Hi

Dear Santa, please give me a cavern.

Ohio Caverns, where the men are men, the crystals are dangle-y and the bats are tiny and cute! Located about sixty miles from Columbus, the hour-ish drive passes through some beautiful countryside. Anyone know the process for buying land and building a house on it? Lemme know.

I can has house here?

Anyway, the caverns themselves are located below the rolling landscape, their only surface indicators being the pretty obvious road signage and the several white painted structures dotting the grounds and covering various entrances and exits to the structure. Featuring a mile-long tour sinking over 100 feet underground, your $12.50 buys you about an hour's worth of time in the actual caverns themselves. No troublemakers need apply, you're not allowed to touch anything. Except the one weird busted crystal, aptly named the "Curiosity Stone". Which feels kind of icky anyway.

Slogging through the caverns with your tour group (no free exploration allowed!), you are treated to equal portions of cavern history, good old-fashioned storytelling and awesome natural rock formations. Now, while this may sound like geology porn of the highest order, rest assured that even us "normals" can enjoy some of the crazy things that happen when water and rocks interact over hundreds or thousands of years.

Starting off, the tour is actually a little boring. It's cool in the caverns, 54 degrees Fahrenheit year-round. The first 15-20 minutes are mostly history lesson, how caverns are formed, how the Ohio Caverns were discovered, why that kid should not be touching whatever it is he is touching, and the like. Some of the first rooms and pathways do feature a few stalactites and stalagmites, but be forewarned: most of the good stuff is in the last half, so save your film/batteries if you need to. Lynn and I were freshly charged up and had a whole memory card to fill, so no worries for us!

The two crystals just right of the center will not touch for another 40-50 years!

The second half of the tour, marked by you entrance to the series of "rooms" in the caverns, features the bulk of the crystal formations. You will see all sorts of different formations, all cause by the simple flow of water through mineral-bearing limestone. Amazing to think that water, for all of its plainness, is probably the most powerful force in shaping the world around us. Aside from plate tectonics, I guess.

The caverns are marked by different coloration on the walls and ceiling, caused by various mineral deposits (manganese, iron oxide, etc) being left over time as the water makes its way through the rock. Formations of crystallized calcite hang from the ceilings (stalactites) and seem to erupt from the ground (stalagmites). Also present are the pencil-thin "soda straws" and assorted columns ranging from a few millimeters to several inches thick. All are worth seeing, as it is truly a wondrous process.

The Crystal King, the largest free-hanging stalactite in Ohio, is prominently featured. At nearly five feet from base to tip, it was formed over 200,000 years (estimated) by the steady flow of water. Definitely a photogenic crystal, if there ever was one!

The Crystal King

All in all, the trip is decently far away from the city that it feels like a real outing, without being so far away as to induce extreme boredom on the drive there or back. The scenery is beautiful, the caverns are amazing and the people running the show are warm and friendly.

Pros:
1. Educational! Learn about caves and rocks and Ohio and stuff.
2. Pretty scenery and lovely crystal formations.
3. Fun people - The staff running the Ohio Caverns is hands-down awesome. Thanks for the great tour, John!
Cons:
1. Slightly expensive - $12.50 per person for an hour long tour.
2. They didn't let us explore on our own, and the annoying old lady in our tour group was not eaten by bats.

Score: 8.5/10. They are open every day except Christmas and Thanksgiving, there is plenty to look at and lots to learn. Great Staycation location!

When I grow up to be a troglodyte...

Helllllooooouu!! So I failed to post on the Armstrong Museum, but we managed to staycation today so I'm on it!

We have spend the past few weeks planning on a trip to the Ohio Caverns, but things kept getting in the way, like laziness and laziness. Today we woke up early anyway to Shelby June's baby glee noises emanating from downstairs, and since we were up, it was a perfect day for getting out and gettin' our Ohio on.

The drive was quite similar to our last trip to Wapakoneta, only a bit shorter. The drive up 33 makes me happy, its so hilly and green, very familiar from numerous trips to Indian Lake as a kid. Before we knew it, we were off the highway and headed through narrow country roads. I thought for a moment that the GPS was trying to take us into the middle of nowhere to kill us.

But soon we reached the cute little gift shop where we were surrounded by excited children, friendly employees, and even an ornery old lady. In a matter of minutes, our tour began and we descended 3 flights of stairs into the caverns. I learned today that a cavern is an underground area to which an entrance must be made, as opposed to a cave, which has a natural entrance. Yay fun fact.

The tour began through a series of narrow tunnels. We had a fairly large tour group but we were right near the front (perfect for insider information). We toured, saw some bats fly about as girly screams ensued, we even got to touch a piece of stalactite which was designated for contact. It felt weirdly waxy.

I quite enjoyed the moment of complete darkness during the trip. It sounds, well not that exciting, but as you reach the middle of the tour, the guide turns off the spotlights. It is like utterly and completely dark, and along with the cool and moist air down there, for a moment I wished I could sleep down there nightly.

Toward the end of the tour you go through several rooms which have beautiful views of crystals, including the famous pump formation and the crystal king. Its an almost surreal space, and its easy to forget that all the crystals have occurred naturally and that you are not waiting in line in an amusement park decorated to look like a magical phallic-al alien landscape.

Even by the end of the tour there is plenty to see. Well, first you have to climb your booty back up 60 stairs... not an easy task. Luckily, I was momentarily distracted by the snuggling itty bitty bats that were chillin' in the stairwell.

I am a rather big fan of gift shops, and The Ohio Caverns has quite the spread. Everything from a $10,000 dollar, 6 foot tall crystal formation, to toothpick holders inscribed with the name. A large selection of clothes, knickknacks, jewelery, useless crap... but even the useless crap was fun to look at. There was even a display case of re-collected old items from the gift shop which was quite interesting. As the so-called oldest tourist attraction in Ohio, there is more history in this place than just the crystals. I got myself another smooshed penny for my collection, and even picked up a handy dandy book/case to hold and display them.

STAYCATION RATING:
Funness: ***** - You'll be too awestruck to ever get bored.
Educationalness: ***** - Lots of interesting information is provided by the tour, such as the discovery of the caverns, and the history of tours within it.
Cheapness: *** - Gotta shell out some cash ($12.50 per person) but the price is pretty worth it.
Journeyness: **** - An easy drive, with pretty scenery. You will prolly see some horses, cows, and goats on the drive, maybe even an alpaca or two.
Busyness *** - It was busy, but we did go on Labor Day.

Overall **** - Right up my alley, I loved it.

Armstrong Air & Space Museum

Hello! Sorry! We know! It's been... a long time, I admit. We've both been super busy the past - wait, has it really been NINE MONTHS? No wonder we're both crazed! Okay! On with the reporting!

Armstrong Air and Space Museum! Wapakoneta! Awesomeness!
Today we resumed official staycation activity with a drive up Rt. 33 to Wapakoneta and the impressive-looking Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum.

The Armstrong Air and Space Museum

The museum, a site reminiscent of the Epcot Dome (though not as massive) features replica Apollo and Gemini capsules out on the front, along with a NASA painted F-5 Skylancer aircraft.

Inside and to the right, there is a rather dismal gift shop. Skip it unless you need to pee. Or unless you want to purchase a mission patch from one of the many (MANY) missions NASA has conducted. Friendship, Gemini, Mercury, Apollo, Shuttle, ISS and even some Soviet missions are represented. Instead, hang a left and pay your admission (or get the VIP treatment with your membership in the Ohio Historical Society!) and start checking out the exhibits.

The museum starts with the first baby steps into space, from the Soviet missile and satellite launches (don't miss the model Sputnik!) to the Freedom/Friendship missions that placed Americans in orbit. Incredibly comprehensive coverage lines the walls, documenting the strides taken and sacrifices made along the journey from the briefest glimpses of space to the 363ft. Saturn V rocket standing tall to take man to the moon.

Lynn posing with a Saturn Booster engine bell.

Moving further along the path, you can watch a brief video of the Apollo 11 moon landing near some kind of quasi-voodoo shrine to Neil Armstrong. The bronze bust is especially compelling!
Assuming you can avoid laughing yourself silly at the mental image of an astronaut using a fecal collection bag, the next thing you will see is the excellent display of items and artifacts from the moon landing itself.

Armstrong's (backup) EVA suit, a lunar seismometer, moon camera equipment and A REAL MOON ROCK are all on display. Sure, the moon rock is small and fairly unimpressive to look at. But the rock itself... is 4 BILLION years old. And it was just laying about on the surface of the moon. How old is that? It's certainly older than most stuff laying about on the Earth. Earth... hmm... wait... didn't I hear something somewhere? Oh, right! The Earth itself is only estimated at 4.5 billion years old! Now that's a wicked old rock! Very likely predating life on Earth itself, this tiny gray lump has borne witness to the birth and death of every human being who ever lived or died. Well, not literally sat there and watched. But still, it's old.

And a little spooky.

The rest of the tour is slightly less awe-inspiring. There's a pseudo-planetarium showing a 15-20 minute movie, a series of tribute items on loan from the Armstrong family, and a broken lunar landing simulator. There is also a shuttle landing simulator that I did not get to try, due to the younger kids busily wrecking the virtual space shuttle into every inch of the landscape.

Also, before you leave:

Make sure you get your picture with the OTHER heroes of space!

...yeah

apologies on the long absence. its difficult to staycation during the holidays. I am deciding now that we WILL return to it this weekend, now that I am back to school and now that Tim's schedule is the COMPLETE opposite of mine. We will be needing some qt. check back soon!

National Museum of the USAF - Or, F'N ASUM!

It was a magical time of year. The Big Game. OSU v. Michigan. The whole city of Columbus, Ohio turns into a scarlet-and-gray-clad mob of ravenous football fans. Beer is poured, nachos are cheesed, and Lynn and Timmy head out of town!

Our destination: The National Museum of the United States Air Force. It was to be our most ambitious staycation of the season, nearly 70 miles from home. The mini-backpack was prepped, the car gassed up, coffee purchased, and we were on our way!

The first gallery in the museum contains aircraft and artifacts from the earliest days of manned (and unmanned) flight. Every step of man's journey into the sky is laid out, from Orville and Wilbur Wright up to the beginnings of military flight. Some of the more interesting items were wooden wind-tunnels used to test new designs for aircraft, early bi-planes (Sopwith Camel!) and early military "aerial torpedoes."

Moving on, we saw planes and artifacts of the second world war. The classics of the Army Air Corps were all there... P51 Mustang, Supermarine Spitfire, Lockheed P38 Lightning... the list goes on. It was absolutely astounding to see first-hand the war machines that dominated the skies of Europe and the Pacific theater. On the other side of the trenches, there were many Axis planes present as well, like the Mitsubishi Zero, Messerschmidt ME-262 and even V-2 "Buzz Bombs" and V1 rockets used in the firebombing of London.

Far and away, though, the most impressive aircraft in the gallery was Bockscar, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber. Without knowing its place in history, many would assume it to be another aluminum behemoth in a crowded hangar. But that simple view belies the awesome effect that this single aircraft had on the course of World War II. This beautiful machine, Bockscar, dropped the "Fat Man" atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.

Exiting the Air Power gallery... it was time for a break. We took a brief detour back to the entrance, and spent some time in the strangely antique cafeteria. Beware! They do not take credit cards. Bring cash! Also, get the cole slaw and tater tots... they're delicious.

After recharging our bellies and resting our tired tootsies, we went back out for round two. Next on the list of exhibits was the Modern Flight gallery, with the jet fighters and bombers of the Korean and Vietnam war eras. MiG fighters, huge bombers (B-52!), cargo planes and all kinds of awesome snazzy stuff.

All in all, the USAF museum is awesome fun. There is tons to see, from wood-and-canvas planes from the first days of powered flight all the way to the latest stealth fighters. Every kid or kid at heart will find something to marvel at.

Lynn - The United States Air Force Museum

Apologies for the delay, the staycationers have been a bit busy lately. We did have one week that had to be skipped, there was just too much stuff going on. Last week, we did make a journey, but it has taken me until now to get anything blogified.

Blogification it is! Last weekend, the destination was the United States Air Force Museum. He denies it, but I think Tim mislead me ever so slightly in order to get me to agree to come. I was anticipating mostly spacey type exploration, NASA and the like. Tim told me this was the "OTHER BIGGER BETTER space museum," the "space" part is the less than accurate part. I wasn't too upset, but honestly... isn't tim ever so clever.

The museum was set up as a tour from the beginning of aviation history to recent aircraft. The place is mega enormous, consisting of three hangars with various other attached buildings. There is even an IMAX theater (the one part of the museum we didn't experience).

Because the museum is a national museum, it has a lot of stuff that is quite intense to look at. We saw the plane that acutally dropped the bomb on Nagasaki, which was crazy to see. But with all the planes, at first you are like oh whatevs, this is a plane, but thinking about where they have been and situations they were involved in, the people who flew them, the people they aided in killing... Its pretty intense.

I was also quite intrigued by all of the actual pieces of clothing/personal equiptment that we saw. In the WWII area, they had uniforms from most of the countries involved in the war, and it was interesting to see the elements of differing cultures put into uniform (Tim was rather excited about the Japanese display which included a sword.

Besides the hangars, there were a few more exhibits in between. There was a hall devoted to the people of the holocaust, a section about Bob Hope and his lifetime of bringing comedy to the soldiers over decades, and a section about the science of flight. Not as wide, but definitely TALL was the final room, the space exploration room. It housed several ridiculously huge rockets, and several small displays relating to the air force's involvement with space. By the time we got to the end of the museum, my dogs were barkin. Its hard to describe just how huge the place is, but look at it this way, a blimp only took up a corner of one of the hangars, and it was atleast 20 feet overhead. Or, going up an entire floor to look at the rockets only took you to about 1/4 the height of them.

Tim has assured me that we will go to the other Ohio space museum soon to check it out. I do look forward to that, and now that we are members of the Ohio Historical Society, we can get in for free, an automatic boost is those tricky staycation ratings. Speaking of which:

STAYCATION RATING:
Funness: **** - Pretty fun, but quite a hike. Bring a power bar, or a wheelchair.
Educationalness: ***** - Basically, you've got the history of the United States through planes.
Cheapness: **** - Free admission, but the giftshop was pricey.
Journeyness: **** - A bit of a journey, but not so long that it became painful
Busyness *** - It was pretty damn busy, and there were a million lil boyscouts everywhere.

Overall **** - Make sure you see this place someday!

Lynn - Alpacafest!

What could I do when Timmy sent me a link to the upcoming Alpacafest event? What could I do but squeal and frantically agree to go asap. It was only a few blocks away, and it was free, and it was ALPACA BASED! I mean, cmon!

And many-an-alpaca there were. The first building we went in to was almost entirely made up of gated in grass plots for the fuzzy ones. I was very excited to see them so close up, but I was also a little disappointed that there weren't any alpaca themed festiveness like shops or booths. It was all "Alpaca" and no "fest." This first tent was devoted mostly to the alpaca beauty pageant. Several stood in the central ring with their owners and were donned with shiny ribbons. They all looked equally cute to me. I never realized just how calm and pet-like they were. None of them seemed frightened of flashing lights or strange people walking by, most of them just sat in alpacaloaves and chewed their grass, lettin' their fluff blow in the breeze. One in particular let pretty much whatever blow in the breeze:



Timmy informed me that there was a second building of Alpacafest, which we arrived at through a circusy looking tent which connected the two buildings. Behold! the fest! This building was MUCH bigger and had plenty of booths for the sale of alpacaness. I wanted to buy pretty much everything. I let myself get a few things, because admission was free, and I figured I had some leeway. Timmy and I both got some mloves.. or glittens... whatever you wanna call them. I really wanted one of these lil mini alpacas -made of alpaca fur and wearing alpaca knitted hats.

Despite feeling a bit like we should have been alpaca breeders to attend, the whole thing was pleasant and fun. Once woman at her shop asked if we were alpaca owners and I told her, "Nope, we just think they are cute," and she seemed annoyed. Oh well, perhaps someday we will be in the elite world of owning a furry alpaca. Until then, I'm just gonna shave the cats and knit some sweaters for everyone.

STAYCATION RATING:
Funness: **** - how could you not have fun surrounded by giant loaves?!
Educationalness: **** - I feel like I actually learned a lot about what owning an alpaca would entail, and a lot about their temperament.
Cheapness: ***** - I suppose this is two-fold, though. The event was free, but alpaca fur is NOT.
Journeyness: **** - See below, considering it was right across the street from the Historical Center
Busyness **** - There were a lot of people there, but they were tending to their own alpacas most of the time.

Overall **** - It was pleasant and enjoyable. If you like alpacas, you're good!

Timmy - Soft and Fluffy Alpacas Attack Us

**WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW. ALPACAS ARE NOTORIOUSLY FUZZY AND ADORABLE. USE CAUTION WHILE VIEWING TO PREVENT HYPERVENTILATION**

This weekend marks the return of Alpacafest to the Ohio Expo Center (Bricker and Celeste buildings). Hosted by the Ohio Alpaca Breeder's Association, Alpacafest brings hundreds of alpacas from across the country to Columbus in one of the most spectacularly snuzz-tastic conventions you'll ever witness.

The festivities were split into two buildings, each filled to the brim with alpacas and their handlers. In the Bricker building, vast flocks (herds? gaggles? swarms?) of alpaca pens are set up surrounding two showing rings. Both types of alpacas are well represented by the breeders present. The stringy Suri (sir-ee), in colors ranging from dusty whites to deep brown-blacks, were content to lounge about and nom hay while waiting their turn in the show ring. On the south end of the building, the en-fuzzled Huacaya (wuh-kai-ya) plot the overthrow of their fleshy masters. Or, more likely, gently hum at each other and lay around like giant stuffed animals.

The alpaca themselves are, for the most part, extremely laid back and calm creatures. They do have the ability to spit, like their camelid cousins (llama, camels, etc.) but for the most part, rarely do. Good for us, I suppose. The fiber in their hair is similar to wool, but without the itchy-scratchiness that makes it annoying to wear. Lynn and I both picked up some 50% Alpaca / 50% polyester gloves (the poly makes it stretchable) as souveniers.

Really, since the Alpacafest is aimed at breeders and professional alpacaddicts, there's not much for the everyman to do aside from ogle the livestock (I said ogle, not fondle!) and buy stuff. But really, seeing the animals is partly the reason to visit a show like Alpacafest. The variety of colors, sizes, even hairstyles of the different alpaca are simply astounding. It really makes you think about buying a few acres, putting up some fence and raising some alpacas. Maybe some day.

Dude, you're getting a blanket, some gloves, maybe a sweater...

Pros:

1. Cheap - $5 for parking, admission is free!
2. Fun - Alpacas are cute, the people are friendly, and the products are amazing.
3. Close to home - Ohio Expo Center (state fairgrounds) near OSU campus.

Cons:

1. Slightly boring - The alpaca don't do tricks, sing songs, or entertain. They just do Alpaca.
2. Expensive souveniers - Some of the more elaborate products run into the hundreds of dollars. The gloves are a great deal though :)

Score: 8/10 - Adorable alpacas to look at, awesome fuzzy products to try and super cheap to get into. Check it out (maybe next year?)!

Timmy - All your old stuff are belong to OHS

The Ohio Historical Center, operated by the Ohio Historical Society, is your one-stop shop for all things old and interesting about the Buckeye State. Flora, fauna, (arti)facts and treasures abound, illustrating the history of Ohio.

The permanent exhibits also include a new feature: an exceptional display of art and artifacts from Norman Rockwell, the famed artist whose creations graced the covers of the Saturday Evening Post for so many years.


The Rockwell exhibit was not, however, our first stop! Upon entering the museum, we examined the "Nature of Ohio" area. We learned about the geography and geology of Ohio's two distinct regions - the glaciated north and western half, and the un-glaciated southeastern half. Illustrating the concept was a 3-D map, showing the difference in terrain between the two areas. It was amazing seeing how smooth and consistent the land had become after being worn away under the immense weight of the glaciers covering the state during the last Ice Age.

Also on display was an impressive collection of taxiderm-ified animals representing the wide variety of creatures stalking (or, in some cases, not stalking anymore!) the wilderness of our great state. Everything from the tiny to the tremendous was represented here, with an almost too-creepy quality. It's amazing how weird and lifelike a stuffed animal can appear, but that only serves to reinforce the quality of the exhibits.


After the maps, creatures, rocks and plants of the nature exhibits, we explored the Norman Rockwell exhibit. We explored a marvelous series of life-size replications of Rockwell's most famous paintings. The exhibit highlighted not only the artwork itself, but Rockwell's inspiration for each cover. Everything from world events such as World War 2 to the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s are reflected in the paintings and dioramas on display.

Exploring the variety of the items to be found in the rest of the Historical Center really provides a fantastic perspective on the journey our country -and state- have made throughout the ages. Documenting that history in a way that speaks to the inquisitive, curious side in all of us is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

Don't get me wrong, I've been to museums before; the Carnegie in Pittsburgh is likewise impressive indeed. But having the items on display be so relevant, so close to home, it's an experience difficult to duplicate, let alone describe in a few inches of blog.



Pros:

1. Variety - Large amount of exhibits of all different types and time periods.
2. Close to home - Short trip; I-71 & 17th Avenue near OSU campus
3. Not Crowded! - Lynn and I were pretty sure that we were the only real "guests" in the museum for the few hours we spent there. Sure, there's the occasional school field trip or special event... but more often it's pleasantly unpopular.
   
4. Edu-tastic - Learn about Ohio and the awe-inspiring history of our great nation.

Cons:

1. Expensive - Even with a discount, it's going to cost you a little bit.
   
2. Lots of walking - With a spacious facility and tons of things to look at, you'll want comfy shoes.
   
3. Creepy people in the Rockwell Exhibit - There's just something weird about having someone try to interact with you - seemingly at random - in a museum. It's weird.

Score: 7/10 - Worth visiting for the educational value alone, but it loses points for being expensive and sometimes creepy.

Lynn - The Ohio Historical Society

So, despite excessive Halloween drinking the previous night, I was determined to continue our new staycation tradition of excitement and adventure. This time, as Tim requested, we headed to the Hysterica... I mean Historical Society.

It was quite easy to get to, its only a few miles from our house. I remembered only small bits of what it was like, because it was a location that my mom hauled me and my brothers off to a lot when we were little. I had an image of tiny native Americans with tiny straw houses, and whaddaya know, they were still there! Other than that, nothing looked familiar, so we just sorta blindly started off through the rooms.

First we looked at natural history stuff, lots and lots of rocks and stuffed creatures. I wish I didn't like creepy taxidermy-ed animals as much as I do. The collection was nothing compared to the one at the Chicago Field Museum, but still cool.

There were people around, but they all seemed to work there. It was kinda weird, cuz it always seemed like they were surprised to see us, like what?! people are actually here to see exhibits? I think there were maybe 5 other people we saw who actually seemed to be looking at the stuff, but they were all pretty old, and mostly interested in the Norman Rockwell part of the place. It is the featured exhibit that just opened. Anyway, we checked that out and it was kinda cool I guess, it was just rooms recreated to look like his paintings, and there were little actors installed in it that were actually just kinda awkward. Or maybe Tim and I are just awkward.

So I discovered about myself that I am very interested in the morbid. The things that intrigued me the most overall were displays like an old KKK outfit, or the jacket a guy was wearing when he was shot at Kent State. Looking at those made my heart sink. There were old scary looking guns and mining tools, and I only wondered how many people they had killed. I guess to me that's what makes stuff interesting. But aren't most people kinda like that?

This picture is of a bunch of old toys. I thought it was hilarious to compare them with modern toys, namely the actual mini saw on the top there. Here kid! Saw a finger off! I wonder if getting rid of toys like that have actually made kids safer or just dumber. I mean, maybe you'd lose a limb but hey! that kid will learn a lesson!

So yeah, I was not feeling too good the whole time, and unfortunately they didn't have any good rings in the gift shop to add to my lil collection. We had spent enough money already anyway, admission for the two of us was 26 bucks. It was an alright time, but some parts were just boring. It wont be long though before Timmy and I are experts on Ohio history, heh.



STAYCATION RATING:
Funness: *** - kinda fun, at points.
Educationalness: ***** - very educational, but you have to consciously read captions to learn much.
Cheapness: ** - more than I would have thought, but, I guess they need to fund a lot of stuff to keep new exhibits coming in.
Journeyness: **** - VERY short for us, but not a scenic drive, unless you really like frat houses.
Busyness **** - not busy, but kinda weird with all the people who just worked there or hung out there

Overall *** - not terribly thrilling, and not very cheap, but I do have a sort of satisfaction about making the trip because I pass it driving all the time and am curious of its contents.

Timmy - Olentangy Indian Caverns

So. You've got an afternoon to kill, a fetish for rocks and no desire at all to be out past dark? Olentangy Indian Caverns is your ticket to a good, cheap time.

Apparently Michael Jackson's ancestors were Native Americans!

The caverns, located near SR315 on Home Rd (north of Powell-ish), are a scenic trip away from the city-slash-'burbs without being too far. No hotel reservation or plans to stay with those creepy relatives you only see at Christmas are needed, you will have plenty of time to get back home and sleep in your own bed.

Lynn and I purchased our "self-guided tour" admissions (buy-one-get-one with the coupon from the Entertainment Book, yay!), grabbed the smartly laminated (but mostly confusing) map and headed down the hill towards the cavern entrance, which apparently, is underneath the museum.

Exploring the caverns was a lot of fun; I mostly shuffled about futzing with the map and trying to avoid injury on low-hanging rocks (Over 6'1"? You may want to reconsider). Some kind of weird sci-fi mania overtook my normally squeamish partner -the same girl who yelled at me for touching the bottom of my shoe once- causing her to attempt to shimmy into each dimly-lit crevice of the cave we happened upon.

Yeah, Lynn totally wanted to explore that. No thanks, I said.

After wandering about the cave, listening to the disembodied voice describe assorted scenes of gritty, mossy, glistening or ominous cave-ness, we wound our way out and returned to the gift shop (must return map!) to peruse their selection. Lynn bought a ring, I considered some of their fine Olentangy Indian Caverns Dippin' Dots but alas, it was not to be.

We did partake in some old-fashioned-but-still-not-that-old-fashioned mining activity. We each bought a bag of goodie-enriched dirt and headed down to the sluice to see what we got.

Lynn's bag contained some fossils, a few teeth (sharp!) and this fine piece of gold!

Hahaha it's Fool's Gold (aka Pyrite), fool!

After playing with the dirt for a while, we headed for home. Overall the visit lasted us about 2 hours, which was well worth the price of admission (especially with the coupon) and short time to get there.

I'd recommend the Olentangy Indian Caverns to anyone looking to have some old-fashioned, slightly dirt-heavy fun on a weekend. Also a great excuse for adults to play with dirt, though it may be less obvious if you bring children as a cover-up.

Pros:

1. Cheap - Admission for the self-guided tour was only $8.50/person.
2. Close to home - Trip was ~25 minutes from downtown Columbus
3. FUN! - Explore a cave, walk in the woods, play with dirt and rocks like a kid.

Cons:

1. Dangerous - Tall people and small children may want to avoid. Lots of opportunity to hit your head and or fall into a hole that goes who knows where.
2. Unchanging - It's not like they add new rocks to the caverns.

Score: 8/10 - Skip the movie marathon on TV and go visit the Olentangy Indian Caverns!

Lynn - Olentangy Indian Caverns

Hooray for Staycation. Today Timothy and I had a two-parted adventure. We started out at the Wasserstrom Restaurant Supply Store, which sounds kinda lame, but it was actually really cool. I totally want to work there too. If you ever wondered where you can go to buy a neon flashing open sign, or a years supply of chopsticks, or a fridge for you mini mart with "ICE COLD BEVERAGES" across the top, then this is the place. I suddenly felt like I was part of the world of Columbus chefs too, which was pretty fun. Ever wonder where people get those black baggy pants with the white pin stripes!?!? sheeeeit, man.

The reason we went there was to find some shallow dishes for a lil project I want to do, and we did in fact find the perfect one, unfortunately, it was just the one, and I needed several. They recommended Bed Bath and Beyond!! WTF?

Oh well, It would definitely be a good place to go for cheaper party supplies like mini umbrellas and things, and it was just fun to explore.

After Wasserstrom we started on our journey to the Olentangy Indian Caverns. We arrived and it seemed pretty dead, but if you know me, that is a good sign. It made me a little sad that no one was there, but I was still glad. We checked out the lil gift shop, but didn't buy anything but our tickets at first. I felt kinda lost at the beginning because there was no big sign that was like HEY ENTER THE GIANT CAVE HERE! instead it was a creepy cellar looking door at the back of a small house.

So we headed down and were pretty much down there by ourselves. It had old recordings in a lot of the cavey rooms, that told history and interesting facts n stuff. I turned into a kid in there though, Tim kept warning me that I was going to get us in trouble. There were all these tunnels that had been drilled out in order to find other rooms but actually led no where. There were tunnels only a few feet wide, but for some reason I had this outrageous need to explore them. Tim reminded me that we weren't allowed to leave the given paths or touch the walls. FINE! So instead we just shot flashlights down the tunnels and took pictures. I liked how not safe the whole thing was, there were some spots that a kid could easily topple down into cracks and break their head. I did at one point have a morbid thought of wondering how many people had died down in there... ooOOOooo... The chance of severe injury, arrest or death made it more exciting.

After the caverns we went back to the gift shop where things were surprisingly cheap. I got a hematite ring and we also got bags o dirt for the mining/washing/whatever its called you do to sift treasures out of dert. Tim got the various gems bag and I got the fossils one. It was actually really fun to do, we couldn't stop expressing how big of dorks we were. Not quite renaissance dorks, but still...

After the rocky fun, we kinda just walked around the area and took more pictures, we saw some creepy statues, and I apparently humped one of them. We walked through a woodsy area which kinda led to nowhere and took some pictures of a bluebird. It was such a perfect day for it, since it was the same temperature outside as it is inside the caverns year round. I ganked a brochure that lists other caverns in Ohio, and Tim and I have agreed to venture to some of the other ones soon. I do remember the stalactites at the Ohio Caverns from when I was little.

STAYCATION RATING:
Funness: **** - quite fun and interesting
Educationalness: **** - yay indians and rocks! indians chillin with rocks!
Cheapness: ***** - we had a buy one get one admission coupon, and the tickets were only 8.50 anyway. The gift shop stuff was super cheap. Some things I couldn't believe the price.
Journeyness: **** - short trip, with pretty stuff to look at on the way.
Busyness ***** - not busy at ALL, especially considering we were there on a Saturday afternoon.

Overall ***** - We both lurved it and had a good time.

Our upcoming staycation ideas: The Ohio Historical Society, Ohio Caverns, The Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, Budweiser Factory Tour

Lynn - The Renaissance Festival

Welcome to Lynn & Timmy's Staycation Saturday BLOG!!!!! YA!!!!!! WOO!!!! WHORES!!!
Made to log our adventures in the exciting state of Ohio!
I shoulda started this a few weeks ago, because that is when the adventurousness began. Apparently at my ripe old age of 25, I have grown bored with the activities of sleeping all day, staring at facebook, and hitting the same bar night after night (I still love you, Pointe Tavern!). But It all started with a strange desire to go to the Renaissance Festival.
I had been there once before when I was in about 3rd grade, but I didn't remember much about it other than lots of creepy people pretending they were actually in that time and slightly British. And really, that's about all it has to offer, pretty weird people, and a lot of stuff to buy. So we looked at the weird people and the stuff. I bought a blue glass ring for 2 bucks, a Tshirt (because I was retarded and wore a bulky sweater that day), and a bag o "the king's nuts."
The trip was long, and we didn't really stay that long either. We felt kinda like we didn't know what to do with ourselves the whole time we were there, and there were a lot of smelly d&d nerds. For our first trip, it was kinda lame, but the adventures will continue nonetheless!!

5 STAR STAYCATION RATING:
Funness: ** - we were kinda just lost. we stayed for about 45 minutes.
Educationalness: *** - uhh it might have been, but I don't think it was really that accurate.
Cheapness: ** - tickets were almost 40 bucks combined and didn't include any activities.
Journeyness: * - too long with not a lot to look at and not a lot of payout.
Busyness ** - it was pretty damn busy, hard to even get into the shops.

Overall ** - (pretty lame-sauce) you'll prolly only be into it if you like to pretend you're a knight or you have a lot of money and too much freetime (aka scary nerd)