Saturday 10 August 2013

Columbus, Ohio

I only had one full day in Columbus, so obviously the entire morning of that day was spent sleeping!  It's been a long month at camp, though, so I definitely needed the rest.

I stayed at the Wayfaring Buckeye Hostel, which is really nice.  The staff are lovely, and they absolutely bend over backwards to help you out.  There isn't a free shuttle service, but they recommend a taxi driver, who is contactable by email (useful for me, since I don't have a USA phone), and charges a flat rate of $15.  The rooms are clean, cosy, and the beds are so comfy (or I've just spent too long in camp bunkbeds...).  There is a free breakfast, but I missed that so I can't comment on it!  The bathrooms are also very clean, and the shower was really nice too.  I heard there's even a hot tub on the back porch!

I spent a lovely evening getting to know some of the other guests, which is always my favourite thing about hostels.

The area outside the hostel leaves a little to be desired.  I didn't have any interactions with the local people, so I can't comment on that, but the buildings and streets are run down and basically quite sketchy looking.  After I (finally) got out of bed, I asked one of the hostel staff where they recommend I grab some lunch. They recommended a taco truck, which is parked on the forecourt of a nearby gas station.  He said they all love it, and it's the best.  I chose to take them at their word, and decided to give it a miss.

Instead, I walked down to High Street, which "has everything" (the staff's words, not mine).  It was about 5 blocks away, so wasn't a long walk.  It was a weirdly damp, muggy heat outside though, so even though I didn't feel too hot, I was dripping with sweat quite quickly!  Gross, I know.

High Street wasn't a big improvement on the rest of the area.  It had Taco Bell, Goodwill, and a few other chains that I recognised, but that wasn't what I wanted.  I wandered up and down the street a bit, and mostly found dodgy-looking tattoo parlours, bars, and liquor stores.  Hmm.

I ended up in a place called Jack & Benny's, which I loved.  It serves all-day breakfast, which is always a good thing!  The food was quick, cheap, and very tasty (even if the portions seemed a little on the small side).  The service was friendly and attentive, and it was lovely chatting to the servers.  I may have accidentally given the impression that I will be going to Nashville to perform country music, but I did mean that I was going to enjoy country music.  Sorry for the mix-up, Dante!  He even told me that he had friends from the UK, and one such friend (who was here just recently, apparently) is from Doncaster.  My response was "No, really?! Actual Doncaster?!", which I think confused him a bit (his expression was just like '...what is her problem?!') but I did eventually explain that I'm from Doncaster. Small world!  So, a big shout-out to the staff at Jack & Benny's, I had a really nice time.  It seemed 'authentically American', just what TV tells me a diner should be like!  I even sat at the breakfast bar on a stool, with them all cooking the food on the other side.

I headed back to the hostel after this to 're-group' and decide where to go next.  My impression of Columbus hadn't been great, and I felt I should venture further afield so I don't leave with the idea that the whole place is really quite dodgy and run-down.

Unfortunately, I first decided that I was super tired and needed a nap.  While I was sleeping, the heavens opened.  I'm so glad I wasn't out in it!  I was meant to meet up with a friend who was at camp last year, and lives in Columbus, but her whole neighbourhood flooded!  Crazy.  So, I stayed in the hostel all evening, since everywhere I wanted to go was really far away and I didn't feel like getting soaked.

The next morning I was up at 5am to get my bus, and spent a couple of hours in the Columbus Greyhound station.  Not the most fun way to spend time, but I had some cheap pancakes and instant hot chocolate.

The bus back to Indianapolis was nice.  It had wifi and leather seats - can't complain!  It was 30 minutes late, though, which threw my plans off a little.


I was due to meet 3 of my camp friends (one of which was the friend from Columbus) at noon.  I didn't get there until closer to 1pm.  It was nice to hang out and catch up for a little while before they had to rush off, though.  I had until 6pm in Indianapolis, so I chilled at Claddagh's Irish Pub (where I met my friends) for a while, eating delicious brownies, and drinking my weight in coca-cola.  Many thanks to Matt for keeping my drink topped up!



I then wandered around, sat in the Indianapolis ArtsGarden (which I thought would be a nice little outdoor park with little bits of art scattered around).  Turns out it's a glass-domed area, with trees and a small, local art exhibition, in the middle of the Circle Center Mall.  It had wifi, and was above a busy street, so I had fun watching the world go by.


I went for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.  I found my way to the megabus stop without much problem, and sat there for a reaaaally long time.  My megabus was about 40 minutes late, which was frustrating, and then the wifi didn't work for the entire 5 (?) hour journey to Nashville.  Not my most favourite trip ever.  What can you expect from cheap travel, though, really?  I arrived in Nashville at 11pm, and was absolutely frantic because I hadn't been able to pre-book a taxi, but some turned up at the bus stop (well, parking lot on a street someplace) and I was able to get to my hostel without any issue. Yay!


All the best,
Charlotte

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