As you enter the city named for the man who sailed the ocean blue, you might feel a bit claustrophobic. That’s because you’re at the geographic center of Ohio, among approximately 8,000 other Mennonites and within 550 miles of half of the U.S. population.

Chances are you’ll spend most of your convention week inside the walls – which you’ve now realized are quite asymmetric – of the Greater Columbus Convention Center. You’ll breathe and be filled within these walls. But perhaps you’ll get the urge to befriend the surrounding city.

Let’s take a stroll.

Stand outside one of the glass entrance/exit areas along North High Street. Notice there’s no light rail. You’re not in San Jose anymore. Columbus is the largest metropolitan area in the country without a passenger rail service of any kind (light rail or passenger train). In fact, the doors you just exited stand directly over the former Union Station.

Which way to turn?

Left takes you to Nationwide Arena, where the Blue Jackets (NHL) play. The arena district is the entertainment hub of the city. Go here for fine dining and live entertainment.

Right takes you to the Short North Arts District, near Goodale Park, a 40-acre retreat along the corner of the Victorian Village.

Go straight, and you’ll hit the North Market. Built in 1876, this market is reminiscent of Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia (yeah, Philly ‘93!). The North Market is home to 32 local merchants that offer a variety of bagels, bratwursts, beads and bouquets.

Let’s turn right down High Street, in the general direction of Ohio State University (the largest university in the country) and grab some grub.

Don’t look up though — that’s a giveaway that you’re a tourist. And take off that Mennonite Church USA lanyard from around your neck.

Notice the Byzantine-like Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral (which challenges the LEGO-style architecture of the convention center). If you want a leg up on the next Mennonite assembly, visit the parish – it’s a member of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh.

Walk toward Goodale Street. This is the beginning of your bohemian adventure among the Short North Arts District, a milelong stretch of restaurants, shops, galleries and green spaces (similar to the tree-lined First Street in San Jose).

Surf and turf greet hungry travelers. Bluefish Seafood On the Cap to the right; Hyde Park Prime Steakhouse on the left. We’re bourgeois Mennonites not aristocratic New Yorkers. Let’s continue on.

As you approach the I-670 crossover and the first of many wrought-iron arches, the options multiply (the formerly wooden original arches were built in the early 1900s).

Don’t be alarmed, though. If you don’t like change, you might sample the espresso at the convention center’s closest coffee shops, which sit catty-corner – Cup O’ Joe’s and Starbucks (W. Poplar Avenue).

According to the Nashville 2001 mPress, Mennonites love ice cream. Ben and Jerry’s ran out of ice cream at the OpryLand Hotel. Thankfully there’s a Coldstone Creamery on the left. Don’t worry – it costs just as much.

But the Short North is renowned more for its murals than its ice cream.

Two of the city’s oldest murals decorate Milley Alley. On north wall of Utrecht Art Supplies sits a mural of Columbus’s original Union Station (now the site of our convention center). On the south wall of Union Station Café is a 100-foot-long collage of trains. Both were painted by Greg and Jeff Ackers in 1989.

The Short North’s most recent mural is on the opposite side of High Street. Curtis Goldstein and Michelle Attias painted this recreation of George Wesley Bellows’s “Cliff Dwellers” in 2004. Notice the chimney.

For more historic encounters, head east to the Italian Village. This area was one of Columbus’s first suburbs and was annexed in 1862.

But we still haven’t found lunch.

For a quickie, try the $7 shawarmas and gyros at Happy Greek (660 N. High St.).

In a large group? In the spirit of Happy Greek, consider a hummus appetizer along with your deep-dish pizza at Fabian’s, one block farther, on the left.

A frugal eater? Five dollars will get you the most food – pound per dollar – at Phillip’s Coney Island restaurant (747 N. High St.)

Finally. Dessert. If you didn’t already fall victim at Coldstone Creamery (or even if you did), stop for a scoop at Jeni’s (corner of High and E. Lincoln Sts.). Thai Chili, Gravel Road and Black Coffee highlight the signature flavor list. Remember Cup O’ Joe’s? They roast their own beans, which flavors Jeni’s Black Coffee flavor.

It’s almost time to get back for the afternoon seminars. Almost.

Walk two blocks down Buttles Avenue. If your breathing gets easier, it’s more than just your metabolism going to work on your Jeni’s waffle cone. You’re approaching the northeast corner of Goodale Park.

Too bad the convention didn’t start on the weekend. The Community Festival (ComFest) – according to comfest.com, arguably the largest free, noncorporate urban music and arts festival in the country – was held here June 26-28.

Take a stroll through the park (past the pond), and wind your way back to Goodale Street. This street takes you back to High Street, the beginning of our trek.

You’ve now successfully traversed the surrounding quarters of downtown Columbus. You no longer have to wonder why Money magazine voted Columbus the eighth-best city to inhabit.

But you’re now left with a new question after all that walking: why doesn’t Columbus have a light rail like San Jose?

Don’t worry – Pittsburgh and Phoenix both do.

Editor’s note: Sheldon Good wrote this article while he was finishing his senior year at Goshen College, well before the convention. He reported the story courtesy of Google and the Internet.

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