On Saturday, December 29, the Columbus Foundation celebrated its 75th anniversary. The Columbus Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to assist donors and others in strengthening and improving [the Columbus] community for the benefit of all its residents.” Toward that goal, the foundation decided to work with COTA (Central Ohio Transit Authority) and six local museums to offer free bus rides and free admission all day on Saturday!
I am never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. As soon as museums opened for the day, I was already on the bus there to see what Columbus had to offer.
Here’s a look at the two places I visited during “The Big Explore.”
Franklin Park Conservatory & Botanical Gardens
My first stop of the morning was the Franklin Park Conservatory & Botanical Gardens. I really love botanical gardens (as you might remember from my visit to the one in Geneva this summer) so I timed my travel to get there as soon as the gardens opened at 10 a.m. I guess a lot of people had the same idea because the line to get in was already out the door when I arrived!
12th Annual Gingerbread Competition
For the annual gingerbread competition, participants were free to choose any style or theme they wished, as long as the building materials were edible. The three categories were…
Ornament Trees
Throughout the conservatory and gardens were sculptures made from blown glass ornaments. All the glass pieces were blown by gaffers in the Conservatory Hot Shop.
Paul Busse Model Train
Paul Busse, the man who designed the New York Botanical Garden’s Holiday Train Show, also created a masterpiece for the Franklin Park Conservatory. Here are two good articles from The New York Times and The Washington Post about Busse, a man trained as a landscape architect and whose creations have changed the face of botanical garden holiday attractions since the 1990s.
The weather was not too bad, but still chilly enough I did not want to be outside very long. However, I made sure to take a look outside at all the decorations set up around the building.
The Conservatory's biomes
Of course, I made sure to see the year-round attractions too, namely all the Conservatory's biomes. Take a look!
National Veterans Memorial and Museum
After finishing at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, I ran to catch the bus for the National Veterans Memorial and Museum. The National Veterans Memorial and Museum opened October 27, so my visit came just barely two months after the museum’s opening date.
What makes the National Veterans Memorial and Museum so special is the fact the museum celebrates all veterans, not just ones from specific conflicts or branches of service. Starting in 1775 and going to present day, the museum gives brief summaries of all major conflicts the United States has been involved in since the country’s founding. |
Sometimes we know people really well from one context and forget the other things they’ve done. Here are several people who caught me off guard when I discovered they served in the military.
My favorite part about the museum was how many female veterans were acknowledged, and not just recent veterans either.
It was also super encouraging to see John McCain and Tammy Duckworth highlighted. We need more veteran voices in Congress, and it is nice to pay tribute to the ones we did and do have.
The museum did not only honor human veterans—some animals got their time in the spotlight as well!
There was also a special exhibition of combat photography by Stacy Pearsall called “Light During Wartime.” Seeing what war looks like during periods of exploration and rest gives you a new insight into all war entails, not just pictures of active gunfire 24/7.