There is a theme to this post, from Columbus, Ohio.

 

 

Ice cream.  Having sampled a couple of flavours last evening, we were keen to add to the collection today, so to speak.

 

 

First, though, we decided to leave the car in the garage today and travel by bus: Free Public Bus in fact.  It stopped right outside our hotel and did a circuit of the city.  To begin with, we were going to head south, to the Topiary Garden.

 

 

We’d read of this before we came here, both in guidebooks and in a magazine article which included a list of must-sees for a weekend in Columbus. 

 

 

It wasn’t long before we got a clue of the tout ensemble.

 

 

Helpfully, there was a reproduction of the original picture too, so we could compare.

 

 

So there you are.  Off you go.  Compare!

 

 

The excitement was all too much, so spotting a kind of Shake Shack as we crossed Columbus Commons, then noticing it was an outpost of Jenis we just had to join the queue.  Buckeye and Salty Caramel for me this time!

 

 

Delicious.

 

 

Our next stop on the bus was German Village, just south of the city centre.  Settled by Germans in the first half of the 19th century, most of the village had fallen into disrepair until a man with vision had begun the restoration and preservation of the area from the 1960s onwards.

 

 

Now, the houses are charming; this one in particular had a beautiful verandah with comfortable cushions which matched the flowers in the planters perfectly.

 

 

There was also a fantastic bookshop, which filled the whole of this building – and that really is, the WHOLE of the building.  There was room after room to explore and just as I feared I was never going to find my way out again I spotted I was in the self help department and the book facing me on the shelf was “Paint your way out of a corner” !

 

 

This title amused me rather.

 

 

Thumbing through this book, I came across a page about John Fluevog and thought immediately of our friend Nadine in Montreal.  She’s not been too well lately, so we sent warm thoughts through the ether.

 

 

Back on the bus then and into the city centre for a walk along the river.

 

 

It was lunchtime, so people from the neighbouring offices were out enjoying the fresh air along by the River Scioto, where restoration was underway to create a pleasant new riverside walk.

 

 

As we walked along the pathway, we spotted something.

 

 

The middle seat of each group of three was a swing!  Needless to say, these were very popular and as we reached the next group, inevitably someone was settled on it, swinging. 

But I wanted to sit on a swing!

 

 

It took some time but eventually we found an empty one and you know what happened next?

 

 

Photo shoot and fifteen minutes of gentle swinging in the breeze, feeling relaxed and wondering if anyone was going to bring us a nice, cool drink?

They didn’t.  But it was fun!

 

 

As we caught the bus back, someone was hoisting his bike on the front – this is a great service!  We spotted Whit’s Custards just as we got off, though: a Root beer float and a vanilla malt, please – well, maybe we’ll return to Jenis for dessert this evening?!

 

 

Sure enough, we finished the day in the same way as last evening – I chose Salty Caramel and Yazoo Sue with Rosemary and Bar Nuts tonight.

 

 

Jenis, we look forward to the next time!