Around Columbus (6/15/2015)

I remembered to take some pictures of our campground this morning.  The first is a view of the lake just a few feet (one campsite away) from where we are parked.  The next few are the RVs situated in our woodsy campsites, our own little compound.

Today we began our tour of Columbus.  We started out with the Ohio Statehouse.

There are beautiful floral plots in front of this building depicting both the Ohio state flag and the U.S. flag.  Ohio was the 17th state to achieve statehood.

 



 We missed the 10:00 tour by about 20 minutes and didn't know if we wanted to wait for the 11:00, so we started on a self-guided tour with audio tour wands.  But it didn't take long for us to figure out we didn't know what we were looking for or at, so we elected to take the 11:00 guided tour, which was very informational.  There is a lot of state pride in Ohio, and they have a lot to be proud of, with the number of presidents from here, their aviation and space history, etc. 


The first room we walked into is the Map Room, which is the reception area, with a state map on the floor.  "A map of Ohio dominates this space. . .  It depicts the state's 88 counties using six different types of marble from around the world."

While not as opulent as some state capital buildings, nevertheless, this one is lovely. 

The state seal is also very beautiful.  I think here it is in stained glass, but we did see it in other mediums (media?) again later.

And of course, there is a rotunda.  President Lincoln laid in state in this rotunda on the trip from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Illinois.

The house and senate chambers were open to us today.  Neither was in session, so we got the full tour of both of them. 

From there, we went to the Atrium, which connects the statehouse and the senate building.  "In 1859, Lincoln gave a campaign speech from the Capitol's east steps."  Before the Atrium was built, this area was known as 'Pigeon Run', after the pigeons who gathered on the rooftops."  They included one of these former "residents" perched on the Senate Building entrance. 

We concluded our tour, and headed to the German Village, which was a very short drive.  Parking here took some looking, but we founds spots on the streets for both vehicles, then walked up to the beginning of this area and found a restaurant, Katzinger's, a deli where we had lunch.

  The German Village encompasses "233 acres, and is a typical 1800's neighborhood with a variety of one-of-a-kind locally owned boutiques, specialty stores, salons, galleries, and restaurants."  Houses in this area depict the style of homes the German immigrants had left behind.  Most are brick, 2-story, and many had small flower gardens in front.  Streets and sidewalks both were brick.

Then we stopped in the Visitor Center and got a little more information.  We walked the streets a little (with our umbrellas), stopped in a gift shop selling European Housewares, Arts and Gifts (way over our budget, although I sent Brenda a picture of a Bernadi nativity scene I thought she might want, on sale for a measly $2,200), and then we walked into an awesome book store.  This bookstore (The Book Loft) had a very lovely entryway, and had 32 rooms of books!!  Now, granted, the rooms were small, but the bookstore had zillions of books -- all new -- all different genres, divided by room.  I could have spent a lot more time in there, and a lot of $$. 

Since Dave and Collins were sweltering in the car between rain showers, we rejoined them and then headed over for our appointment at the Wagner-Hagans Auto Museum.  Two individuals have a collection of 40 cars, 20 here and 20 at another location.  Our tour guy specializes in Packards.  We had a private tour here, of 20 cars.  The cars were all road ready, and some are often used in weddings.

And lots and lots of memorabilia, including hundreds of license plates, signs, old gas pumps, pedal cars, soap box cars, and a variety of other related items.

One of the cars, a Packard, had a second windshield, right in front of the backseat, which I had never seen before.

Another item here was a Packard bicycle, which Mazie found very interesting, since she still bicycles every day she can when she's in Sierra Vista.

We headed back to camp from here, driving in and out of rain storms.  Joe and I never know when to call it a day, so after a quick dinner (I microwaved the chili I had heated up the RV cooking yesterday), Joe, Mazie and I drove into the town of Delaware to find a Walmart, and pick up a few groceries at the Kroger store.  We topped off our drive in town with a stop at Tim Horton's Donut Shop, the first we had had of these in 5 years, since our Alaska/Canada trip.

Of course, on the way home, Joe took the scenic drive, and we drove around our side of the lake to the beach, the marina, and Collins Classroom.  Still in little rainstorms off and on.

We don't know what Collins is teaching, but we drove back and took a picture of his classroom.  He just really gets around.

 
We got back to camp a little after 8:00, dropped of donuts at the Brundiges, and hunkered down for the evening. It rained off and on most of last night, and it looks like it will do the same tonight.  Joe thinks we need to invest in a new umbrella for him because any little breeze apparently turns his inside out.  Of course, he just likes to complain.