Columbus, OH - October 20

It is time for the long awaited, greatly anticipated Columbus, Ohio post!

The story actually starts the night before we headed out.  While doing my tip preparation, I called a random Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream store and asked them which location would be closest to the airport.  I explained why I was asking and what we were doing.  The employee on the phone advised me that the Bexley location was the closest and that they thought the whole thing was cool.

As I mentioned previously, Big Boy had arranged for a hang-out day (too old for "play dates") with his friend from school and Cub Scouts.  I asked the parents if they minded me taking their son for ice cream and they gave me their blessing.

We picked up the self named "J Dog" at eight o'clock and headed out for the hour long drive to the airport.  We made it with plenty of time and breezed through security.  We got on our first choice flight with no problem at all.  J Dog has flown before so he was a seasoned traveler.  No need to worry about nerves with him. 

The flight to Columbus was short and sweet.  After picking up our rental car, Enterprise again, we headed straight for the nearest fast food joint.  It ended up being a McDonalds.  Now, in hindsight, I should have just bought the kids a large snack or a small meal, knowing how filling the ice cream wold be.  Also, we were very short on time and I should have nagged them to eat and go a little faster. 

 

Luckily, the closest Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream shop was less than fifteen minutes away.

We raced over to Jeni's as I nervously kept my eye on the time.  We would have just enough time to grab our ice cream "to go".  We parked down the street and raced into the store.  I had my camera out and was snapping pictures for the blog.  The woman working the counter immediately figured out that we were the travelers she had heard about from the other store.  She announced that her manager said to give us free scoops and to also offer us half price on quarts of ice cream.

We each ordered our scoops, stopping to taste several samples each, and we also purchased quarts of ice cream to go.  I have to say that I had been told at eh Nashville store that they are very patient and will let you try as many samples as you wish.  This is true for the Ohio location as well.  They never seemed to tire of us asking for little samples of each flavor.  The customer service is as good as the ice cream.

 

I texted my husband, who was at work at the airport back home, to ask him about carrying on ice cream packed in dry ice.  he said it would be no problem at all so we purchased four quarts, three for us and one for J Dog to give his mother.  The employee asked us how long we would be traveling and I advised her that with the flight time and commute home, we would need the ice cream to stay cold for four hours.  She consulted a chart and weighed out the right amount of dry ice.  She packed the ice cream and dry ice in a Styrofoam cooler free of charge.

Sadly, we could not it there and savor the ice cream as we had to race back to the airport.  I ate mine with one hand on the bowl and one hand on the spoon and steering with my elbow.

The kids had filled up on McDonalds so they did not have room to finish their bowls.  It is a very  rich ice cream and three half scoops is plenty to fill you up and satisfy the sweet tooth.

Next:  The crazy race to the airport