This week’s cheap & creative date is…

at the Scioto Mile!

What: Downtown Date – Scioto Mile + Milestone 229 {+live music if you go this weekend!}
Where: 229 S. Civic Center Drive {Milestone}
When: M-Th 11a-10p, F-Sa 11a-11p
Happy Hour: M-F 4p-6p – $4 Drafts, $5 Signature Cocktails, $6 Appetizers
website -milestone229.com & sciotomile.com

I absolutely love that this Downtown area has flourished over the last couple of years — thank you Mayor Coleman! The Scioto Mile winds around the Scioto River (starting at Broad Street) & with a beautiful new path and swinging benches, this is the perfect place to watch the sunset. Rob & I started our night at Milestone 229, a swanky restaurant on the Scioto Mile path, enjoyed their happy hour, and finished our evening with a stroll down the path. **ALSO** This weekend, the 28th & the 29th is WaterFire Columbus {and the Riverfront Arts Festival} making this a double-part $20Date! 7:30 live music begins, 8:30 fires are lit! Free!

Top reasons why this $20Date is awesome:

• Milestone 229′s food was delicious and their signature drinks are unique and artistically made.
• Our service was wonderful! Happy Hour is only available at the bar, but they have one inside AND one outside on their large patio.
• Milestone 229 normally has menu prices that wouldn’t fit the $20Date bill — but Happy Hour makes this possible!
• The place is popular {as it should be!} but during Happy Hour, you don’t have to wait! Worth. It.
• Meters are easy to fine around the Scioto Mile area.
• There is a sweet fountain right outside the restaurant that makes me want to be a little kid again! And yes, we did run through it;) <–you can spend a lot of time just hanging out by these cool fountains!
• Even though I already love Columbus, the newly revamped Scioto Mile makes me truly love my city even more. It’s such a neat Downtown treasure!

Total {the 1st time} = $6 Skillet Mac-n-Cheese + $6 Four Snacks + tax/tip = $20

Total {the 2nd time} = $6 Margherita Pie (big enough to share!) + $4 local brew + $5 Blueberry Hill specialty drink + tax/tip = $20

Happy Dating,

PocketBook Jess

This week’s Happy Hour Highlight is…

Marcella’s!

What: a Cameron Mitchell Restaurant with yummy Italian dishes
Where: Polaris – 1319 Polaris Parkway; Short North – 615 N. High Street
Happy Hour Polaris: M-F 4p-7p; bar, cocktail lounge & patio only
Happy Hour Short North: M-F 4p-6p; cocktail lounge & bar only {SN location’s HH Menu states 1/2 off selected drinks & food with no specifics- the post below is connected to the Polaris location}
Featured Special: 1/2 off FOOD on Bar Menu! <–pdf of Polaris Bar Menu to see all food choices
website – Marcella’s

• $3 Beers
• $5 Spirits & Specialty Cocktails
• 1/2 off Selected Wine
• $4 Sangria {yummm!}
• 1/2 off ALL Small Plates, Pizzas, Panini & Italian Beef Sandwiches

Francine & I recommend that you try all of the Small Plates– they are 1/2 off, why not!

Happy (Hour) Dating,

PocketBook Jess

This week’s cheap & creative date is…

Pizza + Park!

What: Columbus Brewing Company & Scioto Audubon Metro Park
Where: Brewery District – 525 Short Street (CBC) & 400 W. Whittier Street (SAMP is on the Whittier Peninsula)
When: Pizza & a Pint = Monday-Thursday 4p-close (CBC); Park = open until 8p {check out their website for educational center hours}
website: Columbus Brewing Company & Scioto Audubon Metro Park

This was a great $20Date for many different reasons:

• Pizza + a Pint is always a great choice AND it’s only $12.95
• CBC brews delicioussssss beer and my new seasonal fave is Festbier!
• Fall = great patio weather and CBC has a cozy patio
• Scioto Audubon is beautiful, with neat nature trails & a cool educational center
• Audubon is the closest metro park to an urban center in the U.S.
• You can walk off the pizza & beer on the many nature trails;)

Also, CBC has a Happy Hour (M-F, 5-7p), available at the bar only, that provides another option for a $20Date.

• $5.00 Appetizers
• $1.00 Off Hand-Crafted Pints
• $2.50 Domestic Bottles
• $5.00 Jacob’s Creek Shiraz, Stella Pinot Grigio & Pine Fin Martinis

Total: $12.95 pizza & pint + $ pint + tax/tip = $20! (walk in the park = free!)

Happy Dating,

PocketBook Jess

Fall has snuck up on me! Working in a high school is fun, slightly chaotic and extremely rewarding. But back-to-school time also allows for little free time. So in an effort to still bring you great $20Dates & Happy Hours, I’m going to try a new, shortened format for posts. Let me know what you think! Any and all feedback is welcome!

Happy Dating! And Happy Fall!

Jess