We had some people ask where we were headed next and, of course, we said Columbus. They always responded with Columbus, Ohio? Why? I can bet that this city is on the bucket list of very few and probably 99.9% of those are Ohio State Football fans. And no, the weather at this time of year isn’t ideal. Spring had yet to come in Columbus and the days were colder, rainy, and cloudy, the typical mid-west weather. So, yes, why, Columbus, and in early Spring? Well, my parents are huge sports fans, especially of both College Football and Basketball. So, we came out here to watch the NCAA Women’s Final Four.
What is there to do in Columbus? Do you like hockey? They have the Blue Jackets. Bodybuilding? It’s the home of the Arnold Sports Festival. First started by Arnold Schwarzenegger. There’s a triple A baseball team. And of course there’s the Horseshoe, home to the Ohio State Football team. None of that was going on while we were there, but we managed to keep ourselves entertained when not watching the basketball games.
We went to the German Village area of Columbus. During the 1800’s, a number of people immigrated from Germany and settled in Columbus. This one section of the city still has the charm from that era with the cobblestone streets and numerous small brick homes. We had lunch at Schmidt’s Restaurant und Sausage Haus. They’ve been around since 1886 and had excellent varieties of sausage and sauerkraut. Will also had to sample one of their award-winning cream puffs. He looked like he had died and gone to heaven. I managed to sample a little of the cream in the puff and it was excellent.
We had also managed to secure a tour of the American Whistle Company. They are the only manufacturer of metal whistles in the US. You have to call and set-up a tour. If your group is less than 10, hopefully, they will have another tour to which you can add yourself onto. Our group ended up being comprised of all people going to the NCAA games. This small little plant that employs 9, manufactured all the whistles used for March Madness. They also supply the NYPD, who order 10,000 whistles a year. So, these guys produce a number of whistles. It was pretty cool to see how they were made and you get a free whistle at the end of the tour. The little ball inside the whistle is what gives it the trill. Like the wine industry they have gone to a synthetic cork and now make those right in the factory. It’s the last thing to go into the whistle. So, yes, believe it or not, they are fitting a round ball into a rectangular slot. If you ever see a metal American Spirit Whsitle being sold at Walmart, it was made by these guys.
Friday night were the semi-finals and we made our way to the games. –The following is my little rant on dealing with accessibility at the Nationwide Arena. My mom has a great deal of trouble walking and tires easily, so, we rented her a wheelchair for the weekend. What a fiasco! Parking was relatively easy. I had pre-purchased a spot in the same garage, which has the ADA parking. Although, they didn’t have any ADA specific parking available we found a spot and it was pretty easy since it all was in the same garage. That’s where the simplicity of our night ended. At the venue there were long lines waiting to get in. There was no one outside directing people, and we didn’t see any marked entrance. We jumped in a line and got all the way to security before being told that was not the ADA line. Yes, that line was at the other end. So, we had to start at the end of another long line. Get through security and were directed to the elevators. As our tickets did not give an indication of which level our seats were on, I asked an employee and of course was given wrong information. After walking for a bit and realizing we must be on the wrong level got back on the elevator and got to our section. Great now what to do with the wheelchair? We could not get actual ADA seating, so as my parents were trying to make the climb to their seat Will and I got directed to Guest Services. We left the wheelchair with them, but we were told again that they were not responsible. We were in hopes that it would still be there at the end of the game. Really disappointing! And can’t imagine what those do, who are wheelchair bound. Our seats were not ideal because of the stairs up to the seats, but that wasn’t going to stop my mom from attending the games. I think the arena should have an area on every level where you can safely leave wheelchairs, walkers, etc. And the employees giving wrong info, we talked to a couple of other people who also had received wrong information from arena employees. Not good when dealing with a person of limited mobility. Okay, rant over.– The games were great! Both games were decided in overtime. Talk about suspenseful.
Since the Cuyahoga Valley National Park is only about 2 hours away, we decided to drive up and check it out. My mom had a friend coming to visit her, so, she didn’t join us on this adventure. This national park is set in the midst of a very urban area. A way of bringing the national parks to the people. There is also no fee to enter the park, which also encourages use by the locals. Upon entering the park we noticed a ski resort hill. Being from the mid-west myself, I know they tend to make a ski resort out of any sizeable hill that holds snow. We were shocked at the number of chair lifts covering the small amount of terrain, but I guess when you’re trying to move thousands of people on fixed chair lifts you need a lot of them. We thought the Boston Hills resort was cute and would be a great place for kids to learn to ski. In the park, we made it to 3 waterfalls and a covered bridge. And made a stop at the visitor center to learn about the canal and it’s importance in Ohio’s history. The park itself is very narrow as it mainly encompasses the valley surrounding the Cuyahoga River. There’s an excellent paved trail system for biking and walking as well as many hiking trails in the valley. We also saw many kayakers enjoying the river on this cooler, cloudy day.
Just outside Columbus in the suburb of Hillard is the Early Television Museum. It’s only open on the weekends or during the week by appointment. The museum has an extensive collection of early TV’s mainly from England and the US. I was just amazed that televisions were being made in the late 1930’s. Some of the sets have been restored and are still operational. Makes you really appreciate the HDTV of today when you’re looking at a tiny screen with a fuzzy image.
What visit to Ohio would be complete without a stop at Bob Evans for our Easter brunch. Plus many years ago, I worked at a Bob Evans and had to see how times have changed. Originally started by an Ohio farmer, Bob, who made excellent breakfast sausage. He opened a 12 stool diner in 1948. It’s now a chain of restaurants throughout Ohio and neighboring states. I had the pot roast hash, really quite good.
Columbus is also home to Topiary Park. This park is set on the grounds of the former school for the deaf of which only one brick building remains. The park was designed based on the George Seurat’s painting, A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grand Jatta. A number of other people were checking out the design as well and this park is said to be the only topiary garden based on a painting. Really quite interesting to find this small park in the middle of downtown Columbus. My mom is hoping they expand and create another topiary design in another section of the park.
Time for the final game? We got there early got our ADA parking and were able to exchange our tickets for limited mobility seats. Yeah! Since we know the routine, it went a lot easier and we were able to store the wheelchair a couple of rows behind us. Still no guarantee it would be there when the game was over, but at least we could check on it occasionally. The game was exciting match-up between Mississippi State and Notre Dame that went down to the final seconds. Truly, a great set of games this past weekend.
The next day we were flying home, but had time to visit the Ohio History Center Museum. This museum as the name suggests covers the history of Ohio from prehistoric times and up. They have some really nice exhibits and in the summer you can also tour the Ohio Village. This village is setup as a town would have looked in the 1890’s and the villagers will tell stories of how it was to live in those days. Many of the exhibits are hands on and there are play areas in a number of the museum galleries to keep the kids entertained. One of my favorite exhibits was the Lustron Home. These homes were steel prefab houses that were designed to help alleviate the housing shortage after WWII. The house came complete with metal cabinetry, enameled steel walls that never need painting, and a combination dishwasher/washing machine. Interesting concept, but for a number of reasons the company failed.
Grabbed a quick lunch at King Gyro before jumping on the plane. After my gyro and feta bowl, I was stuffed.
