The North Market with Braylee
On November 10th my alarm went off at 7 am. Momentarily I had forgotten what day it was because it was not normal for my alarm to go off that early on a Friday. As I rubbed the stars from my eyes and peeled myself from my warm bed, I grabbed my toothbrush and started to get ready. My roommate Cat Bouldry and friend Bailey Thomas also dragged themselves out of bed and quickly we got ready for a day spent with our fellow ACES.
It was 8:30 am as three cold and sleepy girls stumbled down High Street stepping over cold Blaze pizza and McDonald French fries leftover from the Thursday night bar hoppers. In what seemed like a hike that would never end, we finally made it to the bus stop. Braylee had texted me that her, Courtney and Laura were running late so the three of us stepped into the Union to warm up.
I was very excited to explore Columbus with Braylee, especially North Market because I had gone there last year and thought it was awesome. I was looking forward to showing something new in Columbus as well as some of the Short North. Braylee and I share the love of food and North Market is basically a food lover’s dream.
Soon we saw Braylee, Courtney, and Laura turn the corner coming towards the bus stop. Bailey, who was a first-time public bus rider, was a bit nervous that we were going to miss the bus. As a bus was speeding down High Street and our mentees still some distance away Bailey began to wave her hands and screamed “GUYS RUUUUUNNNN THIS IS OUR BUSSSS!!!!!!!!” to which the mentees started to freak out and began sprinting towards us like they were still in high school track competing at regionals. Cat and I both busted into laughter as the bus flew past all of us because it was not the right bus. As the mentees finally got to us and everyone (Mainly Bailey) understood that our bus was the next one we stood there laughing for a few more minutes. Bailey’s mistake even got the random guy also waiting for the bus to burst into laughter.
The bus arrived and we hopped on. Braylee explained that she was most excited to get some fresh breakfast because living on a campus, breakfast isn’t always an option. We talked for a while about school and our families. Braylee told me that her semester was going very well and that she was thinking about changing her major to something else. She was also debating if she wanted to go pre-physical therapy or pre-occupational therapy like me. I gave her some advice and next thing we knew, we arrived to THE North Market.
All six of us walked up to food paradise with our stomachs grumbling. We could smell the fresh bread and hear the clinks and clanks of food being prepared. As we stepped in our senses were overwhelmed. To our left, we had traditional Greek food, to our right we had fresh cuts of meat and ahead of us, we had just about every food group/culture. To prevent stress and being overwhelmed, the six of us huddled together and made a game plan. Our plan consisted of slowly walking through the market one time to get an idea as to what our taste buds wanted and then following up with a second time around to pick up what we decided on.
As Braylee and I lead the group, we passed the chicken station, fish station and southern station to finally get to the donut station. Bailey and Courtney bought donuts while Braylee and I tested the free samples. After making our first round of the Market, we both decided to go back to the juice/smoothie station for a healthy breakfast. I picked up a pre-made juice and Baylee, Cat and Laura all got berry smoothies. We made our way to the sitting area when Cat decided it was a good idea to try some salsa. With a big sign in front of her face, she still made the horrible decision to try the far right one of the nine sitting on the table labeled “extra extra hot”. As her face turned a red I have never seen before, I watched as she darted back the juice station for water. When the water was not relieving her of the burning fire expanding down her throat and chest she quickly got some free samples from the Jeni’s station.
Once the fire was extinguished, we went and sat to have our breakfast and chat about school. About thirty minutes later it was time to go so we made our way back to the bus stop and got back to campus.
I had a really good time with my mentee and the other ACES members. We got to explore a part of Columbus that not many people get to see. I would recommend this explore Columbus even because it’s more of an active event and not an awkward/boring meeting at Starbucks. I hope Braylee takes her mentee to North Market next year.