Ohio from a Texas Point of View...... Guest Blog by: Ali Seilheimer

Since early fall, Ashley Kopech and I have been planning a visit to Ohio to visit our dearest and oldest friend Jamie. Not only did we have the pleasure of being a guest with the Hafners for 5 fun filled days, but I now have the honor of being a guest blogger. Such an honor is a little intimidating, and I hope I represent the J & K blog page well. It will be impossible to share all of our adventures, laughter, and inside jokes that transpired during our 5 day trip, so I will have to narrow down just a few of my favorite stories to share.

#1 – Road Trip to Longaberger Baskets
Jamie, Ashley, and I loaded up and took a little road trip to Frazeysburg to visit the homestead where Longaberger baskets are made. I have never heard of a “designer” basket before, and I was shocked to see what a big deal they were when we first got there. I guess you can compare Ohio’s pride of their Longaberger baskets to Brenham’s pride of Bluebell. Outsiders don’t really understand it, but you never question it. After taking a quick tour around the grounds and coming to the realization that we couldn’t afford any of the “designer” baskets, we decided to spend our time taking pictures of all of the unique displays around the grounds. We even stumbled upon the opportunity to make wicker flowers. This was a unique, once in a lifetime experience, and we had tons of fun.

#2 – To Hockey, Or Not To Hockey That Is the Question
Jamie will kill me for posting this, but this was by far the best story of the trip, and it would be shameful not to share. After our Longaberger expedition, we planned to watch a professional hockey game back in Columbus. We were all so excited because we had never been to a professional game before. On our drive home, we zipped into a restaurant called Tumbleweeds. Upon being seated, we were told that we were just in time for happy hour, which meant $1.99 margaritas. We had so much fun during happy hour that we lost count of how many margs we drank, AND that caused us to lose track of time. With the realization that we only had 30 minutes to get back to Columbus before the game started, we were in quite a hurry to get out of there. We hustled and bustled ourselves to the car, Jamie puts the keys in the ignition, and……Lola won’t start! At first this was an extremely funny situation, but, after looking under the hood, having to call Kyle to come save us (mind you, we had no idea where we were), and realizing we were stranded and we were going to miss the hockey game, a small bout of depression settled on all 3 of us. After sitting for 15 minutes thinking “oh crap”, Ashley decided to call her friend Richard back in Texas to see if he had any suggestions. The following conversation took place:

• Richard: Who’s in the driver’s seat?
• Ashley: Jamie is
• Richard: This is a real silly question, and please don’t let her take this the wrong way, but is the car in park?
• Ashley: Jamie, is the car in park? 
• Jamie then checks the gear shift, turns the key, and Lola starts up with no problem
• Ashley, Jamie, and Ali: AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If someone were to be within earshot distance, we would have blown their eardrum with our screaming and laughter. Who would have known that something so simple could have had the power to ruin the rest of the night? Thanks Richard for the help! Due to Jamie’s speediness, we made it just in time for the end of the 1st period, and we had a great time at the game. 

INSERT JAMIE…In my defense, let me just clarify that Lola WAS in park, just not completely clicked into gear….I feel that minor detail somehow makes this really embarrassing story a tad better :/

#3 – Bowling

By the time Sunday rolled around, we were all exhausted. We spent the day vegged out in front of the TV watching movies and playing words with friends on our I-Touches. With the early evening approaching, we decided we couldn’t be bums anymore, so we decided to partake in a night of bowling. Most of the previous days had been spent by spending time with Kyle, Jamie, and their Ohio friends (who are a fun bunch of people), so being able to just spend time with the Hafners’ on an evening out was an enjoyable time. Ashley and Jamie were closet professional bowlers, and I…..well the best adjective to describe my bowling skills would be “atrocious”, but thanks to Kyle’s cheering me on (thanks for rootin’ for the underdog Kyle!) and the great conversations we had while bowling, this simple evening out proved to be one of my favorites while visiting Ohio.

#4 – The Food

Jamie should take up travel planning for a part time job. Before we even left Texas, Ashley and I were sent an itinerary of the possible events, landmarks, bars, and restaurants we could go to during our visit. Jamie held nothing back in making sure we were getting to do and see all the cool things in Columbus. Based on the 10 lbs that I packed on while visiting, it is evident that another favorite of my trip was all of the food we ate. My favorite restaurant was called Schmidt's Sausage Haus und Restaurant. It was a restaurant in German Village. Now, my last name is Seilheimer for reason. This German girl LOVES her sauerkraut! What better way to indulge my heritage by attending the all you can eat buffet of sausage, sauerkraut, cabbage, and other yummy German fixins! The German ambiance of the restaurant was authentic and extremely enjoyable!

Another restaurant worth noting is Thurman’s. I have heard Jamie and Kyle talk a lot about this restaurant, and it was a “must do”. Thurman’s has been featured on the show Guy’s Big Bite on the Travel Channel. They are famous for their huge burgers! We all ordered normal burgers (Jamie ordered a veggie sandwich….of course), and we were astonished to see how huge they were when they were served to us! Ashley and I had to struggle to finish just a half of our burgers. Kyle demolished his whole burger. Personal note: it is amazing (and sickening) that guys, like Kyle, can eat as much as they do, and still have a normal weight. How is that fair?! A fun tradition Thurman’s has, is they let their customers write their names on a dollar bill and tape it to their roof or walls, and once everything is covered, they take all of the money down and donate it to charity. We definitely took advantage of being able to mark our territory at Thurman’s.

This was my second and Ashley’s first time to visit Ohio during Spring Break, but based on all of the adventures and fun we had, I know it will become an annual tradition. I think the best one liner that could summarize the theme of our trip was when, at a dueling piano bar, I placed the following order with the bartender....“I need a Shirley Temple with Vodka, a Whiskey and Coke, a Miller Light, and some Advil please.”

Jamie is my oldest and dearest friend, and I had a lot of apprehensions about her moving so far away from Texas, but I can give a personal testimony that Jamie is at a happy place in Ohio. Columbus is very similar to Austin. It has just enough “weirdness” to meet Jamie’s needs. She and Kyle have a very nice apartment, and they have met awesome friends to surround themselves with. Now…Am I OK with this being a permanent situation? Not a cold day in hell, but, for the time being, I couldn’t imagine a more perfect place for her and Kyle to be settled in.