A Bit of Hedging

The Dawes Arboretum has a unique hedge. It is arborvitae so that is not unusual. It is the shear length of the hedge that makes it unique---and it is hard to imagine the team that is required to shear this hedge.

We climbed this observation tower to view the hedge from one end.

The shrubs spell out Dawes Arboretum over almost half a mile.

The grounds were part of the flight pattern into Columbus and the Dawes took advantage of that to advertise their arboretum.

Dawes Arboretum: Country Life

As we toured the Dawes Arboretum,  we came to this tractor and driver. I thought at first that the driver might be an iron sculpture. On closer inspection, it was a threadbare scarecrow!

This type of oil well was common in this area for many decades. 

This was the country home of the Dawes family.

Here is the ornate well beside the house.

The gardens around the house were so charming.

Mmmmm, lambs' ears. They don't do well in our heat and humidity, so seeing a bed of them this large was such a treat.

Dawes Arboretum: The Japanese Garden

It was a beautiful summer day when we visited the Dawes Arboretum, near Newark, Ohio, the former home and grounds of the founder of Pure Oil, Beman Dawes. Beman's brother, incidentally, was the vice-president of the United States under Grover Cleveland. Between the two brothers, they knew many influential people. On the walls in the visitors center, are many photographs of individuals of prominence planting a tree on the grounds. There are thousands of trees and other living plants that are cared for and cataloged.

It is a lovely place of over 1,800 acres.

We visited the Japanese garden.

There were koi in the pond.

Claude Monet had a Japanese bridge (like the one below on the right) built in his garden in Giverny in France. It is featured in many of his waterlily paintings. I use those prints with my kindergartners.

Mailbox Monday: Coast Palm Post

Buckeyes and Mortar Boards

Columbus is home to Ohio State University. We took a driving tour of the campus. This is the impressive entrance to their football stadium.

The florets are three-dimensional.

These are very pretty but I am not sure why they did not choose the buckeye flower seen below.

The mascot for the Ohio State team is the Buckeye. Here is a Buckeye in human form.

This giant mortar board suspended with wires over  the road  successfully draws attention to tiny Franklin University.

Columbus' Architectural Details

Coming from a relatively small town, I was very interested in the many details added to some of the buildings in downtown Columbus, Ohio. Here is a sampling.

This was a side entrance to city hall.

The entrance to the police station.

B noticed the vine on the wall---last year's skeleton as well as this year's green growth.

This is the post office.

Here is a detail of the eagles and lions on the corners. Gotham City?

This was a business.

There are a number of old theaters that have been restored and are in operation for both live and film shows.

Check out the ticket office.

We were not able to identify the building on the corner across from the capitol building, but it may have been a performance hall also. It was very ornate.

Here is the capitol.

We were surprised by the rotunda's lack of a dome.

I suggested that the topic was in the legislature and they couldn't make a decision and the session ran out and the taxpayers said, "No, thank you," to paying them overtime to come to consensus. And so to this day, there is no dome. At least, that's my take on it.

We liked the flowerbeds planted as flags.

Back to the architecture...

I just loved the ironwork around this mini-brewery/restaurant.

In this restaurant/brewery where we ate twice because it was good and just around the corner from our hotel, there were very large panels of stained glass. This one was behind the billiard tables. The building is on the Historic Registry.

Wedding pictures were in progress as we walked past this incredible arch.

There was certainly a lot to see on the streets of downtown Columbus.

Columbus is Big On Columbus

Last week, B and I enjoyed a business trip to Columbus, Ohio for a few days. Neither of us had ever been to this city and so it was an adventure to be savored.

We went with few expectations and were pleasantly surprised by all we found there.

As B and I wandered around the downtown area surrounding our hotel, we came upon this statue of Christopher Columbus in front of city hall, erected in 1992 to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his voyage to the  New World.

The size of this ginormous bronze statue in front of city hall is hard to determine in this photograph. This might help a bit.

But this should do the trick: B's hand on the shoe.

As part of that same celebration, the city purchased a Santa Maria that is still docked in the Scioto River, just a couple of blocks away.

Here she is---fore and aft.

Here are a few details that caught my eye.

The oars in this boat were so small on the paddle ends. They looked like they would not be very effective.

This replica of the Santa Maria has been criticized for its lack of accuracy, but we were interested in seeing it anyway. However, we don't think the bronze Columbus was ever on this Santa Maria!