Being a kid again in Columbus Indiana

I met up with friends from Florida and Texas in Columbus, Indiana (of all places. I know, unexpected right?) One just moved to Columbus and another is staying in Cincinnati with extended family. This happy happenstance led to a reunion. We had enormous amounts of ice cream at a swanky ice cream place and shamelessly played on the coolest indoor playground I have ever seen... so basically we were little kids again.

Columbus is a small town between Indianapolis in Cincinnati, and it's a lot cooler than I thought it would be. Does the C on those bike racks below stand for Columbus or Cummins or both?

This vertical playground was one of the highlights of our trip there. We could climb it pretty comfortably. It's safe for children. There's netting everywhere. The fact that this playground is indoors makes it accessible year-round. We all know how mercurial Indiana weather can be - we often experience multiple seasons in one day. 

The three of us are all engineers and we marveled at the ingenuity and design that went into this playground and discussed what it must have been like to pick materials and build this thing. It's safe, beautiful, and really fun. Being at the top made us feel like we are kids in a treehouse. 

The ice cream shop Zaharakos is supposedly the best ice cream place and the state, and I really can't disagree. I got their mint chocolate chip and cookies and cream in a sugar cone.

My friend Emily and I marveled at how the chocolate isn't like a chip but more like a really crunchy shavings. Moreover, the ice cream shop is also a museum and old-timey store. 

 

This room is full of displays of old machines used to dispense fountain drinks. Everything looks so classic. Built into the furniture and the cabinets and counters are these detailed hardwood carvings, which add so much character to this venue. The design of this shop makes me feel like I'm transported to a blissful state in the past, and that gives me comfort.

When I invite my friends from outside this state to come visit me in Indiana, I know in the back of my head that this proposition would probably never be met. Indiana does not hold a ton of attractions for people outside of the Midwest and it's kind of out of the way for them. People might come for the Indy 500, but would people come for a small town? Recent TV shows and movies that take place is Indiana is actually not filmed in Indiana (Stranger Things is filmed in Georgia; Parks and Recreation is filmed in California; and The Fault in Our Stars is filmed in Pennsylvania), so would people across the country come to Indiana to experience Indiana?

Columbus, Indiana surprised me because it's cooler than I expected. It combines buildings with character and history with a small town aesthetic and charm. Maybe something as simple and cliched as having an open mind is the key to appreciating any place.

I think we spend so much of our lives striving for something we don't have. It was nice to just sit there and appreciate what's right in front of me this whole time.