Ann Arbor,MI

Last weekend we went to Ann Arbor for a fraternity reunion. Luckily we did not order football tickets. When I was in school at the U of M, Michigan played football and Gourmet dining was fried clams at Howard Johnson, how things have changed.
Main St. in Ann Arbor is now "restaurant row" with innumerable choices at all price points.
Friday night we chose "Gratzi", 326 S. Main St.-888-456-3463. "Gratzi" had been recommended by both Detroit and Ann Arbor people, and we we're not disappointed.
It is a large, active room staffed with a sufficient number of servers to give very good, attentive service. The menu is quite extensive, and as you no doubt have figured out, by the name, it is Italian. There were 8 of us and with a reservation we were seated promptly. I chose as a main course a seafood pasta with Pesto and the server gladly substituted "angle hair" for linguine. Marilyn had her usual fish which was prepared excellently. With drinks, salads and entrees, and a shared antipasto platter, tip and tax it came to just under $50 per person.
The next day rather than the football game, thank goodness, a group went to the "Farmers Market", which is a misnomer. The area beside having stalls selling beautiful farm products also has crafts, clothing, jewelry and food. It is surrounded with several new buildings containing shops of every variety. "Zingerman's" famous deli is just down the street. I was lucky and ate a rather large "Salvadorian Tamale", bought from a vendor, while the others debated where to go for lunch. They chose the "Metro Grille" over Zingerman's, a huge mistake. It was very standard and I was lucky that I had had a large breakfast and my tamale was enough to get me thru.
Dinner that evening and brunch the next morning were fraternity events, and although the food was fine it was not the high point of either.
Since we had driven, we made a stop at the Toledo Art Museum, to view their glass collection, which Marilyn and I had seen before, in its new home, a new free standing glass pavilion. We collect current "art glass" while the TAM has that plus historical pieces going back to 1500BC.
It was a very pleasant weekend and we'll see weather Michigan or Noter Dame stumbles into a victory this afternoon.