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Ohio: The Heart of it all.
And Columbus is the heart of the heart, the state capitol, offers
the world famous Columbus Zoo and the Ohio State University. The OSU
Buckeyes Big Ten college.
The Limited Corporation,
Victoria's Secret, Bath and Body, Wendy's International, Huntington
Bank, Nationwide Insurance and several other major companies.
Sports include The Columbus
Blue Jackets hockey team and the Columbus Clippers AAA Yankees
baseball farm club. And of course we offer
Hotels in Columbus anywhere you
need one including several at the airport
Columbus is made up of several
suburbs including Reynoldsburg Pickerington Pataskala Canal
Winchester to the far east. Groveport and Obetz to the Southeast.
Grove City is Southwest. To the West is Hilliard and Plain City. The
Northwest is made up of Dublin, home of Muirfield Golf Country Club.
North is Worthington, Delaware and Sunbury. North East is
Westerville and North - Northeast East Columbus which includes Port
Columbus International Airport is Gahanna and Whitehall.
Westerville hotels - Close to Port Columbus International
Airport CMH - East - Northeast side of Columbus.
Columbus Ohio is the largest city in the world
named after the great explorer. It is fitting, therefore, that one
of the city’s most popular attractions is a full-size replica of
Columbus’s flagship, The Santa Maria, which is permanently
docked downtown on the Scioto River and open to visitors.
This thriving Ohio State capital city continues
to lead the way to the future. Columbus is state of the art, which
ranks with Washington, D.C., as a center for scientific and
technological information. More than 150 high tech companies have a
presence in Columbus.
These businesses made Columbus one of the first
areas offering citywide cable television and introduced such
technology as the 24-hour banking machine, interactive cable
television and the electronic newspaper. The city is also a center
for retail banking, insurance and real estate, and has emerged as a
leading convention city.
It all began with the opening in 1873 of Ohio
Agriculture and Mechanical College, (later renamed Ohio State
University), which established a new outlook for the city. Education
moved to the forefront, and the intellectual atmosphere helped
contribute to the invention of the forerunner of the computer, the
development of the xerography process, and numerous advancements in
the medical treatment of physical disabilities. Current enrollment
at Ohio State University is 48,500.
Ohio State University's Wexner Center for the
Visual Arts is housed in a castle like structure that is itself
considered a work of art. Architect Peter Eisenman juxtaposed a
red-brick armory with a modern glass-and-steel building, creating a
stunning visual effect. The Center houses an extensive art
collection, offering various collections and shows of interest to
the serious art lover as well as the browser. There is also a film
and video center and a performance theater. Tour guides acquaint
visitors with the highlights of Ohio State, one of the largest and
most significant university campuses in the country.
Columbus offers a perfect cross section of
consumers for the testing of new products. Because so many fast-food
chains develop their menus in Columbus, the city is often referred
to as “Test Market, U.S.A”. However, the cuisine of Columbus is by
no means limited to fast food. Dining choices include Asian, Irish,
French, Italian, Cajun, German, Mediterranean, Mexican, Greek,
Japanese, Indian, and vegetarian, to name a few! Many of the city’s
restaurants have enjoyed success and have served fine food for
decades.
A privately funded historic district, German
Village, is made up of restaurants, shops and beer gardens that are
housed in buildings from the 1800s. The nearby Brewery District has
several old beer-making factories that have been converted into
restaurants, microbreweries and specialty shops. German Village and
the Brewery District are pleasant places to spend an afternoon or
evening.
In nearby Westerville a replica of a German
village from the 1800s can be seen. North of Columbus, in Marion,
Ohio are the home and tomb of U.S. President Warren G. Harding. The
Harding homestead is carefully appointed with its original
furnishings. Southeast of Columbus, in Cumberland, visitors take a
drive on the wild side at The Wilds, a conservation center that is
home to roaming herds of rhinos, giraffes and zebras, among other
species, all of whom can be observed from your automobile.
Greater Columbus is an arts and cultural
Mecca
with a symphony orchestra, grand and light opera companies, one of
the top 12 ballet companies in the U.S., and several noteworthy
museums. A thriving theater scene is centered upon three historic
theaters. Live music clubs offer everything from alternative rock
and jazz to blues and country.
The Arena District surrounds Nationwide Arena,
while the Short North Arts District houses what has been described
as the best collection of art galleries between New York and
Chicago.
The Short North, north of downtown Columbus, a
strip of bars and restaurants, art galleries, clothing and antique
stores is home to the funky, exotic and trendy. It offers up a
once-a-month “Gallery Hop”, a combination sale and party that brings
out artists, patrons, and revelers in force.
COSI, Ohio's Center of Science and Industry, is
a favorite with children of all ages, with four floors of
interactive exhibits. Over 2.5 million visitors visit the Columbus
Zoo annually. The Zoo has received national recognition for its
success in breeding cheetahs, polar bears and lowland gorillas.
Adjacent to the zoo, a favorite spot to spend a warm, summer day is
Wyandot Lake, a water amusement park with water slides, rapids, and
canyons.
The renovated and expanded Franklin Park
Conservatory is a beautiful and serene showcase. Inspired by
London's Crystal Palace, the conservatory contains tropical gardens
and exhibits of four of the Earth's ecosystems. Also, plan a visit
to the Ohio Historical Center, with its Ohio Village, a small Ohio
town replication from the 1800s, with costumed interpreters.
Well worth seeing is Discovery Reef, a
100,000-gallon tank containing artificial coral and more than 1,000
species. Other “must sees” are the gracefully proportioned
Statehouse, the beauty of the changing leaves in the fall, and the
famous Ohio State Fair.
Sporting events are another major draw.
Columbus is home to three major-league sports teams. The National
Hockey League's Blue Jackets and the Arena Football League's
Columbus Destroyers play downtown in Nationwide Arena, while Major
League Soccer's Columbus Crew plays in the first stadium in the U.S.
designed specifically for soccer. The Columbus Clippers is a
minor-league affiliate of the New York Yankees. Columbus also hosts
the National Champion Ohio State University Buckeyes.
When is the best time to visit Columbus and
Franklin County? Anytime! Every season offers a host of recreational
and cultural opportunities for individuals and families in this
friendly city at the center of Ohio. |