Dirty Frank's Hot Dog Palace is a must-try in Columbus, so it was one of our first stops!



I was excited to see this place had some fun, creative takes on hot dog toppings.



And do you see that West Virginia slaw dog on the bottom right! That's right!



Dawn went with The Classy Lady, which has cheese and potato chips.



It was packed!

And I went for the "Puff the Magic Popper," which had cheddar cream cheese, bacon bits and jalapenos. It was one of the more unique popular ones. Definitely different! I had to shake off a few of those jalapenos, but good overall!

Graeter's is an Ohio specialty ice cream shop.



It's created via a French pot process, and they are known for their chocolate chips. I went with a signature chip flavor: Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip.

We made our Original Salted Caramel ice cream, still crafted by cooking brown sugar and cream with a pinch of salt, even more decadent with the addition of our gourmet, signature dark chocolate chips.

Yum! What's your favorite?

Ever since I moved to Charleston, I've heard about how Columbus is great, and folks love taking weekend trips there.



So, I've been wanting to see what it's all about. And just recently had the chance to check out this city.



One of the first stops was at Piada, a counter service Italian street food restaurant.

A "Piada" is an Italian wrap sandwich, essentially.



Here, you can pick and choose which ingredients you'd like for your meal - whether that's a piada, pasta, salad, or something else!

 


I wanted to try a piada, and I went with one of their suggested combos: Summer Avocado Piada - Italian-style street wrap with pancetta, fresh avocado, arugula, basil aioli, mozzarella, sweet corn & tomato.

Dawn got a pasta dish!




The piada is huge! But, it was flavorful and fresh. Tasty.

One of the absolute coolest places I've been to in West Virginia is in Richwood.



Whistle Punk Grill & Taphouse looks like it was plucked from a super hip and trendy neighborhood and plopped in downtown Richwood.



There's some really cool outdoor dining with adorable lighting. And there's beautiful decor inside that makes it feel edgy, yet warm.



The menu has so many delicious items, I struggled to choose.



Ultimately, I went with the gnocchi with grilled pork - pan-fried gnocchi, topped with sauteed spinach and gorgonzola cream sauce served with a grilled pork tenderloin.




Just... wow.



To top it all off, the sweet owner came and chatted with me about the restaurant. I mentioned how I've always wanted to be in the Cherry River Navy (I discovered this from another friend thought it was fate because we have the same initials), and she was an admiral!! She literally arranged paperwork for me right then and there, got me sworn in and even got me official t-shirts. I cannot say enough amazing things about this restaurant, these people and this sense of community. I can't wait to go back!

Pretty Penny is a lovely cafe in Hillsboro that I never had the chance to try before it closed.



But guess what! It's back!



This restaurant serves some unique dishes, and I was particularly intrigued by one.

The Jerk Chicken Bowl featured rice and peas, chicken thigh, jerk sauce and slaw.

The sauce was served on the side, which is great. Because then you can decide how much heat you want.

And, I got to check out the Thorny Mountain Fire Tower at Seneca State Forest! How neat.