Mona Does Columbus

She's Moxie Mona, superhero of the blogosphere.

The creative forces behind Moxie Media sent Mona over to our box-filled home for a little visit six weeks ago. We were thrilled to have her help us discover Columbus, our new hometown. A big thanks to Angie for sending us our houseguest.

First, we let her have a little R&R in the plush spa-like atmosphere of our minivan. She needed it after visiting 65 blogs from Oregon to Arkansas in seven days. She enjoyed laying in a soothing bath of discarded cookie crumbs, dirty socks, and forgotten toys. She seemed to be enjoying herself so thoroughly that we let her stay there for a couple of weeks.

One day, she sprung up out of her coma-like state and declared that it was time to start exploring the town. So we began at the most logical place: Columbus' own reproduction of Christopher Columbus' Santa Maria. We took a full tour of the ship, from the hold to the captain's cabin, and we learned many wonderful facts. The one that will remain with us always is "the bitter end" this knotted piece of rope hanging from each side of the boat that the sailors would share as toilet paper. The only rinsing it received was from the splash of the salt waves.

Exhausted from our cultural discoveries, we moved on to the culinary scene by feasting on some barbecue at local chain, City BBQ. We made Mona drop and give us fifty push-ups after she devoured pulled pork, a full rack of ribs, tender brisket, hush puppies, baked beans, and corn bread. Then she went and had seconds. And her butt, in that tight outfit, never got any bigger.

After that, we asked her to settle, once and for all, one of Columbus' most heated debates: Graeter's vs Jeni's - who has the best ice cream? I have to hand it to her. She took her assignment seriously, going for repeat visits for weeks on end. But in the end, she declared it a draw and said that the two were both excellent, but that it was impossible to compare Graeter's humongous chocolate chunk studded flavors with Jeni's sophisticated local concoctions. I have to agree - how can Queen City Cayenne (Chocolate with cayenne pepper) be compared to Buckeye Blitz (chocolate with chunks of peanut butter chocolate bites)?

All of this eating wore Mona out. On the way home one day, she made two new friends a pair of Buckeye Football players. She brought them over to meet us and told us that she was going for a little walk with them. We haven't seen her since.

If you see her, please send her our way. We haven't even shown her the zoo, the Clippers Stadium, or COSI, our science museum.