I made it to Columbus in one piece, no thanks to modern aviation. I remember the first time I flew. (Uh, oh, she’s at it again. Cue the dream sequence music from some old Broadway show.) I was 15 and I flew to Florida with my best friend Kim, to visit her grandparents during Spring break. We were treated like royalty, there was plenty of room and the people on the plane were all there for an adventure. Fast forward to today, where I was squeezed into a sardine can with Charlie the Tuna who had no clue that he was taking up 3/4 of the space allotted for the two of us. He poked me in the ribs with his elbow every time he turned a page. I literally made my poor arthritic body into a pretzel to keep out of his way. Ahhh, I feel much better now that I’ve got the whining out of my system.

The second half of the flight was much better, and I knew I’d arrived at my destination when I looked out the window and saw this (no, the stands weren’t full and the band wasn’t making squigglies on the field.) As a former Ann Arbor resident, I was conditioned to dislike even the thought of Columbus, Ohio. I’ve been coming here for market now for quite a few years, and I have to say that if I can’t be in Ann Arbor, Columbus is just fine with me. There are wonderful restaurants, nice people and a general Midwest ambiance that I miss living elsewhere.

I always come to market the day before classes start. It gives me a day to finish whatever paperwork I need to finish, and a little time to decompress before the high anxiety of classes, buying, seeing old friends, budgeting, etc. kicks in. I almost always stay at the Hampton Inn across the street from the Convention Center, which is also situated directly in front of The North Market, the last remaining public market in central Ohio. It is the neatest place alive for someone who loves food, and home to several of my favorite places in Columbus. My first stop today was at Jeni’s, for some salty caramel ice cream. Just a tiny bit, but oh baby, was it fabulous. And they ship around the country!  Then I wandered the rest of the market, made my dinner choices and went back to the hotel.

Corned beef on rye and Dr. Brown’s soda — what could be better? No, you may not see what’s in the bag!

I had hoped to get a lot of knitting done on the plane, but since CtT wasn’t having any of that, I waited until I arrived at the Cincinnatti airport to begin my travel project…

Liz’s Aurelia Sock, out of Artyarns 2 strand cashmere. I like the looks of this much better than my first attempt at this sock, and I’m tootling right along.  There was a woman in the airport who was fascinated by the pattern.  I gave her the web address and she was pleased to know about another indie designer.  You’re gonna be famous, Liz!

Now I have a nice quiet evening to knit till I fall asleep.