Have you ever found that place ( a restaurant, park, shop, etc) that when traveling, visiting a friend or living in another town makes you feel like you've stepped right back into your comfort zone & felt right at home? For me, that's Rossilli's in Findlay, Ohio.
After college I moved to Houston, TX for a year and eventually left it in the dust to take a position with WyoTech covering NW, Ohio. In order to familiarize myself best with my new territory, I only felt it fair to live centrally in that territory, which landed me right smack into Findlay, Ohio. Now, to some this might sound terrible considering I could have lived back in Columbus, where my friends and family were. However, after being there most of my life and still rebounding from what I thought would be my 'discovery' phase in Houston, I wasn't ready to stop the discovery train. At a mere 23 years old knew I still had PLENTY to discover about myself. So, off I went into the unknown. Believe it or not folks, I was really content when I lived there. I had one friend, Izzy Reynolds who knew the place like the back of his hand, but next to that it was just little old me in little old Findlay. Shockingly, I was happy there for over a year before heading back to the 'C-BUS'. My time spent living there is time that I'll always hold near & dear.
While in Findlay, I stumbled across a quaint restaurant downtown on Main St called Rossilli's. It reminded me of 'The Rossi' for those Columbus folk out there, as it was small, exposed brick on the inside & had a large vintage bar that extended down the entire length of the restaurant. Little did I know, this place housed some AMAZING food, including my absolute favorite pizza in all of my travels: The Fresca! Four Cheeses, grape tomatoes, basil and a balsamic drizzle. YES PLEASE! My second fave dish was their pretzel crusted chicken & Angel Hair Pasta, sadly this is no longer on their menu. Anywho, this is the restaurant I'd frequent weekly & built a solid friendship with the owners (or at least they made their customers feel like they were friends) Reason # 211 (great wine, service, atmosphere, music.....) that this place ROCKED!!
I have told Blair about my Findlay days as well as Rossilli's many a times, so for this years Valentines 'Andi & Blair' Day, Blair took a personal day from work & basketball & suggested we drive an hour north to my ol' stomping grounds. He's never been there or seen where I lived & frequented, so it seemed like the perfect daily adventure. We ate my fave pie, had some drinks, got a new pie to take home to try (eating that one up for dinner tonight) & finally stopped to see Izzy at our favorite dive bar, The West End. You literally walk up a crooked floor when entering this hole of a bar that is placed against a Railroad track, but man do they have a stellar juke-box & killer drinks!! :)
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| Blair & I @ Rossilli's |
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| Izz & I @ West End |
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| Class Acts @ The West End |
I concluded while visiting yesterday that I wore an amazing pair of Rose-Colored-Glasses during my days in Findlay. Perhaps it was the stage in my life where anywhere would have seemed better than Houston (or Columbus) where I could discover the 'new'. Regardless of the reason life sent me through Findlay, Ohio at that time in my life, I love (d) it there & it will always hold a pretty special place in my heart.
xoxo,
Andi
