Everybody’s been on picnics. Maybe your parents enjoyed taking the family out for an outdoor gathering by a lake or in a park, or you’ve taken your significant other out for a picnic date in the woods. But if by some miraculous happenstance you haven’t, we can assure you that it’s a lot of fun and well worth the modest investment in supplies.
A short primer on how picnics evolved: Though people have been taking food along on hikes and treks since the first caveman dragged a saber-tooth tiger haunch to the lake to watch shark-a-sauruses do cannonballs (kidding), the practice became an established custom in Europe when the well-to-do began bringing food and wine along on hunting parties. Then, the practice moved down from the upper class, taking root firmly with the common folk in the Victorian era. Instructions on picnicking came from a certain Mrs. Beeton, who published a popular cookbook for picnics. These affairs were high in protein (lots of red meat and poultry) content, and participants drank a lot of beer, ale and wine. Famous artists almost made a cottage industry out of painting bucolic picnic scenes.
These days you’re more likely to munch on chicken salad sandwiches or cold chicken, potato salad, iced tea, watermelon, cake, pie or brownies, and for some, a bottle of wine or a pre-mixed margarita or Bloody Mary. In fact, if you’re into adventurous fare, a picnic offers ample opportunity to experiment, providing anything from a plowman’s lunch of paté and French bread, fruit and cheese, to pasta primavera, potato galettes, and tomato and mozzarella salad. Or just tuna salad and potato chips.
Picnicking can also be an inexpensive way to date — there’s no worry about who will pick up the tab, if you and your significant other or just a group of friends agree to share responsibility for supplying food. You can load everything you need in a cardboard box and bring along an ice chest, or you can invest in a vintage looking basket, with red and white checked table cloth to spread on the ground or a card table, or a decanter for the wine (if you’re of drinking age). (Just don’t forget the bug spray and sun screen.)
Where to Picnic?
There are plenty of outstanding locations to picnic in Athens or Columbus, within a short drive of your off-campus rental house or apartment, and it’s a great excuse to get out and enjoy the outdoor. And during these times of COVID-19, when gathering indoors can be downright dangerous, picnicking in the great outdoors is likely to be better for your health, as well.
In Columbus, the Metro Park system has more than a dozen outdoor destinations, all within an easy drive of the off-campus areas near Ohio State. Check out Clear Creek Metro Park, and picnic beside a clear flowing stream. In Athens, you have your choice of three lake-centric state parks within 40 minutes of campus (with one, Strouds Run, just 15 minutes away); an extensive trail system within an easy walk of the Far East Side neighborhoods, and a 750-acre nature preserve (The Ridges) that’s within walking distance of OU’s campus.