Columbus day 1….

Looked out of the window and the sky was clear and it was bright sunshine, yay! Headed down to the Gym and did 30 minutes on the cardio machines, wasn’t the best hotel gym but it had a cycle stepper and treadmill.

Showered, messed about online for half an hour and then decided to go out to get some breakfast. I was craving Oatmeal as i hadn't had an for a few days! I drove to a Bob Evans restaurant just down the street and i knew they did it so was looking forward to it. I sat down, ordered an Orange Juice and the waitress came back to take my order. “I’d like a bowl of Oatmeal with raisins on please” i said She then told me they were out of oatmeal and would there be anything else id like! I settled for scrambled eggs and some bacon.

A friend of mine, Mike who lives in Ohio had sent me a couple of places to see while i was in Columbus and i also had a couple of places i had found to go see. Mike had told me there was a field a few miles from my hotel that was full of concrete corn!! Just reading those two words got my curiosity and i had to drive out there to see what the deal with it was.

   

The signs below tell a little about why they are here, it also mentions the strange “fruits” that were all over the floor  having dropped off the trees surrounding the field.

 

The fruits were odd, they were really heavy and some were bigger than a tennis ball. The branches above were littered with them, i dread to think what it was like being standing under one when it fell from the tree! i was tempted to pick a couple up and take them home to the UK with me but i wasnt sure how they would be 7 weeks later by the time i got back home!

 

The next place i was about to drove to was a place id seen online and wanted to see for myself! i love unique and strange buildings and this was both! it was a 45 minute drive out from where i was but i had nothing at all planed today part from meeting up with friends later on around five so i entered the address for the place in my GPS and headed out.

This was the site that i was greeted with as i drove up to the traffic lights just before the building!

 

I then drive down the highway and went right past it as it appeared out from the trees

The basket building!

It was amazing and a lot bigger than id expected it to be! It was the head office of the Longaberger basket company and as you can see from the above and below it was built in the shape of a basket! Apparently the president of the company walked into an architects office with a basket and said he wanted a building built identical to it, and that's what they built!

   

Thought it was kinda cool and walked all the way round the building to check it out.

It was about 2:30 now and i headed back to my hotel to chill out for an hour and relax before meeting up with friends at 5pm the Applebee's a mile from the venue. My friend Mike was coming to the show tonight and bringing his 13 year old daughter Hannah. It was her fist major concert tonight and Mike said she had been looking forward to the show. I was also meeting up with my friend John Waters (no relation!) whom id been fiends with for nearly 10 years. I've stayed at his home a couple of times and he was driving up from Cincinnati for the show.

Hannah shared a birthday with Dave K, she also collects guitar picks so a few nights before id spoke to Dave and he was going to come out and meet up with Hannah before the show and give her a pick! I was looking forward to seeing her reaction.

Joe called me around four o clock to say they would be at the hotel  in about 50 minutes. Kim had driven over from Washington DC the night before to see tonight's show and stayed at Joes the night before but they were both booked in the same hotel as me for tonight. I headed down to the meet up and met up with Mike and Hannah, we sat, chatted and i then saw another friend of mine Scott in the bar, he came over and joined us at the table half an hour later. My friend John called to say he was outside and i went out to meet him. Its about 4 years since id seen Mike and John and it was great to have some time to catch up and chat. We sat four an hour and a half before Joe and Kim called to say they were on their way and would meet us at the venue. Mike had parked his car at the venue earlier and walked up to the bar, i left my car outside the bar and John gave the 3 of us a lift down to the venue.

Hannah and i pre show                           Mike and I pre show.

 

Album with more pics below:

View Full Album