For our second Explore Columbus, my mentee Eliza and I went to the North Market, in the Short North off of High Street. We went on April 15, 2021 after discussing many different days/times that we could do it. Since finals are approaching, and move out is dwelling on us, we wanted this experience to be fun and relaxing so that we could take our minds off of the end of the semester. We chose the North Market because it has a variety of restaurants and cafés inside, so we were not limited to just one thing. Eliza told me she had only ever been one time before, and didn’t get to see it all. For this visit, my mentee and I were joined by the mentorship pair of Abby Williams and Abby Jarrold. Abby W. is one of my best friends (who I met through ACES) and Abby J. and Eliza both joined KKG a month or so prior after recruitment, so we thought that we could all enjoy each other and hang out. I actually picked up Abby W. before our mentees and took her to get her vaccine prior to going out. After waiting her 15 minutes, we headed to Smith Steeb to pick up our sweet mentees. As we were jamming out to the radio and on our way to eat, I unfortunately passed the street. This seems to be a common denominator for these exploring trips because I also had directional troubles last semester. I made a quick turn, hoping to go around in a circle and then get back to where I wanted to go; little did I know, construction would ruin my plans yet again, and led me to the highway. Have no fear, we plugged into the GPS, but BAM! The exit we needed to take was also closed, just our luck. The thought of parking on the highway and scaling the wall up to North Market occurred for a split second haha. But nevertheless, we persisted and finally made it to our destination. North Market is in the center of downtown, a public indoor market with a ton of different restaurants, merchants and farmers. It is local and fresh, which is something that I love. Being from Georgia, the North Market kind of reminds me of Ponce City Market right off of I-85 in the heart of Atlanta. There are many other independent restaurants, shops and apartment buildings surrounding the area, and it reminds me of why I love Columbus so much. The afternoon was grey and a little rainy, but we made the best of it; as soon as we stepped inside, we were met with so many colors, sights and smells and immediately started exploring. We walked around the first floor, just taking everything in, and admiring all that we saw. We stopped at almost every stall and looked at what they had, all while trying to decide what we each wanted to get to eat and drink. I decided to get an authentic New York egg bagel with their secret recipe Jalapeño cream cheese. Abby W. decided to get pasta (that she would save half for dinner). Abby J. decided to get strawberry bubble tea, which I was tempted to go get because it looked so refreshing. My mentee Eliza decided to wait and get ice cream as a little dessert treat after we all finished our meals. We then wandered upstairs to find a nice place to sit and enjoy. Luckily, we found a big (socially distanced) table enough for the four of us to sit around and chat about different things. We talked about our classes this semester, and what we wanted to take in the fall, plans we had over the summer, and how this year has been for us. After chatting for about an hour, we all walked back downstairs, washed our hands and waited in line for the jewel of Columbus: Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream. The server was so sweet and struck up great conversation. We headed back to my car, and drove down High Street taking in the views and people on our way back towards campus. I dropped Eliza and Abby J. off at Smith Steeb, and then took Abby back to her place. Everything about our visit was great, and was really needed for a little self-care/friendship break! Doing this trip with Abby W. and Abby J. was super enjoyable, and I hope we can all get together next semester when we are back on campus.