Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho…It's Back to Columbus We Go

A jaunt to Columbus, OH is always a fun little road trip. In less than 3 hours, we can be in immersed in all the amenities that the big city has to offer.  Some doctor appointments in the area have necessitated a few trips back there over the last few months.  Of course a trip to Columbus almost always involves a pilgrimage back to Easton.

What's Easton? I'm glad you asked!

Easton Town Center is an indoor/outdoor shopping complex, whose buildings and streets are intended to look like a self contained town reminiscent of American towns or cities of the early part of the 20th century. Easton has a has a great variety of well known retailers, restaurants and other service oriented business. This shopping mecca attracts around 21 million visitors each year.
Coming from the bustling metropolis of Houston, we are used to having all these great retail sources at our disposal. And so we kind of took it for granted. And then we move to an area where a trip to say, Trader Joe's, Crate & Barrel, or Nordstrom can't be found within a 150 mile radius.
Eeeek! We suddenly realize we can't live without them! And then we make a trek to the big city, and all these stores that we don't have easy access to anymore instantly become so alluring and novel! The old adage "you don't miss the water 'till the well runs dry" suddenly rings true. I mean, its not like I have ever been a true shopping warrior but there is something about just knowing you have all these retail resources at your beck and call that is comforting. The big city offers a wonderful array of brick and mortar retail establishments there for the spending whenever you want.

Yes indeed, a visit to Easton is always a good time.

Another perk of a big city is the professional sports teams.

Last summer we took note of the Columbus major league soccer lineup and saw that the Columbus Crew were playing the Houston Dynamo. "Let's book it" we thought and this was the inspiration for our first road trip to Ohio.

Off we went to Columbus Crew stadium to cheer for our beloved Dynamo.

The Dynamo may not have pulled off a victory but we were there to cheer for  

our hometown team and have a good time. 

And that we did. 

In an exciting turn of events, William got to meet one of the players up close and personal.

Kofi Sarkodie is a defender who was drafted in the first round by the Houston Dynamo in 2011.
He is originally from Ohio and his friends and family showed up en masse to cheer him on.
We just so happened to be seated in the same area as the Sarkodie fan club so it was a thrilling
moment for William to meet a pro soccer player in person.

And our trip just wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Columbus Zoo, which has a renowned reputation due to the efforts of director Jack Hanna. In recent years the zoo has been named by USA Travel Guide as the number one zoo in the United States. Over 9,000 animals representing 700 species call the Columbus Zoo home and they welcome over 2 million visitors each year.

 

Other zoo amenities include the Safari Golf Club, an 18 hole golf course and Zoombezi Bay, an adjacent water park, which looked so inviting that hot summer weekend when we were there last August, but you can only squeeze so much excitement into a quick 24 hour field trip. 

Until next time...