24th Wedding Anniversary weekend

 We got out of town!

Yes, we finally got out of Akron for the first time since March! Tomorrow is our 24th wedding anniversary so I booked us a hotel in downtown Columbus, arranged for the boys to puppy-sit and we hit the road Friday after Laurie got done with work.

We got a suite and the Westin, downtown. The staff was nice and provided a bottle of wine, but he suite we got "upgraded" to was a total let down. It hadn't been updated in 20 years and the furniture was definitely retro! I complained and got all the points I used refunded, so that makes it better.

We have not opened the wine yet, but I'm sure it's nice.

For dinner on Friday I made reservations at Hyde Park Steakhouse and wow, did that place come through. Considering that this is the first restaurant we have been to since early March, I was a bit nervous, but no need. It was excellent.

The staff was attentive without being intrusive and they even managed to honor my request for as private of a table as we could get.

We got a nice bottle of wine, splurging for us, but on the low end of the price scale for them.

Laurie went with her favorite, a nice filet. I had never had dry aged beef, so I got a bone in steak that had been dry aged for 56 days!

To say that my steak was "good" would be a disservice to the chef! It was absolutely amazing! Certainly one of the best steaks I've ever had.  Laurie's was equally as good. Our side of Brussels sprouts and Lobster Mac & Cheese were outstanding!

We finished dinner with nice Old Fashioned (yes, we were using Uber). Speaking of Uber, Laurie left her phone in the Uber and as soon we realized it, the driver had it to our hotel in 15 minutes!

That concluded Friday!

Saturday was  day full of exploring what we could in Columbus. Some things we wanted to do (Columbus Brewing Co. closed due to Covid) were closed, but we made the best of it. We spent some time at the North Market downtown, were we got fresh apples and apple cider.

We then headed to the German Village, which I have to say was a bit disappointing. I'd like to go back when I can get around much better and perhaps we'll discover more there.  We visited the Book Loft, which was really cool. I only made it through 5-6 rooms as I was not feeling that great 2 1/2 weeks post surgery. @velerie stephens would love it.  It was HUGE!  You could easily spend a couple of hours in there.

 

We stopped for some great fudge at Schmidt's Fudge house. Had to have some fresh fudge and it really is quite good.

By this time I was quite thirsty and ready to be off of my feet! We found a couple of places to have some adult beverages!

Antiques On High

A berry sour! Quite good!

Had a flight of some nice IPAs and a Stout!

After that I had to retreat to the hotel for some rest!

We couldn't really decided what do do for dinner, so we ended up playing it by ear and had a enjoyable evening out. We visited Elevator Brewing for a beer. We were quite impressed with the bar that was brought to Columbus from the Chicago World Fair in the late 1800's. 

We then found Two Truths on the north end of the Short North district. The bartender was great, making us a couple of nice Old Fashioned cocktails. We actually ended up bringing in Tacos from a take out taco place just up the street.  That was a our Saturday.

Sunday was just a drive home with a quick stop at Ikea for a few things.

We came home to some puppies that were quite excited to see us and even made a few "small" messes for us to clean up as Dylan left them inside, but not in their kennel, but it was OK!