I did the Downtown Neighborhood for the Columbus To-Do List. I went to COSI, Dirty Frank’s Hot Dogs, 16-Bit Barcade, the Columbus Art Museum, and the Scioto Mile. I chose Downtown because I thought it would be the best way to get used to the bus system as well as practice finding my way around downtown Columbus. I was most excited for Dirty Frank’s, as it turns out. To be fair, I was REALLY hungry the night we went to get hot dogs, and Dirty Frank’s hit the spot.
The first item I checked off of my Columbus To-Do List was a visit to visit COSI. I had never been to COSI before, though I had been to the Great Lakes Science Center. The Science Center and COSI have largely the same purpose: to make exhibits for children and adults alike to experience the wonders of science. However, the Great Lakes Science Center is constituted mainly of experiments and demonstrations of scientific principles, whereas COSI had more actual exhibits and activities for the kids that cultivate a drive for discovery and exploration. Really, COSI tries to inspire a desire to learn. I am really happy that I got to experience the wonder of running through the maze in a quest for “ultimate knowledge” and riding in a simulator down a mountain in the Alps. I saw the massive brass pendulum swing back and forth until the Earth moved a little steel ball into its path. I would definitely recommend COSI to a friend. If you have a love of science, discovery, or fun, you would be in love with COSI as soon as you walk in the door to the lobby.
The second place I visited was Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace. Located in a strip of restaurants that are a culinary island amid office buildings and parking lots, Dirty Frank’s is just a quaint little storefront with scarcely enough space to hold the crowds that it draws. The restaurant had a compact, friendly feel to it. The walls of the place are adorned in only the finest examples of late, post-modern, 6th-grade Art-class-level paintings. The paintings, while perhaps aesthetically mellow, are of the finest hard-rock and pop musicians of our time. From AC/DC to Twisted Sister, Queen to Michael Jackson, the walls are clad in homage to the groups that brought the world music.
Once you get over the décor, you find yourself seated and ordering from a menu emblazoned with the descriptions of sausages and sandwiches of every variety. Corn dogs, chili dogs, and plain-old hot dogs are but the surface of the options a customer can choose from. I visited Dirty Frank’s twice, once late at night with an incredible appetite and unyielding desire for hot dogs, and once during the day (again, starving for some insane dogs). On my first visit, I ordered the Fire on the Rhine and Old Faithful (sans relish, because eeew) dogs and some fries. The service was remarkably fast, and the restaurant not too busy. We got our food in great time, and I found myself descending on my meal, not expecting too much. I had never expected so little, and gotten so much. The first thing to go was the fries. The unbelievable fries. Salted and seasoned, these taters came as welcome relief from weeks of eating dining hall and C-Store food. After deciding that I had reached fried-nirvana, I descended upon the hot dogs for which Dirty Frank’s had been named. The Fire on the Rhine features German sauerkraut and onions, but there’s a pretty hefty kick mixed in there. The dog was sweet and spicy and definitely worth the trip down on its own. But then there was the Old Faithful. More mellow and possibly more tasty, the Old Faithful is more blank than many of the other options on the menu, but is a for sure go-to if you’re feeling something more simple. Our second visit was less grand, as the place was far more crowded and service took substantially longer. I ended up waiting probably 45 minutes for two hot dogs and some fries. I was not pleased with the service, but I was pleased with the result of my patience. The Zippity Zam and the Real Man dogs were my selection for the afternoon. Featuring sauerkraut and onions again, I wasn’t thrilled with these sausages as much as with my previous ones, however they were still quality. The fries, as always, exceeded expectations. I would recommend Dirty Frank’s for sure. Barring the condition that my friend is vegetarian or vegan, I would lobby hard for a trip to one of Columbus’ lesser-known gems, Dirty Frank’s. The only problem with the store is that it is located so far from campus. It is a 20-30 minute bus ride, plus a 10 minute walk, easily.
The next spot on my to-do list was the 16-Bit Barcade. The Barcade is a really clever concept, being an arcade inside a bar, but lame because, unless it’s one certain night of the week, you have to be 21 in order to get in. This is only a problem if you are a college freshman such as myself. We did talk to the bouncer, however, who was a really cool guy. It was around Halloween time when we visited the Barcade, and it seems that people always tend to go for gimmicks like bar-arcade hybrids and bar-bicycle-car-things when holidays are near. Go figure. I would recommend to my friends of proper age that they check out the Barcade, for sure! They could probably tell me how it is inside, where the games are. Overall, I was disappointed I could not experience the bright lights and fun beeps of Pac-Man and other classics, but it was an experience just finding out that such a place could even exist.
My next stop was at the Scioto Mile. Coming from the other side of the river before both banks were open to the public, the Mile was almost easy to miss. A patch of vibrant green along the shores of the river, the Scioto Mile is a destination for tourists and people interested in conservation. It’s quiet and peaceful and brightens the whole area of the city. It is hard to imagine the river being as high as the new grass and park area, as the Mile is so radically changed from a stagnant-water ecosystem to a vibrant home for trees, grass, and birds. Although still surrounded by high-rise buildings and heavy stonework, the Scioto Mile is a great place to go and relax for a while. Weeks after we first visited, I went back for the actual grand opening ceremony. The festivities were lackluster and small, but the fireworks display that finished out the opening was more than enough to make up for it. The display was but 10 minutes of really solid pyrotechnics, ended by a finale that sounded like it shook the buildings of the Columbus skyline. This was an opening worthy of the work that went into the park. No true trip to Columbus is complete without at least glimpsing the Scioto Mile. On a bright, sunny day, the Mile is most assuredly a place I would recommend, even if it is a little out of the way.
My last visit to downtown took me to the Columbus Art Museum. Upon entering the building, I found myself faced with perhaps more culture than I have ever experienced before. I found that I am not cultured enough to understand why a man in a yellow hazmat suit in the woods is art. But that is okay, because I began to learn. I may not understand the art, but I experienced downtown Columbus. By the time we left, I had begun to see the importance of the texture of paint and the hidden meaning in materials. I saw modern art and classical pieces. I would recommend the Columbus Art Museum to a visiting friend. Even though the bus ride and walk total a full hour, making the museum a trek from campus, the Museum gives a unique perspective of Columbus and is a place people should visit at least once.
The documentary on the Franklinton area of Columbus was very informative. I learned about the founding of Columbus and the Franklinton area. I thought it was interesting that Columbus, being the diverse city that it is, was also founded on principles of inclusion and acceptance. This is embodied in the white settler who brought up a black infant as her own. I also found the history of the city’s fire department to be really interesting. It is crazy to think that at one point the Columbus Fire Department was just a requirement for each citizen of the city to own a bucket, and that the neighborhood would be called out to fight their friends’ and neighbors’ fires (which were apparently frequent). Now, if there’s a fire anywhere in the city, giant, glistening red fire trucks scream down the roads to deliver professional aid to victims of fire. All in all, I really appreciated the documentary on Columbus. It was a good way to end my exploration of downtown Columbus, and tied together all of my experiences. Columbus is a great city. It is big, but not suffocating. It is welcoming, but not overbearing. I am very happy to call Columbus my home and I am glad for the opportunity to go out and explore the city. I feel much more at home in Columbus after completing this project.