Our Family Weekend Trip To Columbus

A few weeks ago Austin, Piper and I flew to Columbus to explore the city in collaboration with LIFE IN CBUS . We had been wanting to get away, just the three of us for a while and this was the perfect excuse! With our crazy schedules and house renovations it seems like we can never just enjoy time together (let alone a weekend) without working on something so it was really nice. And — I was so excited by how much we all enjoyed Columbus! 

I’d been to the city before when I did a summer intensive ballet program at Ballet Met but was excited to explore a new-to-me city as an adult. When I started planning our trip I posted on Instagram to get some tips on places we may want to checkout — and literally everyone suggested the Short North neighborhood. I headed to the Experience Columbus site which has information on the different areas to read up about it and booked us a hotel within walking distance (Hyatt Regency) so we could explore by foot. It turned out to be the perfect location for us and the room was ideal for our family of three — there was a space to put Piper’s crib so we could stay awake after she goes to bed (at 7pm!). It was such an easy and quick trip from the airport to downtown — we also loved the size of the Columbus airport and how quick and accessible everything was (baggage claim, car rental). 

We got in past Piper’s bedtime on Friday night — so room service and a glass of wine was in order. I was one happy mama reading in bed and relaxing! And it was good to rest up before a day of exploring. I was pretty worried that Piper wasn’t going to sleep in the hotel room crib — but she slept ALL night and even slept in the next morning. We brought our own crib sheet, blanket, stuffed animal and sound machine which I think helped.

The food scene in Columbus is quite booming and I had a hard time trying to narrow down the options and pick places that were kid friendly — I wish we had time for a few more meals during our trip! The next morning we enjoyed walking to a delicious breakfast at Tasi Cafe after lounging in our giant hotel bed and watching cartoons for a bit. Piper really loved her croissant and  fruit and I devoured a frittata. Austin loves a good breakfast sandwich and gets them whenever he can — and we got iced lattes (chai for AK) to go. After walking around the downtown area — Piper needed a little time out of her stroller so we let her cruise the sidewalks and she was in heaven. Our goal was to drive as little as possible during our trip and Columbus is the perfect city for exploring by foot.

Traveling with a baby is hard because you have to work around naps…. since Piper takes her morning nap pretty early it works out well when traveling because we are able to get it out of the way – so we put her down and also relaxed ourselves….. Before heading to the zoo! The Columbus Zoo is great and we had a lot of fun exploring the expansive grounds. Piper especially enjoyed the petting zoo (just look at her face!) and zebras and giraffes in their Africa exhibit. 

After resting (and fueling up on Jeni’s) we went to an early dinner at Wolf’s Ridge Brewing which was recommended to us by Austin’s cousin who lives in the area. We love trying local beers — but were also super impressed with the food menu and I loved the interior design and ambiance. I wish we had places like it back home. After dinner we walked back to the hotel for an early bedtime which was needed for us all after how many miles we walked at the Zoo! 

The next morning we walked to the North Market — I was especially excited to try Destination Donuts (the raspberry hibiscus flavor was so good) before Piper’s morning nap. We also grabbed coffee and fresh juice at Native Cold Pressed. 

We walked around the North Short before heading to the airport to catch our flight home — we had such a nice weekend that was the perfect amount of exploring and relaxing (really, thanks to that early bed time)! We definitely hope to make a trip back to Columbus one day – there are so many restaurants I’m eager to try and other areas of the city to check out! 

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Experience Columbus. The opinions and text are all mine.