Tour Kerrytown with Deanna Relyea and Ann Arbor Real Estate Agent Kathy Toth

Hands on Museum? It's in Kerrytown.

Zingerman's? Yep, that's Kerrytown too.

Kerrytown Market and Shops owner Joe O'Neal made a conscious decision to rent space to locally-owned businesses – to choose a Sweetwater's over a Starbucks – for example. It's just one of those things that has helped preserve the historic neighborhood's unique character.

The Kerrytown District is part of what used to be an African-American neighborhood, and Relyea says its history includes a lot of Underground Railroad activity.

Relyea opened the Kerrytown Concert House in 1984, converting the pre-Civil War house, one of the oldest in the neighborhood, into a 100-sea performance venue, with teaching space upstairs. The Concert House hosts everything from theater groups to kids' piano recitals to an avant garde jazz festival in October.

Lest you doubt that there's always something interesting going on in Kerrytown, last August 21 the Kerrytown District Association sponsored "Nash Bash"– a mini country music festival complete with beer, barbecue and performers from Nashville. Nash Bash was rounded out by "Trunk-A-Palooza," a garage sale where people sold things out of their car trunks.

I love to take a break from the Ann Arbor Real Estate Market to explore the unique shops and grab a bite to eat; I invite you to explore and let me know what your favorite is.