cold one at the Tap Room. You won't find a better
selection of scotch in town or anywhere else that plays the Eagles on
the jukebox more times than you can stand. Here's where you go to
pretend to know everything and say really nothing. You've probably been
to a place like here before, but here's where you go to forget that
you've gone anyway.
Link: Tap Room
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Oh
ypsi. There once was a whole year when Ypsilanti
didn't have a single coffee shop.
Dark days indeed. I still remember the morning when my own coffee stash
ran
out. Where was I supposed to go? To Ann Arbor and
buy some StinkBacks Mocha Frappo? Luckily,
these days we have a bounty of coffee shops to choose from. They almost
match
the number of pizza places, but not even close to the number of bars.
All the
hipsters go to the Ugly Mug. But for a smoke free environment, your
best bet is
Bombadills.
Link: Ugly
Mug, Bombadills |
The Ugly Mug
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Eastern
Michigan University
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Yep.
There's also a university here. EMU, the old fightin' eagles. I hear
the linguistics department is pretty good. So good they even have a
world renowned website where academic linguists can discuss linguistic
issues and exchange linguistic information. Trouble is, like
anything that's good and wholesome, they need money in order to keep it
that way. Won't you please give them some?
Donate to
the LINGUIST list! |
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