I am a member of the Holden arboretum and Cleveland botanical. And while in Columbus I decided to…read morestop and visit their botanical garden. And I inquired if a discount is given if I am a member of Cleveland. And they informed me they do reciprocal. So I was able to attend with my membership for no additional charge. I must admit that this place is currently under construction. But that just means more great botanical fun is heading there way. I am excited to see it when it opens in 2027 fall. My time here today was great. I had a ton of fun here. I was pretty excited to see their train garden. Where they have many different models of trains going through a garden. There are so many different things to see and do. They have many hands on experiences for children as well. You need to get here and bring those kids to have fun.

We love this place!…read more We've been members forever so that gives us flexibility. The latest butterfly exhibit is 5* Excellent staff....as always.

Great day for the kids. Pretty interesting for adults, too. The permanent exhibits are fascinating,…read moreand they have some rotating exhibits included with general admission. It's irritating that the special exhibits have extra entry fees, but I guess that's how things are these days. Everything has an upcharge. The food in the cafe tastes good, is overpriced, and is unforgivably stingy. The chicken salad sandwich would probably be good if they actually put chicken salad in it, and for the price, they damn well should. The exhibits are dusty and could use a cleaning. This, to me, was ridiculous, and took away from the experience. The kids probably didn't care, but when you're a parent throwing money at a place, hand over fist, you at least would like it clean. Good lord, the gift shop... handfuls of target and dollar store crap your kids will bawl their eyes out for. Be prepared. You've seen everything there at half the price.

Once we got past a little bit of the sticker shock for tickets (we were only visiting for two hours…read moremax), we thoroughly enjoyed our visit here. Our only regret was not having more time to see all of the wings and exhibits COSI has to offer. I was surprised that for the ticket price they didn't include the Behind the Science of Pixar exhibit. Parking can easily be found in their underground garage that is nearly connected. We explored the museum with our two and four year olds- making our way between the engineering/innovators exhibit, young kiddo play area, and caught a science show on the main stage (they seem to keep it fairly booked with various topics throughout the day). They also offer a gift shop and a movie theatre for documentaries like a piece on Ohio's wildlife. Overall, a positive experience and I look forward to visiting again with more time.

Went on a Saturday around 12, started to get pretty busy around 12:45-1:30. Which makes the…read morecave/cavers very tight to walk through. While your down there your using a provided map to guide yourself around and match the corresponding areas ( Ex; A to A or 1-1 ) We went after it had just rained the night before, so everything was VERY wet. Wear waterproof/walking shoes if you plan on exploring. Be prepared to get dripped on by very cold water coming off nearby rocks, and the "ceiling". Coming down the initial very steep stairs is a beautiful view of different levels of rocks decending into a tunnel/cave where the rest of the cavers are. Tons of puddles all over the ground from collected rain water and the "droplets". Most the areas are about big enough for one person to walk through the tunnel areas at one time, and if your a larger person i DO NOT recommend going down there. Some areas are extremely tight and really only accessible to someone under 4'5 and around 100 pounds or less. (Im 5'4, 140 and some areas i almost got stuck cause it was too tight going through the rocks. It is neat to see though, i dont think id want to do it again as it is just wet rocks and the furthest tunnel was closed from the previous year that occurred from some heavy rain water. (The water collected, over time causing a collapse). So that was kind of a bummer but i get it for safety reasons. The gem mining was fun, definitely loaded with a lot of "gravel" type rocks so that was new for me, Ive only ever had ones with dirt/sand that yield rocks/gems/shark teeth. We found some really interesting gemstones in each tray. The petting zoo was great. I thought it wad Going to be boring and smelly, and i was happily wrong. The goats were adorable, when we came in a baby jumped through the fence and was following our group. And when we came inside the "pen" to pet them he ran back in it was very cute! The deer were a little skittish but very sweet and gentle. The treasure hunt/maze was VERY fun we enjoyed getting different prizes snd trading them within the group.

Lots of things for kids to do. Large play ground area, mini golf, cave tour, petting farm, maze,…read morepre purchased bag for gem panning. We paid $145 for our family of 5 to do all the activities

The kids kept asking to come here, so we finally did. Good…read moreplace for families, and it was pretty busy when we went. The lighting made me a little dizzy afterward, but the kids had a good time.

Long line to get in, but I'm glad the arts are being celebrated. Loved every minute of everything…read morehere. It's a Great escape. Lots of kids running around which you can still find peace and quiet and some corners. The art makes you think and makes you want to take it all in in bits and pieces.

The staff at Thurber do a great job with events. This was my third time attending one on-site to…read moresee an author, and the second time on the lawn with a boxed meal. Their events at other venues are wonderful too. I also participate with their Book Bar events (different locations) where readers can get together to socialize or just sit and read. There is catered food and drink tickets for beer or wine. Always a nice evening. They offer writing classes for both adults and kids.

I've been visiting the Thurber House regularly since my very first trip to Columbus back in the…read moresepia-tinted year of...1989? No sorry, 1990, my mistake. It's never failed to inspire--and a national literary landmark like this is deserving of 5+ stars once you see what the site offers. Been a dyed-in-the-wool "Thurberian" since my 8th grade literature teacher assigned us to read "My Life and Hard Times".... When the class got to the chapter on "the night the bed fell", it took 20 minutes to restore order in the classroom because we were laughing so hard! Any author who writes a book that causes cynical 8th graders to almost die laughing 44 years after publication, says much more than any eloquent words can. Humor is the hardest thing to write for posterity since linguistically much syntax shifts/morphs with every generation. It's was my fascination with Thurber that propelled me to study the whole "Algonquin Roundtable" era of US 20th century literature that included such American icons as E.B. White, Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, etc., and if you are able to read some of Thurber's key works (and the more scholarly bios by Rosen, Kinney, etc) prior to visiting this site, it will make your visit to the Thurber House more enjoyable. Sorta like if you read about the Battle of Gettysburg before visiting Little Round Top, you'll gain more insights and meaning from the experience. Some must sees: 1) the stairs leading up to "grandfather's" bed in the attic (now fully renovated and serves as the quarters for selected "writers in residence"); 2) his mother's bedroom window where she threw her shoe; 3) the kitchen where the deranged cook chased his father because she thought he looked evil.... Check the web link for the latest in events, closures and COVID policies. Parking is metered along the street. OSU is fairly close by ... within view (they also have an extensive Thurber exhibit), but you have to "buck" traffic (pun intended) since access is bisected by the now prevalent interstate highway. "Buck! Your time has come!"......... to get up out of your chair and go visit the Thurber House. Thank you so much for reading my review.

This is an annual event that currently is located at the Ohio Historical Society's "Ohio Village"…read morein Columbus, near the fair grounds. I thought this would be a cute little festival... inwas wrong. This it is huge! Over thirty coffee roasters and a bunch of food trucks and then dozens of vendors selling baked goods, pottery, and baked goods. This is a ticketed event. They have time slots for each day that you can get tickets for that range from 20 to 75 dollars. All the AM slots were sold out by the time we heard about the event so we purchased the two day pass with entry at 3pm-6pm. There was a huge line to get to the parking lot but once you got to the lot it was pretty easy to get in. Ohio Village is an town the historical society constructed to show what town looked like when Ohio was still considered a frontier state. Many of the coffee roasters were allowed to set up their temporary coffee shops inside these cute historical buildings. When you walk thru the entrance you are greeted and given a mug. Just after that stand is their merchandise stand where you can buy a hat, pin, tote bag, tshirt or sweat shirt. I recommend bringing a tote bag so You aren't forced into getting a ten dollar tote bag-- because, lets just face it, there will be something you will want to buy. When you go to the various roasters locations, you aren't getting a full cup of coffee. Its a fifth or sixth of the cup. So don't worry about being too caffeinated. Plus- If you only like coffee with cream, there are a few cream stations as many of the roasters don't have cream at their station (some do, some even have oat milk!!) Our favorite roasters this year were were Curly Dog Roasters, Cafe Graciela, Royal Flamingo Coffee, and Hemisphere. What is great about this events is you get exposed to some up and coming roasters who are still so small they don't have store fronts... yet. (Which is the case of 3 of the 4 roasters above). We also ended up buying a 10 dollar tote bag, a coffee festival tshirt, a one line tshirt and a curly dog coffee tshirt. Also ended up with two bags of honey infused tea (from a vendor from VA) and the BEST vegan donuts I have ever had. Actually, they were so good, we are buying more tomorrow. I loved this festival. Will go again next year, but will make sure I get my tickets the day they go on sale, so we can go at 9am vs 3pm. I imagine we wont fall asleep until 3pm tonight. IMO, 3pm is too late to drink a LOT of coffee. Lol. I highly recommend this event. Its well planned.

The coffee festival was absolutely amazing and I can't wait for the next one!…read moreI also discovered a new favorite coffee there... called Silverbridge coffee.

It's a must see. It used to a stop on the underground railroad. Go enjoy and turn your radio and…read moredrive slow

Lucy Depp Park is actually a private neighborhood that puts together a terrific light show. 2022…read morewas the 6th year for it, and it was bigger and better than ever. The show, set to a custom music track accessed on 87.9 FM, lasts for 7 minutes, and you can circle around as many times as you want during the open hours. It is free, with optional donation (donations go to Peace for Paws Ohio). We ended up looping around five times to fully enjoy checking out the various pieces - it's fun to see the dancing lights on the trees in the forest and all sorts of neat holiday and character elements. The kid was a big fan of the Baby Yoda by the stream in particular. The show runs from Black Friday through January 1. It is a one way loop due to the narrowness of the street - be sure to pay attention to the signage. A terrific option for checking out some holiday lights!

Small rustic park with a trail…read more Parking is available in adjacent church parking lots. Not for a long hike but great for a stretch maybe lunch hour walk. It's perfect for small kids. No restrooms. Worth a visit a hidden wooded area.

Smith Nature Park is a small park between two churches in Upper Arlington. I thought nothing of it…read more Then one time we checked it out. It's really worth a look. There's lots in the space it takes up. I like how convenient this is. It's easy to get to. There's parking on either side of the woods. It's between two churches so a Sunday morning would be the worst time to come here. There's plenty of parking any other time. It's small enough that you can get through it in a few minutes maybe even less. There's some cool sights like a bridge and a stream. I like these small parks like Smith Nature Park. It's a cool spot in a boring white suburb. There needs to be more places like this.