It's always instructive to look at the local area through the eyes of someone who is visiting. The place you think you know pretty well looks different when you are seeing it for the first time.

Here's a small sample of some travel accounts from blogs. From Chicago, Ann Arbor looks like a place for food, and from Memphis it's a good place for music. If you're youthfully exuberant, it's one more city where you can do a job a week in a yearlong adventure. And for college football hopefuls and their fans, the college visit is part of the recruiting whirlwind.

Lottie and Doof

Lottie and Doof is a Chicago-based food and recipe blog. On their trip to Ann Arbor, the authors' destinations were Zingerman's and Comet Coffee.

For me, Ann Arbor is synonymous with two things: the University of Michigan and Zingerman's. I happen to care more about the later and so the main focus of our trip was getting to know the Zingerman's empire. For those of you unfamiliar with Zingerman's, the business started as a small deli and exploded into a food empire that includes a wonderful catalog full of gourmet products that can be delivered to your doorstep .... Having ordered many delicious things from their catalog in the past, I was excited to experience the magic in person. Bryan, my friend Katie and I set off for Michigan early one Saturday morning with the goal of arriving in time to catch the farmer's market.

White/Light

White/Light is a band from Chicago; the group booked a gig in Ann Arbor at the Yellow Barn, mostly so that the members would have an excuse for a road trip to eat at Zingerman's. Their travel writeup in the Chicago Reader:

Woke up early the next morning and wanted to get back to Zingerman's for breakfast, except on Saturday at 11 a.m. it's slammed. Our friend Forest from Hott Lava convinced us that we had to try another place anyway, so we walked a few blocks (everything is four blocks away in Ann Arbor) to Zola. It's asparagus season and the special was right up my alley. Two eggs over easy with asparagus, a hard cheese (was it a parmesan?), and potatoes. Add a carrot juice and you have quite a nice breakfast.

The Chockleys

The Chockleys from Memphis, Tenn., were on a visit to see family; the highlights of their trip were Top of the Park and "expensive sandwiches".

While we were Ann Arbor, we went to their awesome summer festival, Top of the Park. It's like the Levitt Shell series on steroids. It's helped by the fact that the weather is much milder and the sun doesn't set until well after 9 each night! We also ate lots of expensive sandwiches and swam a ton in the hotel pool.

Florida quarterback recruit Kevin Sousa

MGoBlog's recent recruiting roundup noted the possible travels of Florida quarterback Kevin Sousa, who is touring Midwestern colleges as part of the football recruiting season.

Should he receive that Michigan offer, don't forget he's said it would be hard to turn down in the past. He did tell Tom that he would visit Ann Arbor before making a decision for the Wolverines, but he may have that opportunity soon. He's roadtripping with his coach to several midwest schools, and if a Michigan offer is imminent, that schedule could probably be adjusted for a stop in Ann Arbor.

Sean Aiken, "One week job"

Sean Aiken's yearlong project, "One Week Job", features a new job every week for a year. Week Two brought him to Ann Arbor, where he was a roadie for Juice.

Monday was promotions day. i went out with Julie and Phil to run errands for different acts for a show that happens to be later today! We also ate some tasty doughnuts. Then, the team broke up into three groups to do what they call “flyering”, aka placing promotional flyers for the band’s show all around town. i got to go with Erin and Collin, a sixth member around Downtown Ann Arbor. During our time together, we walked through the original Borders bookstore, saw way too many coffee shops within a small distance, ended up on University of Michigan’s main campus and the “Law Quad”, and got to “spin the cube”.

What's missing here

I didn't look through Facebook, so all of the "what I saw during orientation" stories are missing. This is a summertime slice of life, so the accounts of visiting Ann Arbor in a gray, slushy February are missing. The academic year version of this would have a lot more in the way of visiting faculty or grad students looking at the university, rather than folks enjoying the town.

Edward Vielmetti still remembers driving past Pizza Bob's Uptown on his first visit to Ann Arbor. Reach him at edwardvielmetti@annarbor.com .