My P.E.O. chapter had a presentation this week from Judie Lahr, who works at the Columbus Visitor's Center. That's a great place to visit and I often swing through there on my way to the library. One of my gifts to my fellow Cambria campers was socks from the Visitor's Center with the Columbus Dancing C logo. I've even taken friends and family there because it is such an interesting building with a great exhibit about Columbus and a wonderful gift shop. Their first reaction on learning of our destination is usually, "Why go to a Visitor Center?" The reason is simple. It's a wonderful place to learn more about Columbus, the friendly staff is ready to help you explore the sights of Columbus, the items in the gift shop are unique,and it is truly a part of the Unforgettable nature of Columbus.
What you may not know is that Columbus is an architectural mecca. With great foresight, J. Irwin Miller supported the idea of using world-renowned architects to design public buildings in Columbus. In what was described as a joint partnership, the Cummins Engine Foundation paid for the architect fees for public buildings if architects from a specially selected list were used to design the building. As a result, Columbus has 5 National Historic Landmarks, buildings designed by I.M. Pei (our library; he also designed the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art!), Eliel and Eero Saarinen (churches and homes), Robert A.M. Stern (our hospital), Gunnar Birkets (St. Peter's Lutheran Church), several other churches, Fire Stations and quite a few schools that were designed by prominent architects. It's also a great place to live...reasonable cost of living, plenty of cultural activities in Columbus as well as being within reasonable distance of Bloomington (home of Indiana University), Louisville, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati.
 |
| Library; Cummins Corporate Office centered around the historic Cerealine building; Columbus City Hall |
After the presentation from Judie, we decided that our next social gathering (we often meet to eat) would be to swing by the Visitor Center, view the new video providing an introduction to Columbus, and then have lunch at Zaharako's. We walked from the Visitor Center to Zaharako's, a recently restored landmark that includes a Welte Orchestrion. Zaharako's web site is worth a visit, as is the ice cream parlor itself. As a treat, we all ordered ice cream of some sort to go with our lunch although I did restrain myself and ate my sandwich before diving in to the hot fudge sundae. Y'all just need to visit me and let me treat you to Zaharako's. Columbus is fortunate to have entrepreneurs like Tony Moravec who are willing to invest in the community, restore historic landmarks and reinvigorate our downtown area.
It was a relaxing lunch and we enjoyed the music from the Orchestrion. Even more, I enjoyed the reaction from kids and adults, alike, who had either never heard the Orchestrion or enjoyed hearing it again.
Y'all come!
Cheers!
Margaret
No comments:
Post a Comment