Columbus Off The Beaten Path

James Thurber (author, humorist, cartoonist) was born and bred in Columbus. His home is a museum that has been restored to reflect the period that he lived there as accurately as possible. The house hosts such wonderful activities as "Evenings with Authors," where both famous and up-and-coming writers give fascinating lectures.

I used to volunteer there. It's worth a trip, especially if you are a Thurber fan or a fan of New Yorker magazine. And even if you just like early 1900's era houses...

The house is also said to be haunted (if you're a fan of Thurber, you should know this already...he wrote about it). But the entire time I worked there, I never once encountered the ghost!

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The Park of Roses in the Clintonville area of Columbus is a wonderful hidden treat. Every type of Rose is growing and blooming in a beautiful garden setting complete with a fountain and gazebo. If you are a true photographer buff, this is a wonderful opportunity to take your time, work on your telephoto skills using different lenses, and working with models that won't figid all over the place. The roses peek blooming season is mid-June to early September. A wonderful way to spend several hours. Come in Mid June and you might hit the Rose Festival. The website I left should have that info.

Lou Berliner Park (the nerve center for a softball-crazed city) is home to the largest softball complex in the country (women's, men's and co-ed teams all play on the park's 32 fields). Even if you're not part of an organized league, there are plenty of open fields for spontaneous pickup games.

Outside of softball, Lou Berliner Park organizes other team sporting events such as a fiercely competitive flag football league. There are team entry fees, but professional officiating is provided for most events.

For those who'd rather sit the game out, there are plenty of options available. In addition to sporting events, Lou Berliner offers a picnic area with tables and a pavilion, as well as a trail and wildlife area.

I visited the Columbus Winter Art Festival(Winterfair). It had all types of Artist and their displays that were the elite of the elite talent. Artists were from all over our Nation. What a beautiful show they put on. The show runs Friday thru Sunday. Held at the Ohio State Fair Grounds.

A trip to Lake Erie is a good idea if staying in Columbus. It's an easy drive in a day. If you drive to Catawba you can get the Ferry to Put In Bay on South Bass Island. If you do, be sure to go to the top of the Perry Monument for the views.

Perkins Observatory

10 miles north of I-270 on route 23 is the former home of the third largest telescope in the world. In the 19th century, crotchety old Ohio Weslyan University professor Hiram Perkins made a fortune in livestock with which he later built a lovely old observatory in one of the worst places in the world for astronomical observation- cloudy, hazy, Central Ohio.
Ground was broken in 1923- in an era when the elegance and beauty of construction was paramount- and the telscope, the final part of the project, was completed in 1931. For a brief time, the observatory's 69-inch scope was the third largest in the world.
After a while, however, it became clear to Astronomers that Columbus, Ohio- with city lights nearby and humid, hazy weather- was not the ideal location for a world class observatory. So, in 1961, the scope was moved out to a far more suitable location in Flagstaff AZ. The building, however, remained.
Today, still a functioning observatory thanks to the donation of a massive 32-inch telescope, Perkins has been turned into a delightful Astronomy musuem and library. There's an interesting assortment of displays and old astrononical knick-knacks to peruse. Director Tom Burns gives lively and captivating talks that miraculously hold the attention of both kids and adults. In all, more than 20,000 people, mostly children and familes, visit each year. On clear nights, members of the Columbus Astronomical Society set up telescops on the front lawn and show visitors the heavens. You can also stand under the massive observatory dome and look through the 32-inch (that's the diameter of the mirror) 'Schottland' telescope.
Skies have degraded in recent years due to our ever encroaching civilizations' fear of the dark, but on dry nights, one can still see the Milky Way from the grounds of this venerated old facility.
Public programs are held on Friday and Saturday most weeks. Though they do sell tickets at the door when space permits (no pun intended), visitors are requested to call ahead for reservations ($5.00) to ensure a spot and prevent getting turned away at the door: (740) 363-1257.
http://www.perkins-observatory.org/

go down and explore high st. in the downtown/campus area. there's a fair amount of fun and interesting shops you won't tend to find anywhere else in columbus. there's also an area called 'the short north' which is also on high st, closer to the downtown area. you'll find more artsy shops here, and if you go the first saturday of any month there is a gallery hop you can check out. http://shortnorth.com/

Growing up my mom always took my sisters and I to cemetaries. I know, I know...it sounds a little weird. But she was into genealogy (studying the history of our family) and so she would go make rubbings of the gravestones. It's actually calming to be in the cemetaries back east. They are so quiet, and there are all of these great, big tombstones that we can't have here on the west coast.