What to do in Ohio?

Ok, I'm retiring, moved back to part time at work while I train the new owner, and my retirement gig is working timing and scoring for World Racing League.  We're going to Mid-Ohio in April, I'm looking at flying in a day early and doing some sight-seeing.  Any recommendations?  Flying in to Columbus, then going up to Mid-Ohio.  Might spend the night in Columbus, then drive up the next day, just not sure what would be cool and interesting to do while I'm there.  Any recommendations?  Sights to see, restaurants to try, etc?  Thanks!

Are you the type to like city sights or more a nature type? I'm in the north end of Columbus in a suburb called Worthington. 

Corn maze?

Two years ago Mrs Frog and I were on our way to Mid-O about the same time of year.  We spent a day or two in the Amish country around Sugar Creek and Millersville along State Road 39.   We had a good time.  Great dining experiences.

If you are any way into home building the Keim showroom in Charm is mind blowing.

I've said it before - wrong direction- a good hour away........

Wright Patterson - Air Force Museum outside Dayton. 

Incredible!

I used to stay in Dublin - nice area.

Not much in the middle of Ohio except Mid Ohio. Maybe head up to Waldo and get a fried bologna sandwich at the G & R Tavern? I used to get them when I was attending OSU and going back and forth from home in Toledo. Its more like a burger because its cut about 1/2" thick.

Can second the Air Force Museum in Dayton.  COSI in Columbus is fun.  The Ohio History Connection is doing an 80s theme on April 22 and my Star Wars group will be there in original trilogy costumes.

On the city front, there are a few neat areas of downtown Columbus. On 4th street near Main St there's a bar/arcade called 16 bit: https://www.16-bitbar.com/columbus Video games are free just order a beer or soda and nurse it. Pinball is like 50 cents. Next door is Dirty Frank's Hotdog Palace: https://dirtyfranks.com/ which has good hot dogs but even better tater tot based nachos called Totchos. Order them deluxe it's awesome. Very Ohio food. Further up 4th street are a few brewery tasting rooms but they're a bit far to walk. Jackie O's has good beer, then there's Wolf's Ridge and Hoof Hearted. On 5th Ave northwest of downtown is Endeavor Brewing where our own Beer Baron is brewmaster. They also have excellent house distilled gin.

If you like Mexican food I can recommend a bunch of different places, none of which are fancy but some of which feature excellent tex-mex or authentic Mexican food.

If you like bar hopping and yuppie spotting, the Short North has a ton of bars and restaurants. It's not really my scene since I'm a middle aged dad that dropped out of the pretty people club a while ago, but it can still be fun from time to time. And despite the sheen, there is actually some excellent food to be had and some neat rooftop bars to check out.

On the nature front, I highly recommend Quarry Trails Metro Park which is just northwest of town, about 5 miles from Endeavor Brewing. It's still not quite complete but there are some really neat walking trails despite the urban setting. They're opening a Via Ferrata this spring which is a dramatic horizontal rock climbing element on the wall of an old quarry. It might be open by the time you're here. Other good parks include Highbanks Metro Park north of town - 1200 acres of woods and trails and you can often see eagles nesting from the river bluff overlook - Scioto Grove Metro Park south of town - it has some very peaceful riverfront trails - and Blendon Woods northeast of town which also has some very nice walking trails and a lake that is a migratory water fowl sanctuary.

There's so much to do in this town it's hard to narrow it down. It's not a typical destination vacation kind of place but it's big enough and energetic enough that you could fill a few days exploring. And people (including me) complain about traffic but it's nothing compared to Atlanta or Chicago or even Detroit. You can get from one side of the city to the other typically in less than a half hour. I'm 20 minutes from both High banks at the far north end of town and Scioto Groves at the far south end of town. Sometimes less than 20.

If you're here during the day on Wednesday I could have a few child free hours to hang out / show you around. I pick the kids up from school at 3:30p that day and it's chaos from then out. Thursday I'm at work but could do an evening thing if you wanted.

Jerry said:

Can second the Air Force Museum in Dayton.  COSI in Columbus is fun.  The Ohio History Connection is doing an 80s theme on April 22 and my Star Wars group will be there in original trilogy costumes.

That's awesome! I might try to get the kids there. My friend just got promoted to COO there, and it's been a few years since I bugged her at work.

In reply to HoserRacing :

The Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington is really cool.

https://americanmotorcyclist.com/hall-of-fame/

There's also Brim's motorcycle museum in Kenton.  Haven't been there for a few years, but it's pretty cool.  They also usually have a couple cool cars on their used-car lot.https://ridermagazine.com/2018/04/05/brims-imports-an-eclectic-out-of-this-world-bike-collection-in-the-middle-of-nowhere/

Interesting... I have next week off between jobs and was thinking about going to the AF museum for a day  since it's been awhile.

Now I'm thinking about checking out Brim's one day then going to lunch with my daughter in Bowling Green.

How long do you think to go thru it?

In reply to dculberson :

I'll be in Worthington next week for work.  Any good breweries or BBQ?

Best thing to do in Ohio? Get out!

In reply to bobzilla :

There was a time that there were more astronauts from Ohio than any other state.

You have to ask yourself, what is it about Ohio that makes people want to leave the planet?

I left and always say it is a good place to be from

PMRacing said:

In reply to dculberson :

I'll be in Worthington next week for work.  Any good breweries or BBQ?

Yes definitely. My favorite bbq is Ray Rays Hog Pit. On Sunday they have grass fed brisket that's awesome but they have good pig every day. There are a few locations I usually go to the truck on high st behind Ace of Cups bar, 2619 N High St. my brother says City BBQ is almost as good and I don't think it's bad but it's hard to love a big chain even if it did start locally. 
 

There are of course a ton of microbreweries in town. Enough that you can pick based on what kind of beer you like. I haven't been to enough of the "newer" ones (read 8 years since I had kids) to know them all but I like Seventh Son on 4th st and Hoof Hearted down the street. Endeavor on 5th obviously. Jackie O's downtown (Columbus not Worthington) on 4th is good but their tasting room isn't open yet but you can pick up beer to go and it's good. 
 

if you want to stroll around close to Worthington, downtown Worthington is worth checking out. The street is super busy but it's still pedestrian friendly. Good ice cream at Graeters and good fish and chips at the old bag of nails. A fun neighborhood style bar with friendly people is the Pub Out Back. 

Oh yeah if you like sour beers there's a place called Random Precision around the corner from my house. Everything is sour there even a sour IPA. I'm not sold on it but they sure are busy sometimes so somebody loves their beer. Also in Worthington is Zaftig brewing s tasting room and I like their beer.  Kind of a bizarre setting for a tasting room right in an industrial area but they make it work and usually have a good food truck there. 
 

bobzilla said:

Best thing to do in Ohio? Get out!

Ahh yes, solid words from the Eden of (checks notes) Indiana?

easy drive (about an hour) from Columbus to Hocking Hills.  If you're into hiking, that's a great spot.  

https://www.hockinghills.com/

In reply to PMRacing :

There is also Olentangy River Brewing Company and Temperance Row Brewing Company.  If you want some company we might be able to get a couple of people gathered, I work in Worthington, but if not no big deal.  As for BBQ, Barrel & Boar is not bad, there are a few others close but that is the only one I have been to.

Typed out a nice big response, and the internet chewed it up :( Thank y'all for the recommendations, going to check the map and make my plans!

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

easy drive (about an hour) from Columbus to Hocking Hills.  If you're into hiking, that's a great spot.  

https://www.hockinghills.com/

Also the Driving around there is supposed to be pretty superb as well! Route 555 and others around Athens, Little Hocking and Marietta

I forgot about one of Ohio's other great race tracks. Heading north out of Columbus there is St Rt 315. It follows the Olentangy River and the section north of I-270 was (is?) 2 lanes of twisting blacktop. I used to run it to relax during finals weeks.

Can anybody confirm it hasn't been ruined by progress?

jgrewe said:

I forgot about one of Ohio's other great race tracks. Heading north out of Columbus there is St Rt 315. It follows the Olentangy River and the section north of I-270 was (is?) 2 lanes of twisting blacktop. I used to run it to relax during finals weeks.

Can anybody confirm it hasn't been ruined by progress?

Pretty built-up around there now.  

315 is built up with houses but if you hit it at the right time you can still have some fun. During the day and especially at rush hour it's bad. 315 and 750 can back up for a long way at peak times but it would do that 20 years ago too.