Mid-July to Mid-August 2025 in Columbus

Hello, here are pictures of things that happened in July and August 2025!

July 10 & 12: You know we take walks around our neighborhood in the morning and in the evening!

July 12 & 13: Walking around High Street and then a little concert by one of Liz’s graduating students. She was great!

July 19: More walking! Getting those steps!

And then that afternoon/evening … we went and saw the documentary “Rebel With a Clause” starring and made by neighbor’s of Joel’s New York uncle. And then we got our books signed and THEN we went to Xixia Noodle House and Whooooah yeah that’s the food for me!

August 2: Liz’s first Saturday without clients (they all got moved to weeknights) so it’s time to get up early and enjoy the city! First stop — the Motors and Rotors car and plane show at nearby Bolton Field!

From there we went to German Village to try out this great bakery, Pistacia Vera, and to check out what they were selling on the sidewalks and in the parking lots.

And then we headed to High Street and environs to look for thrifty vintage finds. Why? Find out next post!

August 8: Liz visited me at work since it was near where she was working that afternoon! And then that evening we tried a new (to us) taco spot, Don Deme, near our house and it was a massive hit! Then we watched the new Naked Gun movie and shared quite a few laughs.

August 9: Up and at ‘em and taking a walk! We saw a snake! And then we went Chinese grocery shopping with our friend Rola for a hot pot evening we hosted the next evening. (Oops! No photos of that.)

Then that night Liz provided music entertainment for a teen hoedown at the Gardner home.

August 11: I ordered a 75mm and 21mm lens. Ultimately, I did not decide to keep them but they were fun to check out. 21mm was just too wide to be practical (as expected) and 75mm I just don’t imagine myself using that much and isn’t that different from 50mm (except it totally is).

And so, that was our mid-July to mid-August! I hope you will agree that it was anything but mid.

Back soon with a post for a history-making long weekend!

Fourth of July in Oak Park

July 2: We left for Oak Park after work, made pretty nice time, and, if I remember right, called it a night.

July 3: And then we woke up in Oak Park! Cornelius is getting more and more comfortable in my old home.

Started the day off with a nice Oak Park walk which culminated with a visit to The Daly Bagel.

And then the family gathered together and we got the L out of Oak Park and down to downtown to watch rehearsals for the 4th of July Concert.

Then we took a little walk through Millennium Park over to the Jollibee — well, let’s be honest, lots of things went pretty wrong at that Jollibee but when we finally had our food, well, let’s be honest, there’s no denying that it’s really good food. And now I’ve finally tried their spaghetti!

Then we went on over to the Art Institute to see what’s good right now. And it turns out there’s plenty! For starters: Raqib Law’s gigantic painting “Paradise Lost” — you can get real lost in this one.

Then there was the Gustave Caillebotte exhibit … seemed like a cool dude. Also, saw signs (literally) that the NASCAR race would be zooming by that weekend.

And then there’s all the other great Art Institute stuff!

Then we took the train back home again and a little later had our first Milly’s Pizza in the Pan pizza. Wow! What a gorgeous and tasty and exclusive pizza! (and then Emily took us on a walk to see something spooky)

July 4: Our Independence Day started off with a bang with an early morning trip downtown to walk along the lake towards or around Montrose Beach and environs. In all my Chicago days I’d never before been on a lakefront walk.

We got back to Oak Park just in time for one of the village’s greatest traditions … the Oak Park Fourth of July Parade!

After the parade I zipped up to Santa Masa Tamaleria with Mom to pick up lunch and boy were those tacos and tamales nice! Heavenly tamales, to be honest. And my first taste of green chorizo.

Here’s an unexpected 4th of July treat … NYC Buddy Jamar was in town with his family investigating Oak Park and stopped by to pay us a visit, too!

Relaxed a bit on the renovated sun porch while Cornelius tried to eat the plants.

This Fourth was our fortieth anniversary of having moved into the house so celebratory photos were taken, then hamburgers were eaten, and finally cake slices decorated.

And then, after night had fallen, it was time to go chase the fireworks (as Oak Park doesn’t host its own fireworks anymore. boooo!) Good thing we have the good people of Elmwood Park to keep us patriotic!

July 5: Up and at ‘em! Walked with Dad to the Farmer’s Market, got donuts and such, came home and soon hit the road and headed back to Columbus, just like that.

All These Pictures are From June 2025!

Liz has observed to me something along the lines of since I’m walking around with a camera taking all the pictures I’m not in a lot of them on the blog. Very true! You will see that that is certainly the case with this summary of our June in Columbus!

June 8: Had a nice walk around Blacklick Metro Park and we may or may not have gotten our Metro Park Passport stamped — I don’t remember! Also: Liz met a caterpillar!

June 11: I got to go with Liz to see the Punch Brothers, one of her very favorite bands. It was great! They played songs that I recognized from being in the car. And they sang “Surf’s Up” in honor of Brian Wilson who had passed that day.

June 14: We walked through a nearby park (not a Metro Park, though) to this trail we sometimes walk down and then we walked down that trail, passing fairy houses and such.

June 21: We went and watched one of Liz’s students dance and then ate at the famous Joya’s and guess what? Joya’s was not a hit with us. This was a surprise! Seemed like it would be just my kind of place. Oh well. Now we know. And may possibly try their brunch someday.

June 25: A big, bittersweet day. Liz’s last day at Bridgeway before heading off to her new job. I got to pick her up as she packed up her last bits and then we went to a very good place to celebrate landmark days: The Top Steakhouse! Wow! Absolutely perfect old school steakhouse with its own flair and an onion ring comes with your steak! And also we did a Bridgeway photoshoot in front of the Bridgeway sign.

June 28: Parked in front of the old Bridgeway before seeing Liz’s soon-to-be new coworkers sing (featuring Alyssa, a former co-worker of Liz’s, funny how that is).

And that’s that for our June Columbus post. Next up? Fourth of July in Chicago! Featuring a picture or two of me!