Exploring Columbus

I was very thankful that Melissa came up to visit me for the weekend. We had a fabulous time. We went all over the city finding fun things to do. After I picked Liss up from the airport we came home for a quick "freshen up." After an hour or so of catching up, we headed over to one of my favorite Columbus areas. Easton Town Center.  This place has everything from good shopping to great restaurants to a huge movie theater. It also has a very cute fountain out front.  

Through their website, I also found a sketch comedy club which is in the mall. I have never thought of myself as a huge fan of comedy clubs, but this place was hilarious. The actors were also the waiters. There was singing, dancing and short skits. At some point throughout the performance, Melissa and I both had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard. The dessert, Mt. Shadowbox, was definitely worth a mention. It was a large fudge brownie topped with 3 scoops of ice cream, fudge, caramel and whip cream. Ummmmmmmmm.    

                                          

On Saturday we spent the day riding around trying to find hidden treasures. We went to a shopping area called the Short North, this area is known for it's art galleries and murals, but also has great shopping and fun restaurants. 

This was one of the many murals that were painted on the sides of buildings. 

One of our favorite places was a store called Three Dog Bakery.  This store was unbelievable. I thought Atlantians were crazy about their pets until I moved up here. There are dogs everywhere!! The store owner had two HUGE great danes in the store. Everyone was welcome to bring in their pets.  To me, it seemed like a disaster waiting to happen to me. At the front of the store was a doggie buffet. You can buy different flavored doggie biscuits by the pound. At the back of the store was the bakery. While we were there one of the employees was making a

 happy birthday cake for a customer's dog. It was just too much for words so here are some pics. 

We also drove around through the German Village.  German immigrants settled in the area during the 1800s. The area was mostly evacuated during WWI due to anti-German hostilities. In 1960 the German Village Society was formed and the neighborhood became a historic society. The neighborhood has historic churches, parks and statues. 

  

Our tour continued to the campus of OSU. We drove around to all the different buildings and to the stadium. 

 

 

Sunday we went to the Columbus zoo. We had a fabulous time. The zoo was huge. It has 4 different sections. North America, Asia, Africa and Australlia. It also had an aquarium. We started in North America and were a bit disapointed. There were a lot of wolves and goats. Our first thought was, "We can see this in our parent's backyard." As we continued to jump continents, the variety of animals was amazing. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the day. 

and a few good videos...

 

Those were the main highlights of the weekend. We had lots of fun and went to very interesting places.  Let me know if anyone is interested in visiting after seeing all the cool stuff and fun places!!!!!!!