Columbus Ohio--Home of the other OSU and another State Capitol

When we get close to a city that is new to us, we try to spend some time researching the local things to see and do. But we had some unexpected free time in the middle of a Zucchinifest day, and decided to drive the ten miles into Columbus, Ohio, just to see what we could find. We knew we could find Ohio State University there. We love to visit college campuses, especially big ones that have Division I sports and the big stadiums that go with that. So we rolled into Columbus for some spontaneous sight-seeing.

The football stadium is situated on the edge of campus, and we found an unlocked door so we could see the field. Known as "the shoe" because of its horseshoe-shaped stadium, we are standing at the closed end curve of the shoe for the picture below.

We get the feeling that Ohioans worship their football, so it is appropriate that there are stained glass windows in this shrine to the scarlet Buckeye football team.

Even though the stadium has been enlarged and modernized, they still retained the original grand entrance.

We thought this glass walkway between two buildings close to the stadium was striking. It is appropriately called the Scarlet Skyway.

The football prospects look rosy from the inside of the scarlet skyway.

Right outside the stadium is the Buckeye Grove--where there is a long line of buckeye trees growing.

A new crop of freshmen have arrived on campus for the start of the fall semester. We noticed that there was also a new crop of buckeyess on the trees. Inside these pods will spring one to three smooth nut-like seeds that all of Ohio cherishes as the buckeye.

We walked across campus on this hot day, seeking the halls of academia and higher learning. Who are we kidding--we were actually seeking air-conditioning! We checked out the library, and then the student union--where we found this friendly statue of the campus mascot with his buckeye-shaped head.

We didn't take any other pictures of the architecture on campus. It seemed to be a mismatched set of buildings using different colored brick and stone, punctuated with a modern glass or steel building. It was certainly not the prettiest campus we have walked through. Even on this Saturday afternoon it was hard to find parking, so we had to leave our car in its expensive space near the stadium. As we left campus, we got a nice send-off from the Ohio State band's percussion section.

Our next stop was the Ohio State Capitol building. Mark is standing at the front of the capitol, curiously unfinished without a dome on top. (That last statement was a description of the building--not Mark.)

The biggest statue getting the front-and-center place of honor on the capitol grounds features Willam McKinley--25th President of the United States. Ohio is proud of the fact that there have been eight different U.S. presidents that have called this state their home.

It also seems fitting that the lawn hosts a statue of Christopher Columbus--the city's name sake.

As we started our tour of the interior of the building, we found reception tables covered with heart-shaped cookies and silver serving trays. The atrium area was filled with tables set up for an elegant meal. As we rounded the corner into the rotunda, we discovered we were un-invited guests to a wedding.

We found out that it is very unusual for the capitol to host a wedding in the middle of the day. The only explanation they had was, "money talks." So our interior pictures were limited to what we could tip-toe around the edges to see. The wedding had just ended, so we ducked into the rotunda to get a glimpse of the overhead dome. From what we could see, this was a most curiously-colored capitol. Painted in light versions of mint green and salmon pink and pale yellow.

As we hurried back to our metered parking space, Denisa had to pause just long enough to snap a picture of a beautiful bed of coleus plants along the sidewalk.

We were impressed by the trees and flowers all over downtown Columbus. Huge hanging baskets of flowers were cascading from every light pole and along bridge abutments. Whoever is in charge of planting and watering the metro's flowers is doing a great job.

We also took a drive down the red-brick streets of German Village just south of the capitol. We planned a walk through the park there, but a soaking rain-storm changed our plans. So instead, we sat in the car, watching as local picnickers changed their plans as well. We didn't spend any time researching all the great things this city has to offer travelers like us. But we had a nice afternoon exploring another university and capitol in spite of our lack of planning.