A Big Walking Day

Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018--Columbus

The goal today was to explore a large portion of Columbus.  Starting at my apartment, I walked over to High Street and then down it and off to the sides all the way to the end of downtown--to the Franklin County Municipal Court building.

Observations along the way:

On the corner by apartment there were three Bird scooters lined up.  So scooters are this far from downtown here.  I encountered a few people on scooters during the day, but not as many as I normally encounter in San Antonio. 

I walked through the Ohio State University campus.  (Well, to be honest, they are as silly about being uppity here as they are at UT in Austin:  with the official name being The Ohio State University.  Isn't that a sign of trying to overcome an inferiority complex?)  Anyway, the campus is not one to recommend to people as a place to see architecture.  Almost all buildings from about the 1930s through the early 2000s are rectangular solids (box-shaped), built of bricks--sturdy, but not very attractive and with no ornamentation.  There are a few modern attempts of buildings built of glass or metal, but even they are not ones worth a postcard image.  Most of the buildings with character and some architectural flourishes are on the Oval, the campus' version of a great lawn.  But there are even a few non-special box-like buildings there.  Since my interest was strictly architectural, I was disappointed.

High Street runs for miles north and south in this city and is lined with shops, restaurants, apartments, and offices.  It is like a multi-mile local shopping, entertainment, living, and working street.  It is very urban looking--long blocks of connected buildings rather than long stretches of separated, individual buildings.  It makes a nice urban environment for all those living a few blocks from it. 

I stopped at The Angry Bakery in the area known as Short North (a popular district between the university and downtown) and bought two pastries--a chocolate babka and an almond croissant.   Then I continued a few more blocks before turning off to Goodale Park to sit on a bench by the lake and eat them.  Being on the edge of downtown by then, I rested while reading a couple of articles in TIME magazine which arrived before I left on Saturday.

From there, I set off for the rest of downtown.  I explored the North Market, a surprisingly successful old market filled with stalls hosting restaurants, bakeries, chocolates, seafood, spices, etc.  All but one stall was occupied on the lower floor.   Its success is probably greatly attributable to the fact it is only a block from the local convention center.

There are few buildings downtown that attracted me architecturally even though most are the typical office buildings that most cities have--attractive, but bland.  But I did enjoy seeing the Leveque Tower and its adjacent Palace Theater, the Ohio Statehouse (capitol which I would have toured if I could have found an entrance, but the tourist entrance was blocked off for installation of new air conditioners), the Ohio Theatre, the Westin Great Southern Columbus Hotel and the adjacent Southern Theater, etc.  I explored as far east as Grant Avenue and as far west as Front St. 

After all of that, I walked back to the apartment along  High Street and then Indianola Street (where the apartment is located).  That carried me through the "Greek District," the blocks lined with fraternity houses and possibly some sorority houses. 

I was exhausted when I got home.  I had been gone about 5 1/2 hours and had been walking about 5 of those.  Whew!