Ann Arbor

I wouldn't call it paradise. I couldn't call it purgatory. I did call it home. It's been six years since I lived here. Everything had changed but it was all the same. The Rock had a fresh coat of paint. Just like it had every day ever since I can remember. Where else could you go lose yourself in a mazeless college town? A quantum leap would always feel like today. A slide into another dimension would still be here.

I came in from Chicago. I don't think I've ever driven on I-94 from the West. I exited onto Ann Arbor-Saline road. It turned into Main street, taking me right into town.

The Quality Bakery was gone, so was the Quality Bar. The Full Moon had moved in. They had Heineken, Amstel Light, Foster's, Red Dog, Budweiser, Michelob, Stroh's, Honey Brown, St. Pauli, Molson, Labbatt's, Great Western, Corona, Miller. On Washington avenue, two new breweries opened. During happy hour, the Arbor Brewing Company was filled with a measly score of generation X'ers while the Grizzly Peak was yuppie infested. At the Peak I would have a Golden Ale. Just like old times -- a beer in a bar -- but this time legal.

I found free parking on Fourth Avenue.

Walking on East Liberty I ran into Shaky Jake. Shaky Jake was known to travel around the country. He looks like a Bo Diddley caricature wearing garage sale clothes. He would sell you post cards of himself for a buck. I'd always see him playing his guitar at the corner of State and Packard, Huron and Washtenaw, or Stadium and Eisenhower. But this time he was just sitting in front of Afternoon Delight, handing out posters for the Ann Arbor Blues Festival. I never talked to him before. He seemed so real.

The University of Michigan is woven into the city. On one side of the street you'll see Angel Hall and on the other Ashley's Pub. Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burgers is right around South Quad. Desmond Howard made "the Catch" at Michigan Stadium which is kitty corner from where Bob Seger didn't make the school choir at Pioneer High.

I walked through the Diag to get to South University avenue.

I still walked around the "M" in the middle of the Diag -- stepping on it wasn't going to condemn me into failing a semester at Michigan -- especially since I now go to Florida. But an orientation leader got to use me as an example for the legendary myth. As if I looked like a freshman. The university renovated the UGLi so that it no longer was. Surely they don't call it the Undergraduate Library now. I'll have to find out. At least the Fish Bowl still looked the same.

Ulrich's bookstore will never move from the corner on East U. The ice cream store du jour was finally gone. Now the Cava Java. Johnny tells me these coffee shops are everywhere in Ann Arbor now. Aside from the one near my sister's, that's the only one I saw. I passed Uno's Pizzeria, Sullivan's, the Brown Jug, Good Time Charley's, Hop-in, the Bicycle Club, the Bagel Factory and Stucchi's -- they were all still there. I ended up eating at Burger King which was the only new place on South U. Burger King had television sets and raised tables. If they served beer I would have thought it was a sports bar.

It was like 1989 all over again. You can still get a free drink at Charley's with every rejection letter from any potential employer or graduate school. At Rick's American Cafe they still have two dollar pitchers on Wednesday nights. Village Corner still crosses out the eyes on fake ID's and hangs them on the Wall of Shame. I got a fragle -- a fried bagel rolled in cinnamon sugar if you will -- from the Bagel Factory.

I thought I'd drive around the outskirts of town so I went up Division and worked my way to Broadway, then Plymouth, then Nixon, then Bluett. I had to see the political landmark.

Sugarbush park was on the north side. Two tennis courts and a basketball court. I came here often to get glimpses of Ricky Green, Phil Hubbard, Steve Grote, Dave Baxter, Tim McCormick, Roy Tarpley, Gary Grant, Antoine Joubert, Glen Rice, Rumeal Robinson, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, Ray Jackson, Jalen Rose. If they were short, I'd get to play with them. If I was lucky, Magic, Zeke, AD or Joey D would be there. And they would play with me. The courts were empty today. Just a newlywed couple taking a stroll through the baseball field.

My Protestant friend Tommy now lives downtown. A big change from the old neighborhood on the east side of town, Glacier Highlands. Darryl lived across the street. She played with my sister all the time but I never saw her. Selwyn lived next to her. A dumpy Indianasian boy who was physically inept. We played with him only because he loved sports. The back of Harry's house faced his. Harry was destined to become a doctor. His father is a doctor at St. Joseph's -- what you'd call a pediatrician for adults. Harry failed organic chemistry and became a lawyer instead. Leia lived only two houses away from me. She always celebrated Christmas with us. Six years went by before I found out she was Jewish. Nearby lived Heather -- she made Whitney Houston and Naomi Campbell look ordinary. You could park your car with the keys in them and nobody would steal it.

Behind my old house was an accident prone intersection. There was a new cross walk sign. I remember when Travis Anderson got hit by a Lincoln Continental. He was at St. Joe's for a week. The following week, a guy had a heart attack and killed two girls on the other side of the street. Another time, the crossing guard almost got hit. He just waved at the car and smiled at the kids saying "TGIF" over and over. The Ann Arbor News tried to set up a newsstand at the corner. It never lasted more than a week before someone would steal it.

I went west on Geddes, south on Huron, west on Packard.

Frasier's parking lot was full. I walked in to see a Domino's Pizza softball team sitting up front, a Kinko's team in the back, and my sister's team on the left. Although Frasier's sponsored her team, they only got the family discount on victory nights. Val bought me a Stroh's, then we threw some darts until we got beat. We managed to win six Bud Lights before heading home.

I got back on I-94 going east. I exited onto US-23 heading south. It didn't feel like I was leaving. And like every time I left, I was sure I didn't need to be back. But I will be.