Nostalgia Trip: The First Lady Goes Tailgating in Columbus

The season of the weekend college football tailgate has arrived in
full force in Columbus, home of The Ohio State Buckeyes

With the arrival of the college football season comes the rebirth of the college football tailgate party. Unsurprisingly, this proves to be a popular pastime here in Columbus, home of Ohio State University, its nationally known football program and fervent fan base.

The modern concept of the football tailgate is said to date back roughly a century to the then dominant Ivy League schools, but historians and researchers have traced the tailgate’s origins to the U.S. Civil War and even to old Roman Empire rituals.

Considering my interest in things sports-, food-, and history-related, it’s really no surprise that “The Official Tailgating Cookbook” would catch my eye during a random thrift store visit. What I found inside made it worth far more than the $1 (an 80% discount over its original cover price) I forked over at the cash register.

Biking and Brunching: Hang Over Easy

Hang Over Easy (HOE) is something of an institution in the Columbus metro area. Located in the south campus area across the street from the OSU College of Medicine/Department of Pathology, this eatery caters to its primary surrounding population: college students. The name itself references the oft-experienced ritual of recovering from a night of revelry with a large hearty breakfast the morning after. The decor inside, from the six-pack beer cartons used for condiment storage to the numerous music, to the beer, music and movie paraphernalia scattered on all the walls has a generally youth-oriented appeal. If one desired, you can even start your revelry here with selection of bar-style food and a few brews.

Considering that my college days are well behind me and my appreciation for larger portion sizes has been toned down over the years, a place like Hang Over Easy wouldn't be a typical destination eatery for me these days. With that said, this restaurant has a special place in my heart: this was one of the first date places that Mrs. 614orty-Niner took me to on my trips to Columbus during our long-distance-date phase, and I do truly enjoy HOE for what it is and the food it serves. And on this particular bike and brunch day, this restaurant served a perfect purpose: fueling up to take on the revelry and high energy of an Ohio State University football game.

Game day brought in the Scarlet and Gray faithful in droves

Football game day for any Buckeyes' clash will put the service capabilities of any restaurant in the area to the test. I've always found the service at Hang Over Easy to be great, and this experience was no different this day. Despite the crush of Buckeye fans and the related long waits, the staff handled their customers with a smile and aplomb, customers didn't seem terribly miffed by the waits, and the food came out quickly all things considered.

Having a small bar in the front waiting area within easy access for waiting customers helps keep the mood light. While waiting for our table, my spouse and I jumped on their Vandermosa ($7) a winning mix of Vandermill Cider and orange juice that proved to be a nice twist on the traditional mimosa and a good start to the morning.

Starting from left: Chicken & Chorizo skillet; pumpkin
pancakes; some HOE wall decor, HOE chalkboard menu

The Hang Over Easy menu has a wide swath of options, and I recognized a few familiars from previous visits including the Dirty Sanchez (scrambled eggs, chorizo, HOE fries and queso in a flour tortilla, topped by more queso, cheddar, pico de gallo and sour cream) and the Menage a Trois (four pieces of french toast dusted with powdered sugar served with butter and syrup.)

What I was truly jonesing for was not on the menu this time (the Muffin Top: french toast with bananas, peanut butter and whipped cream served with syrup) so I opted for the Sausage Skillet ($8.99), a pleasing mix of nicely spicy sausage, onions, peppers and mushrooms served with two eggs (I opted for scrambled), queso, HOE fries and two slices of toast. The only quibble was the slightly underdone HOE fries, but this was understandable in the light of the game day crush.

My spouse and I spotted a chalkboard toting the availability of their seasonal pumpkin pancakes, and my spouse was more than happy to oblige. The pancakes, listed as "Struggling to Get Up" on their menu, are available in standard or seasonal versions and are mix-and-matchable. With that said, their pumpkin cakes were nicely flavored, with a firm exterior yet slightly pie-like interior, and were available at the same price as their regular pancakes ($5.25). Customers can fancy-up their pancakes with add-ons like chocolate chips and macerated berries as well, should they desire.

Everyday daily specials are available throughout the week; this week's selection included a Summer Spinach Salad (Monday), BBQ Hot Dogs (Wednesdays) and this weekend's Eggs in a Hole (a grilled cheese sandwich featuring American cheese and bacon with one over easy egg in each slice.) My spouse informed me that these specials do rotate in and out regularly, so one week's Monday special may not necessarily be the next week's Monday special.

While their breakfasts are the big attraction at Hang Over Easy, don't sell their lunch-time menu items short. While I have not personally had any of these items, my spouse (who has had more chances to eat at HOE due to her work location) gives her thumbs up to their Reuben sandwich and hamburgers.

2017 Update: The space which housed Hang Over Easy underwent renovations in the summer of 2016 and re-opened in the fall to serve its usual hangover relief comfort foods to the public.

Hang Over Easy
1646 Neil Ave (South Campus - Google Maps)
Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 586-0070
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If The Shoe Fits: At Home with the Buckeyes in 21 Pictures

In this previous blog post, I detailed my first experience with Buckeye fanaticism in my former stomping grounds, when Mrs. 614orty-Niner and I traveled back to the San Francisco Bay Area back in 2013 to watch Ohio State play the Cal Berkeley Golden Bears. When all was said and done, it felt very much like a home game for the visiting Buckeyes, as scarlet and gray made up more than half of the stadium and some OSU traditions made their presence felt in the Golden Bears' own Memorial Stadium.

However, as impressive as that was, I decided that my experience wouldn't be complete until I attended a Buckeye home game to get the true local flavor. Luckily for me, my spouse was able to score two tickets to the Buckeyes' game against Kent State University earlier this September as a work-related thank you gesture.

Being an Ohio State alum, my spouse helped give me a primer on what to expect in terms of traditions and other football-game related minutiae, and I went into this day excited about this first full fledged initiation. However, as I immersed myself in the game day experience, I realized that that this is something that has been experienced by millions of people prior to me, and has been written about tens-of-thousands of times before this particular blog post. In other words, writing about this experience wasn't going to bring out anything particularly revealing or surprising.

So why not keep the comments minimal and let the pictures do most of the talking? Sounds like a good game plan, almost as good as Ohio State's this particular day (poor Kent State never knew what hit them, as the Buckeyes went on to trounce the Golden Flashes 66-0.)

Doesn't matter who the opponent is, That Team Up North will always get drilled...

...or screwed, depending on your point of view (this flag never
did unfurl fully and cooperate for a solid picture)

The Kent State University band made it up for the festivities

Per tradition, these ROTC members did push-ups to match any change in the
Buckeyes' score. They were noodle-armed by game's end as they knocked out over 350.

The crowd starts to file into the stadium amid the tailgate parties

Brutus Buckeye did his best to rally the crowd as the Skull Session
at St. John's Arena came to a close and the march to the stadium begun.

Members of TBDBITL march toward the stadium

TBDBITL bass drummers pound out the marching rhythm

Quad tom players from the Alumni Band revved up the gathered even more

Alumni Band members stand at ease waiting to enter the stadium

Hard to tell in this photo, but TBDBITL members were getting energized
for their traditional ramp entrance. For awhile, it reminded me of a mosh pit

Stained glass Block O from inside the main stadium rotunda

The gathered 104,000-plus people rise to cheer the entrance of the band

Flag-bearers lead the football team onto the field

Buckeyes QB J.T. Barrett launches a pass toward a wideout streaking
wide open over the middle of the field

Seminal moment early in the game: embattled former band leader Jon Waters
takes the podium to lead the Alumni Band. Most people gathered at this end
end of the field gave Mr. Waters a long-lasting standing ovation.

One of many "H" formations performed by the audience. The mechanics of
and when to do the O-H-I-O movements are not natural for me
as a recent area newcomer, but I got better as the game went on.

TBDBITL performed a halftime show dedicated to the Armed Forces branches.
While these lower level end zone seats were great in general, the seats higher up
are the best for watching the band perform its formation wizardry.

Quadruple Script Ohio formations with Alumni Band members joining in.
Again, I wish I had a higher view for the band's show.

By the 4th quarter, most had left the game. The spouse and I were determined
to stick it out until the last note of "Carmen Ohio" had played.

While the blowout of Kent State was expected, the fact that the Buckeyes performed up to those expectations was actually promising. This week the Buckeyes face a tough test in their cross-state rivals: The Bearcats of the University of Cincinnati and their top-ten passing attack in terms of yardage. A solid win in this game would cement the promise I found in the Buckeyes at my first and rather memorable first home game ever at the Shoe.

Cincinnati Bearcats (unranked; 2-0)

 -at-

Ohio State Buckeyes (#22; 2-1)

Saturday, September 27, 2014

6:00 PM  (BTN and BTN2)

Ohio Stadium

Columbus, Ohio

These Jolly Days of Priceless Worth

As a result of my marriage to Mrs. 614orty-Niner, an alumna of The Ohio State University, I've more or less been absorbed into the Buckeye family.

In fact, one of my most interesting mental exercises as I grew accustomed to this area was seeing how much of the Columbus metro area is tied to and revolves around the goings-on of the university. This phenomenon is amplified to even greater heights when college football season rolls around (I have kinda' noticed that this area is a tiny (ahem) bit crazy for the university's football team.) Even the Mrs. has told me that I am more likely to be the proverbial "football widower" during the season than vice versa.

Getting with the program

For example, I've noticed supermarket shopping is a much more hectic affair the hours before the kickoff. On the opposite side, there was nary a soul in sight at a music show I attended that had been unfortunately scheduled at the same time as a big nighttime Buckeyes game. And no local sports bar worth their salt wouldn't have a plethora of Buckeye-related paraphernalia and a TV screen turned to their games for the next few months.

Having lived three-plus decades in Northern California, I had a generally good idea that fanaticism for any of the Bay Area's major college football teams (namely, Stanford and University of California Berkeley) couldn't hold a match to that of schools like Ohio State.

There are numerous reasons for this of course, but the main one lies in one simple word: success. Ohio State has built a tradition and expectation for success over the life of their football program, and has been the beneficiary of much media exposure. In contrast, both Stanford and Cal have had generally only sporadic, short runs of good to excellent play. Another important factor is that sports fanaticism in the Bay Area for sports generally lies with the professional teams; Ohio State does not have to battle Columbus' pro franchises for the community's attention to any great degree.

Now, reaching these conclusions on a mental level is fine, but having the chance to test them out in real-life is much more desirable. I was excited to experience my first up-close taste of this fanaticism when my spouse and I traveled into enemy territory to watch the Buckeyes take on the Golden Bears early in the 2013 season.

For what it's worth, I had no particular loyalty to Cal when I lived in the Bay Area other than they were a local team and I wanted them to do well against other big name schools. Even more so, I wanted to beat teams from Southern California; in fact, this unofficial Northern California vs. Southern California geographical and lifestyle rivalry may actually be the state's most far-reaching, spilling over into things like both amateur and professional sports.

The scarlet and gray's prominence could not be missed

I knew, based on years of prior commuting experience, that the best way to get to Cal's home field (Memorial Stadium) on game day was to take the BART train, the Bay Area's version of the New York City's subway, or Washington DC's metro system. This is where I first noticed how well Buckeye fans travel: for those who were obviously sporting their college colors at the platform, most of them were sporting the scarlet and gray of OSU.

Further evidence came as we both left the station and walked through downtown Berkeley to the stadium, where scarlet and gray clothing dominated the view. Despite trying as hard as I could, I spotted only occasional splotches of Cal's blue and gold (side note: all University of California schools have some variation of blue and gold as their school colors.) This proved the same on the way back, where it seemed every big tour bus parked on the street was Buckeye-chartered.

A Cal alum's worst nightmare?

If I was a old-time and/or hardcore Cal alum, I would've been distressed by the breakdown of those attending the game. Ostensibly, we sat just outside of the area designated for fans of visiting teams, but in reality we probably could've sat most anywhere (save for the Cal student section) and been surrounded by hordes of Buckeyes. In fact, Buckeye fan distribution there was such that the "O-H-I-O" chant that normally swirls around The Shoe between stadium sections regularly crescendoed around Memorial Stadium during the game.

Talking with other Buckeye fans in the stadium made me and my spouse realize we weren't alone in making the journey here from far away places. For some, attending this game had been planned pretty much since the home and home series between Cal and Ohio State was announced in the late 2000's. Another family we ran into said this was the last stop of a West Coast excursion, and that they would be starting the drive back to Columbus after the game.

The Buck-I-Guy grabs some grub

At this game, I also received my first Buckeye "baptism" of sorts in that I ran into and shook the hand of Ohio State's most prominent fan, the Buck-I-Guy. I'm not sure what it is about Berkeley or Berkeley-esque settings, but I actually crossed his path again this year's Comfest event. Who knows: with this trend, my next random meetup with him might be a Yellow Springs Street Fair, or perhaps cruising the Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco.

For what its worth, there were Cal fans near and around our section, but they must have felt a little bit outnumbered. A few gave as good as they got, but by the end the avalanche of Ohio State support and the inevitable result finally caused most of them to leave as the clock was winding down its final minutes.

As the sun set, the scoreboard told the final tale

In any case, Buckeye fans went home both satisfied and unsatisfied on this day. On the positive side, the day couldn't have been more perfect weather-wise, and the Buckeyes put up 52 points in their win over Cal. On the negative side, the Buckeye defense allowed 34 points to a team that would end up winless in conference play, and kept things relatively close until late. This foreshadowed a precarious tightrope that this edition of the Buckeyes would end up walking more often than not right until the very end. For the spouse and I, we couldn't have imagined a much better day together enjoying some football.

Who knows what this season may bring for OSU's football team and their fans, especially after the season-ending injury to talented starting quarterback Braxton Miller. The prospect of a freshman QB leading an already rebuilt offense (including four new starters on the offensive line and the loss of their top running back Carlos Hyde to the pros) has rightfully put a lot of their fans on edge. Interestingly, a decently tough starting schedule (including Virginia Tech and University of Cincinnati) may tell the tale of how well this team will fare against the big boys of college football more than their Big 10 conference games.

No matter what happens, I believe two words apply: Go Bucks!

Ohio State Buckeyes Football 2014
First Opponent: Navy Midshipmen (at Baltimore, MD)
Saturday, August 30, 2014
12 noon EDT
Official School Website
Official Schedule

Capital Comparisons

During my first drive into Columbus on I-71 back in 2007 (ironically, to pick up a friend at the CMH, never mind that I had NEVER been to Ohio before in my life,) I was struck by how similar the feeling was driving into California's capital city of Sacramento on I-80.

Of course, both cities are the capitals of their respective states.  For me, the skylines of both cities popped into view a lot later than I felt they should. Also, the skylines are somewhat non-distinct, with a smattering of modernish, medium-height buildings surrounding a fairly distinctive piece of architecture (for Columbus, the Leveque Tower; Sacramento, the Tower Bridge.)

Over time, other similarities occurred to me.  Both cities are of medium-sized surrounded by spread out suburb towns and relatively inexpensive and fairly easy-to-navigate airports.  Both cities are surrounded north and south by agricultural lands and sit at the confluence of regional rivers. Both cities are home to are coming off fairly recent landmark celebrations (a bicentennial here, and a sesquicentennial for Sacramento) and are pretty fanatical about their local sports scenes, though Columbus' love of The Ohio State Buckeyes is unmatched by pretty much anything in California as a whole.

Also, both cities also are striving for both a more favorable perception and attention as a whole.  For Sacramento, the challenge is two-fold.  For many Californians, Sacramento is something of a dirty word inextricably tied to the often contentious political climate, which perhaps unfairly overshadows the good that city may has to offer.  In addition, two long-time attractive neighbors lie just a couple hours away to the west on I-80 - San Francisco and San Jose and the surrounding Silicon Valley - making Sacramento's efforts to gain attention even more difficult.

Meanwhile, my impression is that Columbus is not associated with toxic politics by most Ohioans; instead, most of this grief appears aimed more on the national level.  Similarly, Columbus does not have any super-attractive regional neighbors (no offense to Cincinnati or Cleveland) to fight off for attention.

Columbus as a whole seems to have favorable winds behind it; it will be interesting to see what the city does with them over the next couple decades.