East to Ann Arbor

Michigan Day 8

We packed up, cleaned up, loaded the van and headed out around 9 am. Our first stop was in Albion MI at the Foundry Bakehouse and Deli for breakfast. The coffee was good and the bagel breakfast sandwiches were excellent. We also purchased 6 donuts (ate two at the table) for later.

*—This picture says all you need to know about the food at the Foundry—*

An hour or so later, we arrived in Ann Arbor MI. I always have wondered where the name Ann Arbor originated. It seems there are a couple of stories about the name but the one that seems to be the most likely is that the original founders of the town both had wives named Ann and the land had a big stand of bur oak trees-thus the arbor. According to Wikipedia, the local Indian tribe called the town kaw-goosh-kin-nick because of the noise the local sawmill made. Ann Arbor rolls of the tongue a little easier.

We had time for a bike ride so we located Gallup Park Pathway at Gallup Park. It was a well maintained suburban type trail with a few hills. Pedaling west took us right into part of the University of Michigan campus. Actually, parts of the Michigan campus were everywhere.

*—The trail bordered the Huron River for much of the way—*

*—Continuing with one of our tour themes: even more swans!—*

—The Huron River looking back east. The river was very shallow-way too many rocks for paddling. Although we did see a number of floaters with tubes and there was a smaller area downstream that could be paddled for a short trip—

All told we biked about 10 miles. But it was time for coffee. We found Black Diesel Coffee Shop. Mary had cold brew and David had medium roast. Both were great.

We checked into our hotel, took a quick nap then a decision needed to be made about dinner

I found a very interesting looking restaurant not too far from the hotel- Black Rock Bar & Grill.

It was billed as “Home of the steak on a stone” and that got our interest. We’ve certainly had food prepared at our table, hibachi style. And we’ve cooked our own steak on a huge pit at local steakhouses but we’d never tried this style of cooking before.

The granite stone which is about 10″ square and an 1 1/2″ thick is heated for hours in an oven to 750 degrees. Your steak or seafood choice is brought out in a tray along the searing hot stone. I was amazed on how easily you could be cooking a few small cuts while you ate a few cooked pieces. The sliced steak took just a minute to cook-at least to my medium rare choice. The shrimp took a similar time.

–*–Fried pickles appetizer. I felt there could have been a few more slices but they were tasty—*

*—I opted to cook just a few pieces at a time—*

*—Cooked to perfection!* *The waiter told us they can only use the stones once or twice a day. If they are not cooled down before washing, cold water can crack the blocks in half—*

Dining at Black Rock was a lot of fun. The food was really good and the service was on point. They do have other menu items that don’t require you to be the chef but that’s kind of missing the point of the place.

They have locations in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and Florida. We’ll certainly be on the lookout for other locations on our travels.