FIRST STATE OF THE ROAD TRIP – OHIO!

To start our road trip, we drove from Indianapolis, IN to Columbus, OH for a night. We then drove from Columbus to Pittsburgh, PA to stay with friends for the weekend. After a wonderful weekend, we drove back into Ohio and stopped in Cleveland for a night before going to Cedar Point. We really enjoyed everything that we did in Ohio, but I am going to outline our 5 favorite stops in the post below.

5. A Christmas Story House – I’m not sure about your family, but we watch A Christmas Story every Christmas Eve. It is probably my father-in-law’s favorite movie, and this year, my kids even watched some of it. I think it’s safe to say that they are definitely fans as well. While in Cleveland, we discovered that the A Christmas Story House was a prime attraction and decided to check it out. The house was used for exterior and some interior shots for this 1983 film.

Once we arrived, we purchased tickets in the gift shop and then toured the house with our guide. In 2004, a fan (Brian Jones) of the movie purchased the home on eBay for $150,000 and restored it to its prior glory. The previous owner had renovated the home and modernized it. Our favorite part of the tour was seeing the leg lamp as well as checking out the Red Ryder BB gun.

After touring the home, we went across the street to see the museum with our guide. In the museum, there were lots of actual props from the movie and memorabilia. The picture below is Randy’s (Ralphie’s brother) snowsuit.

I promise the girls enjoyed this experience… I think they were tired of the pictures by this point!! If you’re a fan of A Christmas Story, I highly recommend this stop!

4. Columbus Zoo & Aquarium – This zoo completely surprised me, and we had an absolute blast. We purchased the zoo-it-all experience package, and it was definitely worth it. We started the day in Jungle Jack’s landing. It was empty when we got there so we were able to get on all of the rides easily. Our favorite ride was the Sea Dragon, which is the wooden rollercoaster that opened in 1956.

After many rides, we decided to check out the zoo. We went straight to the camels and enjoyed taking a ride on them.

We saw as many animals as possible along with riding the carousel, train, and of course, the pony rides! We all loved seeing the giraffes up close and watching the cheetah run. Wow, what a great zoo!

3. Exploring waterfalls – While researching things to do in Columbus, I read that there were some great waterfalls. We all love seeing any type of water so we decided to check them out after spending the day at the zoo! First on our list was Hayden Run Falls park. Parking was hard to find as there is a small lot off the main road. There were also some major steps going down to a boardwalk area. But, it was a pretty route, and the waterfall was definitely worth checking out.

Afterwards, we went to Indian Run Falls. The entrance is in a very commercial area so it seemed a little strange while pulling up. The falls are a short walk from the parking lot. We found lots of people wading through the water so we decided to stick our feet in as well. The rocks are very slippery so if you decide to go in make sure to be careful!

The water was cool and refreshing on such a hot day! And, it was a great escape to nature after an exhausting day at the zoo.

3. Center of Science & Industry (COSI) – We decided to stop by this science center for an hour before heading out of Columbus. I think we could have honestly stayed the entire day. COSI is a member of the Association of Science and Technology Centers. Our membership with the Greensboro Science Center allowed free entry into COSI! Make sure to check the ASTC travel passport program before your next trip!

Once we arrived, we went straight to the kidspace, which is for babies through 1st grade. There is only one entrance to this space, and you need to check your kids in and out… how amazing is this idea?? In the back of the space, there was a great art room. The girls worked on color mixing.

Before we left the kidspace, we checked out a presentation on rat basketball. It was definitely something that I never thought i’d have the opportunity to watch!

At this point, we didn’t have much time so we quickly checked out the Jim Henson Exhibition. This exhibit is a traveling exhibit so it was only at COSI from May to September of 2019.

Before leaving, we had just enough time to check out the Gadgets Cafe. At this cafe, the menu is full of science experiments, and we picked the seltzer rocket. The girls would have done every single experiment if we had the time! COSI is a such a great science center, and we hope to come back again soon!

1. Cedar Point – We are a roller coaster loving family! Before we had kids, Gregg and I loved to go to as many amusement parks as possible. Luckily, we have passed the love for rides down to our children. We knew that we had to go to Cedar Point if we were going to be anywhere near it since it is known as the roller coaster capital of the world!

Cedar Point is located on a peninsula on Lake Erie so it has some magnificent views of the lake from the higher attractions.

Cedar Point has 17 roller coasters… jackpot! Unfortunately, the girls couldn’t go on many of them. But, we did know that Emma could get on Millennium Force. As you can see from the picture below, it has been voted best steel coaster in the world many times! And, it did not disappoint. Emma had just hit the height restriction of 48 inches, and she absolutely LOVED the coaster.

We had the best day at Cedar Point, and we definitely had to rank it number 1 of our favorite stops in Ohio! What is your favorite stop? Thank you for wandering along with us!