Explore Ann Arbor, on campus and off
Chances are you would consider a long weekend visit to Ann Arbor, Michigan, because it's easy to get around in this university town filled with family-friendly experiences. Give the trip more depth by looking for the exceptional museums and experiences thait await, both on and off of the University of Michigan campus.
Here's a start:
The University of Michigan Museum of Natural History coordinates something special every weekend, staff historian Jayk Wood told me, and four or five events are really big. Since there are “lots of family day events too,” Wood said, visitors are likely to bump into something special on any vacation.
Happened to be Dinosaur Days when I visited in 2014. That meant engaging activities for all ages in at least a dozen locations in this 1928 building, which is sort of a museum itself architecturally.
That will all change in 2019 when a new space will allow for the exhibitions to take on a new look.
A completely different private facility, the Hands-On Museum, encourages visitors “to find the unexpected,” says Executive Director Mel Drumm.
“Hands-On really is a playground for the curious minded,” he said. I saw university students applying research to create thoughtful play for curious toddlers with parents in rambunctious explorations in the new H2OH! exhibit and adults slipping around the corner to prance yet again on the musical stairs.
I'll own up to playing longer than my fair share in Liquid Galaxy. Be sure the kids have looked at Google Earth on your computer, tablet or phone before you go so they can appreciate how big and fast this version is.
“Ann Arbor is very much a believer in the arts,” said Drumm in the midst of Hands-On science exhibits. That's the intersection I recommend being aware of when you visit: technology and talent converge a lot here.
UMMA — the University of Michigan Museum of Art – is the place to allow the kids to open up their tablets and smartphones, or yours. Really.
QR codes access storytelling dubbed “Many Voices” with several works of art in each gallery, and they are fun. Way livelier than an art history lesson. My docent tour was interesting, but trying techie art the next day felt freeing. The Big Blue M-guest wireless worked like a charm.
Divvy up your time in the handsome, historic Beaux Arts Hall — original building renovated in 2009 — and the exciting new galleries addition with intriguing sight lines and special arrangements for the art.
Kelsey is the name of the Museum of Archeology and the collection of 100,000 objects emphasize daily life; that might help children connect with the ancients.
The galleries are calm, pale, white and still until you reach the room of watercolor murals depicting life in Pompeii. They explode in a plethora of oranges and bold behavior.
Your soul and mine are likely to be nurtured by the frequent pealing of the carillon bells on the University of Michigan campus but if ear buds dominate the younger generation, I recommend taking them to the top to actually play the 54 bells.
Guests can take a turn from noon to 12:30 p.m. on weekdays. If that doesn't work with your Ann Arbor schedule, contact the carillonneur, Kipp Cortez at (734) 764-4414 or kippcor@umich.edu.
Music is easy to access at The Ark, which started presenting folk and roots music 50 years ago. That's precisely my reason for taking kids to concerts: to better understand the influences of this mom and grandmom.
Admission to the Hands-On Museum is $12; babies up to 23 months free. Admission to all of the University museums is free, but the Kelsey welcomes donations, UMMA appreciates $5 donations and Natural History suggests $6.
• Christine Tibbetts is a veteran journalist and New Jersey native currently living in the South. She writes about traveling with her brood of four generations as Blended Family TravelingMom for TravelingMom.com.