There’s a couple ways to approach the three days of festivities known as Experience Columbus Days. You could do a willy-nilly drive around, frantically hitting as many discount deals as possible.
With that approach comes stress and angst. Who needs all the drama when the best bang for the buck comes in one concentrated area? Enter Downtown Columbus…
1. It starts with a visit to the Santa Maria (the only option with an authentic Christopher Columbus connection). Guests can explore a real relic and take the official tour at a buy one/get one rate.
2. Over at the Ohio Statehouse, tours are always FREE. That said, it’s a great way to celebrate the weekend and the tours of the Statehouse building and museum are going full force on Saturday and Sunday.
3. When the demands of this rigorous schedule render you too weak to walk, enter SegAway Tours. Now famous for the fabulously interesting local trivia tidbits, at 50% off, you save a whopping $22.50 per rider.
Here’s the official list of Things-We-Didn’t Do-Last-Month… that we can do now, thanks to the City’s new parking meter policies. The City announced today a lift on the rush hour parking bans on several streets in downtown. These few extra hours make a world of difference, so it’s high time to:
1. Park on Third to grab some breakfast muffins for the office at Au Bon Pain.
3. Retrieve the alterations at Marie’s on Front Street after work.
4. Score a hot dog at Dirty Frank’s on Fourth for the drive home.
5. RENEW the dang driver’s license on Third Street, first thing in the morning.
6. Park on Spring and hop into Barrio for some happy hour tapas.
7. Grab some glorious blooms from T. Bears on Third to greet the day.
Our downtown is a destination and the city knows it. Many of the parking-prohibited-during-these-hours signs are disappearing. That makes 162 new places to park your car in the morning and the evenings.
Independents are supposed to be “the little guys.” It’s the soulless conglomerates that build monolithic operations under one umbrella.
Then again, check out the line-up on the Independents’ Day Web site. Forget about “the little guy”, this year we’re rooting for the BIG guy, and the giant happens to be independent operators.
How big is this year’s celebration? In terms of duration, the event is pretty similar. The festivities around Gay Street kick off at noon on Saturday, September 19 and continue into the wee hours of September 20.
What they pack into that teeny time frame is downright dumbfounding. It’s HUGE: the Downtown Resident’s Association is hosting a giant flea market; there will be live music, food from Columbus Originals restaurants, two-hundred vendors, Via Colori’s chalk artistry, live mural painting, hula hoops AND the Ohio Roller Girls.
Adam Brouillete, who is brave enough to coordinate all these independent souls, understands the phenomena at work here. “This city is full of a spirit in which people want to be active, contributing members of their creative community. The growth in this year’s event is merely an open invitation to those people to do what they do.”
Whatever that is, they all want to “do what they do” right here, downtown.
Event “big guy” Adam Brouillette shares a little about what to expect this Saturday, promising rowdy, even naughty, artists and fun surprises.
Lobster Grilled Cheese Sandwich? Sounds crazy, but it’s driving people in droves to C Town Market & Deli at 152 E. State Street. Just when you think there’s nothing new under the sun.
Owner Sam Shalash is a downtown Miami (Florida) native who opened the place “Because I really saw a need.” Yes indeed, a need for grilled cheese and lobster sandwiches.
The stop sells other things – Shalash says some folks just stop in for a bag of chips or a package of gum. He adds that the sandwich called “New York New York” is also really popular. It’s a variation on a classic Reuben with coleslaw, marbled rye and a house made Russian dressing.
C Town is aiming to be a downtown social hub too. It uses Facebook to update its community activities. The line-up has been pretty diverse in recent weeks –including a chef contest judged by RJ Umberger of the Blue Jackets and a Grand Opening celebration complete with Miller Lite Models.
Impressive figures, but the deli’s biggest celebrity of all might just be that signature sandwich! Tasting is believing: C Town Market & Deli is open for lunch and dinner weekdays.
What is THE most agonizing thing about going to a Buckeye game?
The suspense?
Watching a quarterback sack?
Or maybe it’s the drive to the stadium. The longest mile can be wrought with road-ragers and texting drivers. Add the massive road construction and…
Ladies and Gentlemen, what we have here is a failure to transportate… but not if you park downtown for the game!
We are pleased to partner with The Ohio State University to offer prime parking for Buckeye games. What makes it prime? It’s stress-free game-day parking at the City Center Garage on Rich Street. Ten bucks buys a spot in the lot and two tickets to ride.
Ride what? It’s a lovely shuttle with air conditioning, restrooms and a permit to unload at University Hall (steps away from the stadium). After the game, take the shuttle back downtown to enjoy Buckeye Specials at our neighborhood restaurants.
And for you savvy souls who already live downtown? A shuttle ticket is only $5, round-trip.
For more information, including route maps and a listing of Buckeye Special eateries, check out downtowncolumbus.com.
The traditional gift for a fifth anniversary is wood. Downtown LIVE went another route, adding an opening act to the line-up. Alex White, who plays acoustic style easy listening tunes hits the stage at 5 pm, providing a welcoming stage presence as the crowd files in. He also shares information about other downtown events between songs, helping to cross-promote the Capitol Square Kickball League and Pearl Market.
Again this year, CCSID has coordinated with Class Acts Entertainment to book an excellent line-up of bands, including the ever popular Reaganomics, the regional favorite, Red Wanting Blue, and culminating with country rock favorite, Jacked Up. Most of the bands hail from Central Ohio, but this year there are also acts from Indianapolis, Cincinnati and even New York.
Though the partner restaurants remain the same this year, both Darbys Cafe and San Francisco Oven have upped the ante with new happy hour specials, to draw even bigger crowds. Following the dollar menu craze, Darbys is offering $1 chips and salsa and $1 sliders, while San Francisco Oven is offering a whopping $5 off a large pizza and $10 buckets of five beers.
Joey Jerome of San Francisco Oven believes that the band line-up and the improved happy hour specials have increased crowd size this year. “Definitely, more people are coming and they are coming earlier. They seem to like the opening act too. And we are seeing repeat customers.
Dowtnown LIVE will continue on Thursday nights through August 27. For a complete band line-up, visit downtowncolumbus.com.
In these days of turbulent fuel and electricity costs, let’s celebrate urban features that allow us to provide our OWN personal calorically-enhanced power.
POWER GENERATION
Although Chuck Hootman, a seasoned bike messenger and co-owner of Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails, refuses to take any credit for the existence of P2 (saying, “That belongs to its inventors, Nathan Ober and Gene Felice.”), he certainly deserves kudos for helping popularize it in our community.
The P2 is a bicycle-charged generator that has been powering movies at spots like Tip Top and the Santa Maria. Haven’t seen it yet? Hootman promises, “It’ll be back for Awesomefest.”
POWER PARKING
The lovely deluxe RiverSouth Parking Garage will house your car for around $80 per month. But you can park your bike there, legally, for free. That’s right, a section of spaces have been reserved for two-wheelers to park at no cost.
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Sure it’s hard to read a map and bike at the same time – so take a peek at the free metro maps you’ll see around downtown. The maps highlight the savviest street to travel when you’re biking here in the neighborhood. Check out the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission for the electronic map or email info@downtowncolumbus.com to request a hard copy.
It’s Bastille Day. In honor of the occasion, we thought we’d indulge in some fancy downtown French cuisine. Today is a day to celebrate the French Fry.
We’re not talking about the stale old freezer-burn fries. We’re talking about fries with a little urban style… savory savoir faire. We’re talking about…
Crinkle Cut Fries
With twice the surface area of regular old fries, crinkle cut fries deliver extra crunchy, salty goodness in every bite. Downtown diners already know where to find this rare species of tuber: Jack’s Diner.
Exotic Fries Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails will French fry just about anything. Its Eggplant Fries served with Bloody Mary Sauce makes the kitchen’s sweet potato version seem positively pedestrian.
Fancy Fries
While Latitude 41’s menu changes with the seasons, a special gourmet version of French Fries is almost always available – the Truffled Fries are enhanced with a little luxurious drizzle of precious, pricey Truffle oil.
PS: You might just catch Chef Dean James Max there this week. He’s competing in an in-house cook-off against a former Hell’s Kitchen finalist on June 16.
Each time I eat or drink at San Francisco Oven on East State Street, I am reminded that the outdoor dining area between San Francisco Oven and the Hyatt on Capitol Square is one of the best amenities in downtown. This space has spectacular features, including mature trees, a fountain designed by Alfred Tibor, seating for several hundred people, and great views of Capitol Square. On hot days, the space draws a cool breeze, and the fountain calms frenetic souls.
Two restaurants serve this patio: Darbys as well as San Francisco Oven. I am amazed the area is not full of diners seven evenings a week. Apparently, not enough people linger downtown after work.
One of the reasons why Capital Crossroads SID sponsors Downtown LIVE is to feature this incredible space. If you have not experienced it, you should consider having dinner and drinks during a concert by The Fabulous Johnson Brothers this Thursday evening. For those of you who have experienced it, I am interested to know if this space is as good as I think it is.
THE LAZY MAN’S GUIDE TO EXPERIENCE COLUMBUS DAYS
FROM TO-DO TO TA-DAH
HEY BIG FELLA
GRILLED CHEESE AND WHAT?
BUCKEYE BUS
Capital Crossroads Summer Programming: Downtown LIVE Summer Concert Series
POWER TO THE PEEPS
ANY EXCUSE TO EAT
Each time I eat or drink at