Friday, Day 3, Columbus, Ohio and Knitters Coinnection

When you go see the Santa Maria at 8AM it isn't open for tours, but we saw the outside, at least.  This was our first stop in Columbus, Ohio on the way to Knitters Connection.  We didn't get to see as many of the local sites as intended, because of the Gay Pride Parade.  Many streets were shut down, when we came through, to line up the parade.

I have no idea what this flower is, but there were many of them beautifying the park near the Santa Maria.

 From the waterfront we went over this park to the Topiary garden. The pics below are, first, of the cast of a painting that the garden is based on, then a view of the park at the angle that looks like the painting, and the third one is a pic of the actual painting that I got on-line.

 It struck me as interesting that the garden was based on a painting, then, when we got there, there was a painting club that was spending the morning painting the garden...so from painting to garden and back to painting.  I would love to have seen the finished works to see how the different artists styles resembled (or not?) the original or the garden,.

 These are a few more shots of some of my favorite shrubs (and my favorite husband).

 The red above is apparently a pedestrian bridge.  I just thought it looked cool...and got lucky that it was a matching red car in the pic!

The good. (above) and the ugly (below).  We didn't see alot of the Gay Pride Parade...cause we opted for the ice cream shop instead, but it was a joy filled crowd.  I was sad to see the protesters at the end.  I do not know the hate filled God that they were shouting about.  Jesus ate with the tax collectors and the Pharisees, he didn't hate. The good news was that the parade was over an hour long and the protestors were few in number and were getting totally ignored.

Jeni's lived up to the expectations I had for awesomeness.   I think the chain will go big (only a half dozen shops now).  If you really want to try it, you can mail order it, shipped in dry ice, from their website.  Personally, I like Salty Caramel and Backyard Mint.  They tend to be strong flavors.  I also tried Bankok Peanut - with peanut butter, coconut and some kind of hot peppers in it, based on a Thai dish.  It was surprising and quite good.  Roland enjoyed Bourbon Pecan and a couple others.

Here I am with my friend Brynn at Knitters Connection!  So good to meet her in person after talking on line for the last 6 months!

Can't skip a Boy Scout stop...this is a statue to commemorate the Unknown Boy Scout. 
In 1909, Chicago publisher W. D. Boyce was visiting London, where he encountered the Unknown Scout and learned of the Scouting movement. Soon after his return to the U.S., Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910

In Dublin, Ohio there is the Chief Leatherlips Monument.  White settlers called Sha-te-yah-ron-ya Leatherlips because of his admirable trait of never breaking a promise.  Limestone slabs are motared together to form the head gazing west to the Scioto River.  Chief Leatherlips is believed to have located his last hunting camp in this spot.

Just down the road are 109 people sized ears of concrete corn.  They are a salute to Sam Frantz, an inventor of hybrid corns. Three different molds were used to create the ears.

So, next on the agenda in Springfield, OH for a rock garden.  As we drive into this small residential neighborhood I begin to wonder what we have gotten ourselves into.  Well...it was fabulous!  In the Depression year of 1932 unemployed Ben Hartman decided to start a little project, that he enjoyed and continued through 1939 when he got his old job back.  It wasn't a long stop to see this, but a most pleasant diversion from miles of highway.