One of my fondest Cleveland memories is going to my neighborhood park. Those of us with hoop dreams would play ball from afternoon to night. You could also find cool kids smoking blunts while camouflaged next to trees and heavily-lotioned girls lingering for attention. Other than my backyard, the park was the hangout spot. (Come to think of it, some of those same people from the mid-’90s might be hanging down there right now.)
Fast forward 20-plus years. I’m back in Ohio, the Columbus area this time, and I’m always up to find a park that offers enough free fun to tire out the kids while my wife and I relax with our phones. Here are some of best parks we’ve visited in the Columbus area so far.
Blendon Woods Metro Park (4265 E Dublin Granville Road, Columbus)
Blendon Woods is a great place to chase turkeys, who, by the way, look round and goofy but are actually very mobile. We followed a gang of them as they strutted around the park looking for some play (based on their loud gobbling). They didn’t seem to mind the attention, though I read that they’ll run up on you if you mess up their game.
The trails in Blendon Woods are also worth checking out. It’s like walking under a green dome. As for the play areas, they’re OK, but not so important considering you have the draw of giant birds walking around verbally harassing each other.
Whetstone Park of Roses (3901 North High St, Columbus)
The obvious draw of Whetstone Park is the roses, but during the time we went most were not in full bloom and had less swagger than the $9.99 Walmart roses I buy for my wife. Still, the idea is romantic, which does absolutely nothing for kids who want to tear the flowers apart but aren’t allowed to touch anything. But the playground saved the day. It has a double tunnel slide and lots of unsupervised kids running wild.
