For this assignment I want to not choose a category and instead go to three completely different places and experience three different things. I am looking forward to going out and exploring Columbus because I am not that familiar with the city or attractions that it has to offer. I want to experience a fun restaurant or food experience, some sort of fair or city event, and a trip to the zoo because I love the zoo! My first experience was a trip to the Zoo which was awesome. Me and my girlfriend went when she came down to spend the weekend with me and it was a lot of fun. We went to all the major continent themed areas and actually saw the majority of the zoo in just a few hours. We had walking tacos for lunch and they were surprisingly good. the coolest animals we saw were the polar bears which were swimming and fishing right above us, the kangaroos because we got to walk into their fenced in area and they were hopping right by us, this giant Chinese pheasant, and the giraffes and elephants because they’re just the coolest animals at the zoo.  It was nice to get off campus for the afternoon and it was perfect weather for a zoo excursion. I would defiantly recommend the zoo for anyone who loves animals and wants to have a fun day while seeing some cool creatures! Here is a picture of me and my girlfriend at the front of the zoo.

For my second experience I went to Jenny’s Ice Cream in the Short North. I was surprised at just how many flavors they had so it took my awhile to decide but I finally settled on the brambleberry which was amazing. I went with my girlfriend and two other friends from high school so we had a great time hanging out and catching up. I also enjoyed their lemon water which was free. I would defiantly go back and have already recommended to a few friends as is totally worth the price.

This past weekend I went downtown to a restaurant called Little Palace. I found it on yelp and I decided it would be a nice place to take my girlfriend when she came down to visit. When we got inside it was very nice and quaint. Although it was decently loud as they had a large bar, the tables were candlelit and it was a pretty romantic atmosphere. We ordered a large Stromboli to split and each ordered a slider. The name comes from these sliders or “little” sandwiches. Both were extremely tasty and I recommended this restaurant to my roommate who is a restaurant connoisseur.

Overall I think that my favorite experience was going to the Zoo, however for student without access to a car this may be a much more expensive trip. I would recommend that others completing this assignment get out of the short north and explore the restaurants such as Little Palace which are located in downtown Columbus. I learned that Columbus is an extremely diverse place. Until I really got out and saw for myself I didn’t really understand what this meant but I am very happy that this assignment gave me the initiative to make time to have fun and explore Columbus. I think due to my love of food I will continue to eat at a new place at least every other weekend.

My group decided to go to Trism which is located just south of campus on high street. We went during HES class time because this was the only time we could all meet and not have conflicts. We all go smoothies and although they were expensive they were extremely good. I got a banana, strawberry, pineapple smoothie with protein which hit the spot after a workout at the North Rec. We had fun socializing and it was nice to take a break before heading to my next class. I would probably not recommend it to a friend because it was expensive and lots of people are on college budgets, but if that was not a concern it was totally worth it.