Columbus, OH
9:25 AM
I’m out on the porch in Columbus, OH with Steve (from Charlotte) and his friend’s Shaun and Chris and their baby Kendall. Their house is on the outskirts of Columbus. I slept on a pull out couch. It’s funny how I’ve been at my parent’s house for the last few weeks and today I woke up and felt more relaxed than I have in a few weeks. I must have been running myself ragged at home. How can I be more relaxed at a stranger’s house?
I woke up early yesterday to finish packing and get ready for the drive. It had been a while since I’d been anywhere. My packing seems to have improved. I actually downsized a suitcase and a few boxes. My parents gained some stuff as I left. Mainly all clothes I don’t need, my alarm clock, come papers and cards I’ve picked up along the way, and some stuff I looked at wondered why in the world it was packed.
I left at 8 AM to go meet Mark, a friend of mine from childhood and my friend that I stayed with in Fort Lauderdale. He got home to Rochester on Thursday. He does not want to be home. He’d been in a hospital in Dayton, OH for the previous 2 weeks. Two weeks in the hospital would suck. It turns out he has/had a rare staff infection. He’s on the mend. It wasn’t part of my plans, but I got up and we had breakfast. It was good to catch up with him and see his mom. He’ll be back to normal in a couple of weeks. He’s recouping with family.
Then, I was off. I headed down a back road for about 30 miles until I ran into the highway. The small towns of Rochester are beautiful. Each with their own Main St., mom and pop stores and restaurants. Small towns and back roads are good for a Sunday drive. Not so good when you have to be in Columbus, OH. Rather than leaving at 8, I was on the road at 10:15. It didn’t matter. I had to see Mark and wish him well.
Shaun is patting Kendall on the back and she’s making some baby noises (she’s 5 months). My drive went well. Weezer’s Blue CD piped out numerous times. This was a CD I had listened to over and over when I first got it (or borrowed it from my old roommate). I then misplaced it. I hope he has it, but he thinks I still do. Now I have it back. I was given the CD just before I left. Good choice, thanks.
I spent most of the trip talking on the cell phone to people. Some Metallica and Blink 182 made it on the list as well. For the most part it was me and the road. About 40 miles outside of Columbus I hit a wall. I didn’t get tired, I hit Mother Nature. It rained. How about that description? I mean it rained down like a mother. As I drove, I laughed at all of the cars that were pulled over to the side of the road. There were at least 30 cars pulled over. The cars that stayed were going no more than 30 MPH. “Step on it, dude!” I yelled a few times.
I learned how to drive in the rain from my brother. I was in college and he and I were driving from Little Rock to outside of Memphis. He took the lead. It was pouring out. As I followed, I was scared. The tone was set at the outset when a car in front of me skidded, did a 360, and hit a truck. All of this took place in front and then to the side of me. Brad pressed on at a pace that would have been fast on a dry day. The rain poured down and so did Brad’s press on the gas pedal. I cursed the rain. I cursed my brother to slow down (this was before I had a cell phone), and I did the praying: “just let me gout of this and I’ll…” That drive sucked, but it taught me to just drive. And I do and did yesterday.
I arrived at Shaun and Chris’ place at about 4:30. I came in town to go to the Columbus BBQ and Jazz Festival. I mentioned the rain. The looks were slim about being outside. I walked in, met the dogs, and was handed a beer. We watched some TV and checked the weather constantly. It came down but we got a break. The festival is outside, but downtown, so we didn’t have to worry about muddy grass. Downtown is 30 minutes form where we were. We piled into Steve’s new Envoy (sweet) and headed down. Chris and Kendall stayed at home since it was close to 8. Kendall was telling us it was time for bed. So the boys plowed down the road en route to eat some BBQ and listen to some Jazz.
I was fired up to see the horseshoe on the OSU campus. They pointed out the campus and the different buildings. I was surprised to see two 23 story high rises when they said, “There are a couple of dorms.” I guess you need high rises when you have 60,000 students.
We made it downtown. Columbus seems very cool, with a lot of different districts. The German Village, Short North, Arena District, are a few. We parked and walked down to what a festival is in your mind: a mob of people, vendors lined up and down the streets, and music piping out. We walked around, grabbed a beer, and then sized up our food choices. I had never been to a BBQ festival before. I was impressed by all of the signs, awards, and most importantly the smells. Steve dove in first. Shaun and I waited until we crossed the Scioto River. Good stuff. A sample of ribs doused in this particular BBQ sauce. I can’t recall the group, but it was Rib Bins or something like that. We walked and ate for a few hours. The scene was a lot of young kids walking around and most of the older folks parked in a chair on front of a stage. We did both.
We made it home, had a beer on the patio, and then sleep called me. I was in bed close to midnight. Here I am, awake and feeling pretty good. We’re off to the BBQ Festival today. I’ll also be checking in on the British Open. I’m in the running to win.