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Over Labor Day a few pals and I packed into a minivan and drove 16 hours to visit one of my very best friends, Laurel, in Columbus, Ohio where she attends Occupational Therapy school.
Columbus is such a fun city, with so much to explore! Laurel is an excellent host, making the trip an amazing one, but Columbus has so much to offer and was an excellent destination for a girls' trip!
Over the course of five days, Thursday to Monday, us three ladies traveled 32 hours and got to make amazing memories alongside our gal Laurel. Throughout this post I will discuss what we did and what we thought, to help you decide if your next road trip will be to this amazing city!
Thursday: Sept. 3, 2020
Thursday night we left at about 6 pm, hitting the road to travel through the night to get to Columbus Friday morning. I am not going to lie, it was a long drive. I had the shift to start driving in the middle of the night, so after stopping at around 1:00am in the Cabela's parking lot in Madison, Wisconsin to sleep, I got up and kept trekking on around 3:30am, hence the coffee, which was an absolute live-saver. (p.s. did you even know there is such a thing as a triple shot energy coffee drink?!)
The drive was a little brutal, but totally worth it!
Friday: Sept. 4, 2020
We arrived in Columbus in the early afternoon and headed straight to the pool (the neighborhood Laurel lives in has a few pools for the residents to use!) after eating a light lunch and unpacking the vehicle. This beautiful lady pictured above is one of my besties Laurel, the reason for the trip! We got our tan on, caught up about our new versions of normal, and did some much needed relaxing. Gosh, I missed her!
After enjoying the pool, evening rolled around, so we headed back to Laurel's house where she made us homemade pizzas as we sat around the kitchen table and drank wine together. When the pizzas were done we packed up our supper + wine, and took the party up to the rooftop patio to eat over the city skyline.
This house had three different decks/patios/balconies so we were pretty spoiled for our stay! However, the roof was my personal favorite.
We enjoyed the sunset and the giggles we had over our supper, and when the sun set and it got dark, we went back inside to make some chocolate chip cookies!
The cookies were delicious, and after eating a few, having a dance party, and getting some good laughs in, we decided to hit the hay, as we were all so tired!
Saturday: Sept. 5, 2020
Saturday morning we slept in! We were all so sleepy, and it felt amazing to catch some zzz's after so many hours of traveling. Laurel made us french pressed coffee and we sat in the living room and enjoyed the warm sunshine that shined through the front windows on us as we chatted in our pajamas and enjoyed the morning. Slow mornings are my absolute favorite, and this house was nothing short of amazing, so we savored each moment we had to enjoy it for the weekend.
We eventually got ready and headed out for the day Laurel had planned for us!
We walked from Laurel's house to the main drag of the city, to Zest Juice Company, for a late second breakfast of delicious smoothies!
We were very impressed with this place, with options made with clean ingredients, large portions, and delicious tastes, it was a huge win, and I recommend anyone going to Columbus that is a smoothie fan to try this place out! I mean, I am still dreaming about the almond butter on top of my smoothie bowl, ha!
We bought our smoothies and walked to Goodale Park to eat them, since they have beautiful walking paths and a pretty fountain & pond to sit by. We sat in the grass and soaked in the summer day while enjoying our yummy smoothie bowls.
After we ate at the park, we walked around the paths for a bit, taking in the beautiful weather and company, then headed back to the house for some real lunch! We had seasoned potatoes and tofurky sausage, and although I am not a vegetarian, it was super good!
After lunch we went and explored Inniswood Metro Gardens, and it was so beautiful! There were so many plants & flowers I could hardly contain myself! For those of you that don't know, I am absolutely obsessed with my plants, so this was one of my favorite activities of the whole trip! I recommend this to anyone who loves to be outdoors, as there was so much to see and learn about. There were a variety of walking paths, woodsy trails, and places to stop and learn about the plants you were looking at. This would be a great opportunity for a young family or for a fun & unique date night! We saw many young families with kids exploring the park, as well as couples, young and old, out on afternoon dates strolling through the gardens. It was a fantastic part of the trip for a plant lady like me, ha!
After the gardens we came back home to get ready to go out for supper. We went to Brewdog, and it was an amazing choice! The drinks were unique and unconventional, yet so delicious. They also had so many food options; I had a burger & fries in true Molli fashion, but they had amazing vegetarian & vegan options as well. Laurel is a vegetarian, so those "chicken" wings you see in front of her are actually made of cauliflower, and they were amazing, so amazing I actually might prefer them over real chicken wings!
I recommend this place for supper, as we got to sit on a rooftop patio that overlooked the city, the drinks were amazing, and the food was outstanding. The menu was diverse enough that there were options for everyone, each of them equally delicious. The vibe was also awesome at this place, and the service was great!
Go check out this restaurant for a great bite to eat if you are in Columbus!
We then went back to the house and watched New Girl until it was time for bed, with another day awaiting us in the AM.
Sunday: Sept. 6, 2020
Again, we slept in on Sunday, and it felt so good! Laurel made pour-over coffee and we sat in the living room with the kitties and snuggled up for another slow morning.
We got ready for the day after awhile, and walked to a cute coffee shop called Fox in the Snow, and if you are in Columbus, you cannot leave without trying this place out! We ordered tartlettes and lattes, and they were amazing! Full disclosure, the latte I got was pretty strong, so if you don't like strong coffee, ask for extra milk or something, still, absolutely delicious. We ordered it to-go because there were quite a few people there and not a lot of space to sit outside, so we brought it back to the house to eat.
We ate our second breakfast and watched New Girl, and just hung out for a bit, enjoying the slow pace for our last day in Columbus.
After we got our New Girl fix for the afternoon, we grabbed some freshly-brewed tea and went to the rooftop patio in our swimsuits to enjoy the summer sun before a long day of traveling beginning the next morning. We suntanned and relaxed pretty much all day long until suppertime, and it felt so good.
After a bit we went and got Papa John's pizza for supper and had a New Girl pizza party with Lenny (the kitty), all while binge watching TV and drinking Vizzys until the sun went down.
Goodnight Columbus. After supper, we poured ourselves some glasses of wine and headed to the rooftop to enjoy our last night together before we had to hit the road for home. We snuggled up in blankets, talked & laughed, probably disturbed the neighbors, and made the most of the time we had left before we had to return to reality.
Monday: Sept. 7, 2020
Goodbye Columbus! We headed out early in the morning for home, getting back around 7:30-8pm. It was a long day of traveling, but for a good cause!
We stayed at a personal house (my friend Laurel's) so I cannot give a recommendation on where to stay, my apologies!
Thankful for this trip and for friends like Laurel, showing me that friendships are not shaken by distance and life changes. Sometimes new normals are a lot more fun than the old ones, giving us opportunities to travel to places we have never been before, in more ways than one. Thankful for life and the people it has brought me.
Love: it has no distance.
you are blessed. you are gifted. you are loved and appreciated, just as you are.
mindfully, molli
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