Adventures of the Newlyweds: A Beach Resident's Vacation

Jim and I have joked since moving here that our family would probably not get excited to vacation at the beach but rather plan trips inland to see family, historic landmarks, and big cities. With our trip to Ohio getting closer I am finding it amusing that I am feeling the same excitement about our trip to Ohio with that used to be reserved for just after school was out, week long, family vacations to Myrtle Beach! We have a lose knit plan for how the extended weekend will go but mostly the focus is watching the Buckeyes and seeing family and friends. As with everything though I have a list of "I want to" (I am a habitual list maker).

1) I need a Donald's Doughnut! Nothing fancy just a plain cake doughnut with pink icing. I used to LOVE when dad would wake up on weekends and make a doughnut run to Donald's. I have even more fond memories of getting doughnuts with dad and a chocolate milk. This small place reminds you how great it is to live in a small town where they have one of a kind bakeries instead of mass produced and impersonal quick stop coffee and doughnut shops. I don't eat those Krispie Cream doughnuts... or any other doughnut for that matter, they are just disappointing. I wish I could have Donald's set up a shop here in SC as well.... although maybe it is better for my diet that they don't!

2) Adornettos. Everyone from the Zanesville area knows it is the best Italian food around. (Sorry Olive Garden again the home town version wins hands down.... plus it is much better priced!). My favorite is their Tuscan Chicken. Of course you have to have a salad to start and their House Italian dressing is the best. I honestly get lettuce with nothing but dressing (they have fresh mozzarella that is good though). I could eat their lettuce/dressing every day twice a day (I would eat a Donald's doughnut for breakfast of course!) and be completely satisfied. Lucky for me they now bottle and sell their dressing so if we don't have time to eat there I will at least be buying a bottle to bring back! Their pizza is good too with it's curled up pepparonis! Mmmmm. Again I think the family that owns it should buy a beach house and open another Adornettos here!

3) Now this is not necessarily an Ohio trip but we don't have Chipotle in Horry County. :(

And this is one Jim has his heart set on. We have a Moe's here, which is good. But it isn't Chipotle and their chips don't have those large granules of salt on them... I love to get a burrito bowl and use my chips to scoop up the rice, chicken, lettuce, and hot sauce. Jim always gets a burrito the size of my head with just about everything but lettuce in it. His ultimate goal is to have the tortilla break when they are trying to roll it. That way they have to get a second tortilla and the ingredients all kinda mix up. You should honestly see his smile if this succeeds.

4) Jose Madrid salsa. I have my dad's taste for hot salsa (although I am a bit concerned with my recent development of heartburn). This is the best stuff. Again the problem is availability. I have been stuck eating Pace Picante salsa for months here and it is just not as good. During my time at OSU I also had trouble getting this even in Kroger in Columbus and mom would buy an extra jar to send home with me after visits. In searching online I found that you can order multiple jars here so that may be our long term solution to this problem, but while I am in Ohio I am going to pick some up and bring it back.

5) Nyohs Buckeye Bar. Have I ever mentioned Jim and I met there? We kinda love that place! Home or away it was the best place to be on game day. They start early, go late and have great food and friendly bar tenders. We also kind love the owners. You may have seen Matt and Andrea at our wedding and in my previous blogs about The Outer Banks. Can't wait to be surrounded by fanatic Buckeye fans, maybe do a line dance or two, and see some of my favorite people!

6) There have been a lot of changes at OSU since I left. The one I am most disappointed about not getting to enjoy is the library. Let's face it as a college student you have to do a lot of studying and I while I loved my time on the top floor of the library looking out at the students cross the oval and noticing the old photos of how campus used to look, I think I would have loved this.

And this. Such a pretty and open space! Reminds me of the library in The Beauty and The Beast.

Here is about what it looked like when I graduated. Not only is it not "pretty" it impeded my route to and from classes. :(

7) The old Ohio Union was beginning demolition/construction as I was leaving OSU. It was much needed as the space was outdated and as you can imagine there are just a few student organizations and activities that utilize the Union.

Here is the way it used to look