94 days of summer in Columbus, Ohio

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.
–John Lubbock

     Columbus is my hometown, a wonderful mix of city and suburb, art and music, and bar and sport. I believe C-bus has fairly easily taken claim to the artsiest city in the midwest (except Chicago, respectively). Ohio may have earned a bad rap for its farm-strewn lands and fanatic college football fans - rightly so - but capital city is loaded with character and full of surprises.

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     Ohio’s bipolar winter is finally over and the time has come to get outside and enjoy summer. Like many places in the world, now that winter has finished depressing the majority of my fellow Ohioans - myself included - summer in the city is far more than tolerable.
     To welcome in the change of season, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite summertime activities around Columbus - one for every day of the season.
 

1. Watch a play at the outdoor community theater in German Village’s Schiller Park - it’s hit or miss, but always a good time.
2. Stroll through Franklin Park Conservatory - home of world class exhibitions like the Orchid Forest and Botanical Gardens.
3. Test your luck at a local food truck on High Street - search for the little-known gems like Tatoheads and Jeni’s.
4. Find the most expensive, odd items for sale at one of the many vintage shops in the Short North. A couple favorites include the Attic and GrandView Mercantile.
5. Walk over the beautiful Hoover Dam Reservoir in Westerville - when the sun’s setting, walk along the path and parks with that special someone.
6. Try delicious Columbus-made mead at the eccentric Brother’s Drake Meadery & Bar.
7. Spend an afternoon tasting the many delicacies of the 30+ merchants, cooks and farmers at the North Market.
8. Jog along the Scioto river, starting at the North Bank Park.
9. Have a blast at the Zoombezi Bay Waterpark on a scorching hot day.
10. Sit down to an elegant french dinner at L’Antibes in the Short North district.
11. Revisit your inner child and run around the Field of Giant Corn in Dublin.
12. Shop until you drop (or go completely broke) at one of the city’s favorite malls - Easton Town Center, Polaris Fashion Place or the Mall at Tuttle Crossing.
13. Try authentic German sausages at Schmidt’s in German Village.
14. Buy used books from the 32 room labyrinth of German Village’s Book Loft.
15. Then lounge out and read at the newly opened Columbus Commons park in the heart of downtown Columbus.
16. Buy brand new vintage sporting tees from the great local clothing company of Homage on Brickel Street in the Short North. The place to go for unique and soft-fitting Ohio State shirts.
17. Light your tongue on fire and fight your restraints by visiting le Chocoholique and attempting to only indulge in one piece of their delicious gourmet candies.
18. Enjoy a stroll around Topiary Garden with its bush sculpture interpretations of Georges Seurat’s famous painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Isle of La Grand Jatte.
19. Go topless, paint yourself and get toasted at the infamous ComFest in Goodale Park.
20. Risk heat exhaustion at the quality Columbus Zoo & Aquarium. Check out one animal area then run back into the air-conditioned aquarium, do again and repeat.
21. Snag a colorful bottle of wine, produced right in the Short North at Camelot Cellars, then hop next door to Mouton - a vintage-hipster, but fun and classy-youthful watering hole. Camelot also has a program where they teach and let you make your own wine - with hands-on emphasis.
22. Run around the 2,892 foot Ohio Stadium on the Ohio State University campus without stopping to catch your breath.
23. Root on the Columbus minor league team, the Clippers and spend some well-spent change for Huntington Park’s Dime-A-Dog night.
24. Break into a pool around 3 am - no matter the location, it’s always an adventure.
25. Stop by Utrecht Art Supplies, grab a wrapped canvas and some paints, then head to a park and paint.
26. Be sure to stop by Bodega on a Monday and surf through the mustached enthusiasts for $1.00 grilled cheese and a tasty Belgian beer.
27. LC Pavilion, Newport Music Hall, the Basement and Skully’s Music Diner are perfect venues to catch a good concert, whatever your music interest.
28. Lounge around and people watch at Ohio State’s Oval.
29. Talk like a pirate (you just have to, it’s that kind of a ship) when visiting the Santa Maria replica ship.
30. Become a kid again, when things like science, math and exploration were fun, new experiences - at COSI.
31. Take a walking food tour through various districts of Columbus with Columbus Food Adventures.
32. Go for a relaxing bike ride on one of the Central Ohio Greenway Trail Systems.
33. Sniff some roses and whatnot at the beautiful Columbus Park of Roses.
34. Rally for the top spot on the leader boards for trying the most beers at World of Beer in the Brewery district.
35. Catch a theater attraction at one of Columbus’ renowned historic theaters - Ohio Theatre, Southern Theatre and Palace Theatre.
36. Have a slice of pizza with the locally-famous slut sauce at the Late Night Slice in the Short North.
37. Golf where the pros golf at Muirfield Village Golf Course, which was designed by Jack Nicklaus.
38. Have your skin etched or some holes put into your head at High Street Tattoo, Evolved Body Art or Stained Skin Tattoo.
39. Grab a beer and get your book on at the Kafe Kerouac on campus.
40. Get all liquored up and walk from the Short North bar district to the OSU campus in search of the all-mighty Insomnia Cookies shop.
41. The best way to spend a day and night in Columbus is to experience the adventure in the Short North called Gallery Hop, the first Saturday of every month. Everyone and everything comes out from the woodwork - street performers, fantastic happy hour specials, galleries, musicians, activists and much more - it’s not uncommon to find pride rallies, back-alley concerts and live artists painting streetscenes.
42. Get your cave expedition on at Olentangy Indian Caverns - oh and mine for gold chunks if you must.
43. Who doesn’t enjoy a good dog - visit Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace.
44. Check out Circus every Wednesday for their rave-like dubstep parties called Thump.
45. Try as many beers as you can at the Columbus Beer Fest, held twice a year at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
46. Take your dog to Companion Club Dog Park.
47. Have a whisky (or three) and a delicious dinner at Barrel 44 in Bexley.
48. Go fishing or hike along the O'Shaughnessy Reservoir near Dublin.
49. Root against the whole state of Michigan at the... Well, anywhere in Ohio will do.
50. Take a pedicab ride through the 7 mile living, art, downtown and campus districts.
51. Setup camp, start a fire and grill out with some friends or family at the Autumn Lakes Campground.
52. Check out the Arts Festival, Oktoberfest, Dublin Irish Festival and the various 50+ other Columbus summer festivals.
53. Dress nice and experience the New Albany Equine Classic Grand Prix.
54. After that, dress skimpy and flirt with the dark side of the city on Park & Vine streets - where you’ll find all of the hottest dance clubs and watering holes.
55. Fourth of July in Columbus is the perfect combination with plenty of reasons to get sloshed and stare unfocused at the pretty glowing lights - especially at the Red, White & Boom celebration downtown.
56. Revisit the North Market for their July Food & Wine Festival.
57. Take advantage of the 20 for $20 wine tasting at Wine on High.
58. Drink and eat like a Brit at a pretty-damn-near authentic British pub in Polaris - dubbed fondly enough, The Pub.
59. Or like an Irish man at the Claddagh Irish Pub or at Kildares Irish Pub.
60. Who doesn’t love a good fair? The Ohio State Fair is a 12-day extravaganza jam packed full of fun-quirky fair-like activities, concerts, shows, rides and food.
61. Learn how to sail in Westerville with the Hoover Sailing Club.
62. Take the dudes out and dance with loads of ladies at the Ladies 80’s Dance Party at Skully’s Music Diner.
63. Get schooled in basketball at the Ohio State University night-lit courts - sometimes even the great players of the Buckeyes team come out to play.
64. Make it a date night at the awesome (yes! awesome) Shadowbox Cabaret.
65. Fight the feeling of bursting by getting violently full at Thurman’s Cafe - as seen on TV and conquered by Man vs Food - you MUST try the Thurmanator.
66. Tour the Short North and gawk at its many graffitied walls and murals.
67. Shoot some shit and let out some aggression at the Powder Room Shooting Range & Gun Shop in Powell.
68. Peruse the huge selection of CD and vinyls at Magnolia Thunderpussy - there are probably thousands of artists you’ve never heard of that are available here, so throw caution to the wind and pick up a couple random albums.
69. Buy some vintage clothes at our local Rag-O-Rama.
70. Pickup a tasty Japanese smoothie at Pochi’s Tea Station across from the Buckeye campus.
71. If raw fish and sake sound appetizing, you can find the best sushi in the city at Akaihana near Upper Arlington.
72. Enjoy a walk through the Griggs Reservoir Nature Preserve, where you will find the Hayden Falls waterfall.
73. Feed your sweet tooth with homemade cupcakes from the Surly Girl Saloon.
74. Date night it up by fine dining at restaurants like Vino Vino Wine Bar, Trattoria-Roma, DeepWood and Rossi Bar & Kitchen.
75. Smoke your face off at one of Columbus’ entrancing hookah bar lounges - Shi Sha, Midnight Hookah and Leen O’s Cafe.
76. Shop along High Street in the Short North - you’ll find various boutiques, vintage shops, galleries and a multitude of specialty stores.
77. Play pool as a beginner or pick up a game as an advanced shooter at Suzi-Cue Pool Hall.
78. Follow the literary maze in the secret garden at the beautiful Inniswood Metro Gardens.
79. Try some local beer with smoked meat at Barley’s Smokehouse - you can never go wrong with that combination.
80. Check out the Northstar Cafe and its all-organic, all-local eats. Eat to your vegetarian (or vegan) heart’s content.
81. For a good coffee, cheap meal, and an artsy atmosphere with the occasional acoustic-based musician, goto Trevonna on High.
82. Climb the desert formation-esque climbing wall at Scioto Audubon Metro Park.
83. Sit on the big stone couch next to Skully’s Music Diner and Magnolia Thunderpussy - but be warned, you have NO idea what actually goes on there. Ew!
84. Want to see guys who can dance? I mean, really dance? Check out the gay clubs of Union or Axis...any night of the week.
85. Treat a poor homeless guy to a meal, not just money! Perhaps he has a touching story, but try not to get shanked.
86. Have a massive margarita with two Corona beers upside down and mixing in at Adobe Gilas at the Easton Town Center mall.
87. Visit the acclaimed Columbus tattoo festival of Hell City - get tattooed by some of the most talented artists in the industry while listening to live concerts and pursuing various art galleries.
88. Try all the flavors that Columbus’ own Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams can come up with - flavors like Riesling Poached Pear, Plum Sake, Juniper Lemon Curd and Wheatgrass Pear Vinho Verde.
89. Don’t miss the Doo Dah Parade - a funky backwards parade party where it’s said “nothing and no one is safe from satire” - everyone is welcome to express their unique humorous thoughts about social, political, civic or other issues.
90. As if I haven’t mentioned drinking and alcoholic beverages in enough of these listings, make it a point to try more of Columbus’ own brewed beers at CBC and Elevator.
91. After a long night of drinking, contemplate staying up all night with a few six packs to go then you can hit up Mike’s Bar which opens at 6 am. No hipsters allowed. Sorry, deep-V mustache - haha.
92. Get steamed at the All Ohio Hot-Air Baloon Fest.
93. Once summer dwindles to an end, be sure to enjoy a good fright at Dead Acre’s Haunted Hoochie.
94. Rest... Freaking rest... Rest for one day, because after 93 days and strong of awesomeness in Columbus, you’ll definitely be worn out. ;-P

Thank you to mU for inspiring this blog post