The Shoe on gameday is a great place to be. Photo by: Evan Berman

This short review of my weekend travels will provide an example of easy short trips to various places in the US, complete with a few recommendations of places to visit. As always, use this as inspiration, not necessarily a set-in-stone itinerary. If I have not already reviewed the airport and/or lodging, there will be a separate review. You can find a list of all the reviews I have conducted under the Reviews headline above.

Trip Summary:

I took a quick weekend trip to Columbus, OH, both to see friends and to go to the Ohio State football game with a family member. As I lived in Columbus, this was not a new place to discover; rather it was a chance to catch up with friends and watch some THE football!

Departure: CHS-LGA-CMH (Charleston, SC to Columbus, OH, with a stop in New York-LaGuardia) on Delta Flights 5229 and 5777.

Return: CMH-CLT-CHS (Columbus, OH to Charleston, SC, with a stop in Charlotte-Douglas) on American Flights 4855 and 2958.

One of my favorite parts of flying Delta Comfort+ (besides the extra legroom) is there is a beverage included with your ticket and you are served before those in economy class. Craft beer fans, always make sure to ask what choices are available as there may be special drinks. link to article with all the cool drinks I’ve had on flights.

For example, on both departure flights, I had the Sweetwater H.A.Z.Y. IPA that is only available on Delta flights. The can itself is quite impressive and the marketing notes that it is specially brewed to taste the same at 30,000 feet as the original H.A.Z.Y. does on the ground.

Lodging Info:

I stayed with a friend for this quick trip and thus did not need to worry about lodging accommodations. Once again, the price was right. 🙂

Airport Info:

CMH, John Glenn International Airport, is a compact medium-sized airport. Since I lived in Columbus, I am very familiar with it; regardless, CMH is a straightforward and easy-to-understand airport. Although the only lounge is the Jake Brewer USO Lounge and is open exclusively to those in the military, CMH does have CLEAR in all terminals (A, B, and C). Follow this link for a full review of the airport insert link

Transportation Details:

My friend was kind enough to pick me up from the airport so I did not have to find transportation into the city. However, I know from experience that an Uber/Lyft into downtown is usually $20 and there is little to no wait.

There are many rideshare options at all hours of the day in Columbus and the prices are quite reasonable. For example even taking a Lyft at 1:30am from High Street (where the nightlife is located) to downtown will only be $10-$12 before tip.

Food and Drink:

Gemüt Biergarten:

On Friday night, we went to Gemüt Biergarten, a German restaurant in Olde Towne East. I had the Currywurst with the Kasespatzle and a nice Hellheim Helles beer. For the uninitiated, Currywurst is a delicious German sausage with curry in addition to spicy pepper relish and curry mustard while Spätzle is a type of egg dumplings (similar to pasta) and Kase means cheese. Delicious– but quite messy!

Cap City Fine Diner Grandview:

On Saturday, we went to a late lunch/early dinner at Cap City Fine Diner & Bar in Grandview after the football game. A terrific American-food restaurant, their meatloaf is the specialty. I had been there recently; however, and opted for the Romano Crusted Chicken instead. The food was delicious as always and we enjoyed sitting outside with a gentle breeze. Garlic knots are always a great start to a meal and seem to disappear too soon after their arrival!

Olde Towne Tavern:

To round out the meals portion of the trip, I joined a friend for dinner at Olde Towne Tavern in Olde Towne East. A classic bar and restaurant beloved by locals and tourists, the sandwiches are delicious. At the suggestion of the waitress, I opted for the Bartlett Pear Grilled Cheese which was ok. The texture was off as the cheese was extremely hot, enough to make the pear quite soft.

As I always love to try the weirdest sounding item on a menu, I ordered the Columbus Brewing Company Pumpkin Ale– which doesn’t seem that unusual except the beer is a pumpkin and yam-flavored ale! Unfortunately, I cannot recommend you try it as it tasted just like any other pumpkin beer; no yam was detected.

Bristol Republic:

If you know me, you know how much I love me some Bristol! If you like live music, you have to check this place out sometime. A Nashville honky-tonk in the Midwest, Bristol has musicians playing every Friday and Saturday night, most of whom are terrific.

They have an excellent whiskey selection (heavily focused on Bourbon) in addition to all the cheap beer you can drink and there is also brisket for dinner. Oh, and tell Josh I said hello!

We spent the majority of our Friday and Saturday nights at Bristol, where the bands played everything from Garth Brooks and Willie Nelson to Mr. Brightside and Taylor Swift.

Standard Hall/ Standard Live:

While Bristol is my favorite spot, no trip to Columbus would be complete without a stop at the Standard Complex. Standard Hall has long been one of the most popular spots in Columbus and has several bars both inside and (during the warmer months) outside.

Standard Live, which is connected to Standard Hall, opened in 2021 and also provides live music, as well as cowboy hats 🙂 . Though you’ll find a typical crowded-bar atmosphere and not much else inside Standard Hall, Standard Live (sometimes) has good live music and outdoors we played cornhole at Standard Hall before returning to Bristol.

Short North Pint House:

It’s important to note that the Short North Pint House is not in fact the location of Urban Meyer’s latest impropriety. That would be his similarly named Urban Meyer’s Pint House in Dublin, OH. We started our Friday evening at Pint House and enjoyed the great selection of beers there, as well as the always lively crowd. That night’s entertainment included an impromptu back-handstand competition!

Oddfellows Liquor Bar:

During a break in the music on Saturday night, we stopped at Oddfellows to grab a beer and hang out in the courtyard outside of the bar. The bar fancies itself as an upscale dive-bar and is always a fun place to start your night. They even include a Mikey’s Late Night Slice food truck– the best pizza in the city, if you ask me!

Land-Grant Brewing Company:

On Saturday before grabbing dinner, we headed to Land-Grant across the river in Franklinton. While their beer is quite good anywhere in town, the outdoor patio is a great place to sit in the sun, drink beer, and meet new friends (especially if you like four-legged ones). Equally appropriate for a work happy hour as a baby’s birthday party, you should give the Franklinton location a try the next time you are in Columbus!

Charbar:

Last but not least, we headed to Char Bar. As all great dive bars should be, once you are in the door, you can stay until 2:30am but the bar is closed to outsiders at 1:45am. We played pool and darts and had a great end to a quick weekend trip!

Activities:

OSU Football Game:

As mentioned above, a major reason for making this trip was to see THE Ohio State Buckeyes play football. This was a noon game against Arkansas State so while there were roughly 100,000 fans in attendance, the crowd dissipated quickly once the Buckeyes started scoring. Ohio Stadium, or “The Shoe” as all football fans call it, is a nice stadium with few bad seats.

This is the 100th anniversary of the stadium and it has held up well. The atmosphere does not compare to a Southern school (It Just Means More after all) but I have been fortunate to attend 3 games and enjoyed this one as much as the other 2. Definitely worth the price of admission– at least for the games where tickets aren’t as expensive!

Prices:

In the name of transparency, I share with you how much this trip cost.

Flights:

Delta Comfort+: $251.60

American Economy: $221.60. Note: I chose this specific flight. Had I accepted a short layover, I could have flown for 8,000 Qantas Miles and $5.60.

Total: $473.20

Lodging:

As a thank you, I did buy dinner for my friend. So, it cost me $30 to stay. 🙂

Transportation:

Lyft:

Going out on Friday: $12.63

To the game on Saturday morning: $15.99

Going out on Saturday night: $13.35

Return home Saturday night: $11.01

Uber:

Return home Friday night: $13.67

Total: $66.65

However, this was split between 2 people and the Uber was paid for through my AmEx Platinum credit. So, in reality, I was out $19.66.

Food & Drink:

Food:

Gemüt: $61.20

Olde Towne Tavern: $53.07

Total: $114.27 ($87.74 since I paid for my friend’s meal at Gemüt)

My family member was kind enough to pay for my meal at Cap City, else it would have been another $45-$50.

Drink:

Oddfellows: $15.94

Bristol: $42.62 on Friday, $48.84 on Saturday

Short North Pint House: $21.16

Land-Grant: $25.50

Char Bar: $30

Standard Complex: $14.57

Total: $198.63 ($99.32 per person)

Activities:

My family member who invited me to the game has season tickets. As such, I was invited to join and did not need to purchase tickets. Had I wanted to, they likely would have been $60-$80 a piece for our seats.

Total:

$852.75 in total spend. However, net cost was $679.92 for a last-minute trip. I should note: we did not cut any corners with spend. Had we wanted to, the total could have been around $463.92 and 6,000 AmEx points by booking with Qantas and even less without going out as much.

That’s it for Columbus. Next up: a review of the Kentucky Derby from the spring. Until then, keep Maxing out Memories!