On the Road in Ohio

COSIAfter my trip to Wisconsin, I went to three cities in Ohio. My favorite city that I visited was Columbus. There's a lot of great restaurants, shops, art galleries and museums in Columbus and the people were great too. I think a must-see for anyone who goes to Columbus is COSI. It was rated the number one science museum in the U.S. by parenting magazine and although I haven't been to every science museum in the U.S. I'd have to say it was the best one I've ever been to. The staff was very friendly and helpful, the children were well behaved and the museum was clean. The exhibits were engaging and immersive and well-maintained. There were very few out-of-order signs and it was just a fun place to visit.


Franklin Park Conservatory
During my fun-filled trip to Ohio, I also went to the Franklin Park Conservatory. Horticulture is not one of my biggest interests but they boasted having some pieces leftover from Dale Chihuly's traveling exhibit. I saw this exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden and it was fantastic so I thought it would be a place worth visiting. The Conservatory was very pretty and Chihuly's work was beautiful as always but I was expecting more. There weren't very many pieces and they were dispersed throughout the entire space with bits and pieces placed here and there. Even in their Chihuly Resource Center, there were only a couple small pieces of his work. I thought the nicest part of the Franklin Park Conservatory was the outdoor area which is free to the public (as opposed to the $7.50 for admission to the greenhouse). If anyone wants a nice peaceful outdoor activity with beautiful scenery then they will really enjoy this area and save themselves $7.50.

I also have some more valuable travel tips for this week:

1. If you are staying in 3 different hotels per week, it's a good idea to write down your room number on a piece of paper, on your phone, or on your arm. This way you won't repeatedly go to the room numbers of the 5 previous hotels you just stayed in and try to unlock someone else's door. You might also want to make a note of the floor you are staying on so that you don't spend your whole day in the elevator trying to figure it out. This also applies to the city that you are currently in because that tends to get confusing too. Just be sure to carry a pen and paper wherever you go and write reminder notes to yourself and you will be fine!

2. Do not put your magnetic room key anywhere near your phone or keys because apparently, it will de-magnetize the key. I managed to lock myself out of a hotel room 3 times in 4 days before I figured this out.

3. If you are running late for your flight you can fake a broken leg and get an airport wheelchair. Anyone in a wheelchair gets to go to the front of the airport security line (including all of the people traveling with them). I've never done this myself but I've witnessed people suddenly being afflicted with all sorts of disabilities when they approach airport security. I recently witnessed one woman with a broken arm suddenly become incapable of walking. The airport wheelchair is the E-Z Pass of airport security. It took me 15 minutes to get to the front of the line. The lady with the broken arm (and her husband) were through those metal detectors in less than two.