1-1.5 days in Columbus - what would you do?

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by Buckeye614

I graduated in May 2016 and even I can barely recognize a good portion of the campus area now. There's a ton of construction going on so it's somewhat of a mess. There's essentially a new north campus, Mirror Lake is drained and High Street is under construction for blocks.

Parks/Gardens:
Whetsone Park of Roses in Clintonville
Franklin Park Conservatory
Schiller Park
Scioto Mile

Cool areas to check out
Upper Arlington south of lane for iimpressive historic homes
Gay Street downtown for lunch
4th Street Italian Village
Arena District during a game
Grandview ave

Bars/Breweries
Seventh Son
The rooftop of RAM is pretty awesome when the weather is nice.
Balboa in Grandview is nice if you'd like to avoid SN crowds.
Brothers Drake Meadery is an interesting casual experience if you want to try meade.
Forno happy hour for inexpensive wine and half of appetizers

Shopping
Easton
Polaris

Events
Buckeye Country Superfest (6/10-6/11)
Columbus Arts Festival (6/9-6/11)
Creekside Jazz and Blues Fest in Gahanna (6/16-6/18)
Pride (6/16-6/18)
Haus and Garten Tour in German Village (6/25/17)
Columbus Clippers game
Grandview Digfest (local breweries, distilleries, wine) (6/17/17)
Columbus Crew game
Live theater in Schiller Park
Grandview Hop
Foodtruck Tour
Gallery Hop

I am def gonna reference this list in a month! Thanks!

[bjimmy24]

Originally Posted by sdbuck1

Walk German Village and do a Brewery tour.

What are the top few breweries in Columbus?

[osubrett2]

Originally Posted by osubrett2

I'm a big fan of the new Scioto Mile/Riverfront, but I'm semi-biased since I utilize the trail for distance running on a daily basis. Since it's been 2 years since you've been in town, you haven't seen the final product either. It doesn't have a huge "wow" factor, but the Scioto trail is nicely incorporated and it gets you closer to the river. Since the dams have been removed, the river is now utilized for kayaking, canoeing, and paddle-boarding.

You probably won't even recognize the Short North either with several low/mid level high-rises under construction. A walk around Goodale and Schiller Parks are a must. A trip through North Market, a walk around Franklin Park Conservatory, or maybe a few trips to some breweries (but this is definitely dependent on taste/likeness of beer). The Columbus micro-brewery scene has exploded in the last 3-4 years. My favorites are Zauber (Grandview), LandGrant (Franklinton), North High (Short North), Lineage (Clintonville), and Pigskin (Creekside/Gahanna).

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

What are the top few breweries in Columbus?

Most popular:
-LandGrant in Franklinton
-Seventh Son in Italian Village
-Platform (Cleveland-originated) in Downtown
-Rockmill in Brewery District

You really can't go wrong with any of them. Check out the Cbus Ale Trail, it's a pseudo-contest to visit all the local breweries, but gives you a list of them all.

[Cbus76]

Originally Posted by osubrett2

Most popular:
-LandGrant in Franklinton
-Seventh Son in Italian Village
-Platform (Cleveland-originated) in Downtown
-Rockmill in Brewery District

You really can't go wrong with any of them. Check out the Cbus Ale Trail, it's a pseudo-contest to visit all the local breweries, but gives you a list of them all.

Good recommendations. I've not been there, but the new BrewDog brewery/restaurant is supposed to be amazing, unfortunately it's in Canal Winchester, which is a bit of a drive.


I also like Elevator (downtown) and Pigskin (Gahanna).

[Vanderbiltgrad]

Can you get a Columbus Crew ticket for cheap the day of the game or do they sell out?

[Cbus76]

Originally Posted by Vanderbiltgrad

Can you get a Columbus Crew ticket for cheap the day of the game or do they sell out?

At this time of the year they're not likely to sell out. As the weather gets better the crowds pick up, but they usually only sell out a game or two a year. The cheapest face value tickets are around $30, so you might be better off waiting until the day of the game and seeing what the secondary market looks like, as it will probably be cheaper.

[bjimmy24]

Haven't been to a crew game since they won the championship in 2008 I think it was. That could be fun. Is the nordecke still a thing?

I'll have to check out some of these breweries. The gf is pretty into good beer. Don't wanna let her down!

[ecsdude]

Raising canes. Get the Caniac which comes with 6 of the most tender, freshest chicken fingers you'll ever have, plus crinkle cut fries and texas toast plus cole slaw and a drink. If you don't like cole slaw, sub for extra fries or 2nd toast. As for drink, get the fresh squeezed lemon aide for like 20 cents more, and after you finish that try the sweet tea made w/ real cane sugar.

Thank me later.

[bjimmy24]

Figured I'd follow up on this.

I went to Columbus with the gf on the Sunday before Memorial Day, the day after we drove to Cleveland from NYC. We had to change our plans, since I learned just a couple days earlier that one of my good friends from OSU was going to be in Columbus for a wedding that weekend and had Sunday free before heading back to his now-home in Georgia. Thus, we dedicated more time to hanging out with him than exploring the city.

We got to Columbus and immediately parked right by the St Gregory of Nyssa Orthodox Church on Oakland and Indiana and went to see how my old house on Indiana was looking. Honestly, it looks like it has been neglected. Noticeably dirtier from the outside than when I lived there 5+ years ago. Other than that, the block looked the same: beer cans everywhere, pong tables out front, overgrown lawns. But it was kinda nice to take that walk from Indiana to campus again.

Met my friend at the Blue Danube on High. Love that place, went there a lot as an undergrad, appreciate the chill vibe and cheap prices.

After that my gf and I made our way around campus. Was really taken aback by the new buildings west of High near the corner of High and lane. I remember that area as open green space, now it's kinda anonymous looking dorms. Not a fan. Similar buildings on the other side of high where Wendy's is. Feel like the street has lost some character, though it's not like it was particularly beautiful before. Anyway, we got to visit Thompson Library, Ohio Union which were as I remember them. Huge of fan especially of Thompson. What are they doing exactly at Mirror Lake? Was kinda disappointed it was all dug up.

Then we went down to German Village and walked around. Gf thought it was very cute and quaint. I kinda saw some resemblance between German Village and Charlestown in Boston. It's not exactly a 1:1, but both are kinda quiet areas near downtown with a lot of lovely old brick buildings and a kinda old school Americana vibe, although from different eras. We were gonna try to see what was up at Schmidt's but we got there and saw the massive line and decided against it. The walk was pleasant though, probably like 70 degrees and sunny.

It was also unfortunate that North Market was closed when we got there. Again, Sunday kinda altered our plans... Regardless, we hung around Goodale Park for a bit to relax from a lot of walking. Pleasant place, though that awful Park Street Patio music can be heard clearly from most points in the park. It is seriously an annoying establishment. Went down High Street to Bakersfield for some tacos that my friend had recommended. Very good! Then we got ice cream at Jeni's. I wanted my gf to settle the Mitchell's-Jeni's-Graters ice cream battle in Ohio, but the mistake was having them all at different times I guess. She loves almost all ice cream anyway though.

We had already consumed so much alcohol during the wedding and other related events we attended in NYC before coming back to Ohio, so we really didn't have the stomach for beer immediately. Thus we unfortunately skipped out on some of the local breweries. That will be on the itinerary for next time. Additionally, having just driven NYC-CLE the day before and then waking up the next morning and going to Columbus, we were pretty tired, or at least lethargic. So we were not as adventurous as perhaps normally would have been the case.

Anyway, that's my Columbus experience for you guys. I must say that I don't like the direction the larger university area is going. However, I think I have a bit more appreciation of the core areas adjacent to downtown than before. They seem to have a nice balance between aesthetic appeal, cleanliness, active social scene, and quiet residential streets. Short North kinda feels like a midwestern Back Bay to me, though much less ritzy (not a bad thing) and a little smaller. If I were able to live in one of those areas of the city, Columbus could be a good place to be.

One last note, please do go see Picnic with the Pops for Beethoven's 9th on June 23 at Columbus Commons!

[Buckeye614]

Originally Posted by bjimmy24

Figured I'd follow up on this.



Met my friend at the Blue Danube on High. Love that place, went there a lot as an undergrad, appreciate the chill vibe and cheap prices.

After that my gf and I made our way around campus. Was really taken aback by the new buildings west of High near the corner of High and lane. I remember that area as open green space, now it's kinda anonymous looking dorms. Not a fan. Similar buildings on the other side of high where Wendy's is. Feel like the street has lost some character, though it's not like it was particularly beautiful before. Anyway, we got to visit Thompson Library, Ohio Union which were as I remember them. Huge of fan especially of Thompson. What are they doing exactly at Mirror Lake? Was kinda disappointed it was all dug up.

!

The University District as you noticed is undergoing massive changes. The "anonymous buildings" on lane/west of high are new dorms. I'm not a huge fan off the monolithic brick look myself but they have some nice touches like the courtyards, basketball courts and the new north rec center.

Overall High Street in the campus area is changing drastically. Expect plenty more "luxury" apartments and big box stores. Apparently an urban Target is being built as well and potentially a boutique hotel in Pearl Alley I am very happy about the new north branch library (right by Kroger) don't know if you got a chance to see it because the grand opening is very soon.

Mirror Lake was my favorite place on campus and I also find it hugely disappointing that it's a mess right now. A student died during the Mirror Lake Jump in 2016 I believe. The following fall the lake was drained and the university is doing restoration to prevent drainage/leakage and add a clay bottom to filter out pollutants apparently.