You may have heard: Columbus is turning 200 this year! With celebrations planned all year long, there are a lot of great reasons to get out and explore the city and meet the people who make Columbus the great place it is. There’s another great reason to explore Columbus right around it’s 200th birthday celebration: 200Columbus Days !

200Columbus Days is a city-wide partnership that runs Feb. 11-15, 2012, offering amazing deals and discounts for entertainment and shopping !

I t’s a great time to explore all the great things that make Columbus Columbus! So many of us have lived here for years but haven’t experienced the great activities right under our noses.  Marquee attractions around the city like COSI, Franklin Park Conservatory and the Columbus Museum of Art are offering great deals. If you’ve still never caught a Blue Jackets game, indulged in a tour with Columbus Food Adventures or caught a CATCO performance – they’re offering discount tickets, too!

To take advantage of these great deals, all you have to do is print out and show the 200Columbus Days flier or simply visit it on your mobile device and show the screen to the participating business’ ticket taker, cashier or restaurant server.

I hope you have a great time re-discovering the city! Make sure to share your experiences with 200Columbus: The Bicentennial on Facebook and Twitter !

This post is written by Sandi Combs, Marketing Specialist for Experience Columbus. You can follow Sandi on Twitter @Sandi_ExpCols .

Visitors in Columbus will notice that something special is happening in our city this year- we’re celebrating Columbus’ 200th birthday! Festivities commemorating 200Columbus the Bicentennial (as it’s officially known) will take place all year long, with events being planned by a wide array of organizations and neighborhoods throughout the city. Although you might think that these are for locals only, there are many exciting events that will be fun for everyone, whether you’re a resident or visitor.

Here’s a look at what’s happening during the next month:

Columbus’ actual birth-date is Valentine’s Day, so there are several special events to experience in the first part of February. Take in the sights and sounds of an amazing collaboration by BalletMet and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra during the performance of Jazz Moves Columbus , Feb. 2-12, 2012. Then, enjoy special discounts on shopping and attractions throughout the city during 200Columbus Days – just download the discount flyer. You may also enjoy seeing the performance of The Ruby Elzy Story on Feb. 11, having fun with your family at COSI’s Columbus Family Weekend Feb. 11-12, or cheering at the Columbus Blue Jackets game when they take on the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 14.

In addition to those special events, there are many long-running exhibits to see. COSI is hosting Race: are we so different?, which is the first nationally traveling exhibition to tell the stories of race from the biological, cultural, and historical points of view. The Columbus Museum of Art is recognizing the Bicentennial with several special exhibits, including Monet to Matisse , Columbus Views and Caravaggio: Behold the Man! Other art exhibits include Ohio Arts Council Riffe Gallery’s 100 Years of Art: Celebrating Columbus’ Legacy , the King Arts Complex’s Cityscapes Yesteryear and OSU’s Columbus Cartoonists: A Bicentennial Celebration .

We’ll keep you updated on more Bicentennial events to experience as the year progresses. In the meantime, if you’d like to know more about the celebration, visit 200Columbus.com . Or find the Bicentennial on Facebook or Twitter .

Did we miss something? Share your information about other great Bicentennial events in the comments.

At Experience Columbus, we strive to help our potential visitors find great travel experiences in ways that work best for them, whether it’s in our publications, on our web site , via Twitter , on Facebook or Flickr. Recently, we’ve seen a lot of buzz around Pinterest , a social network that’s starting to gain traction. The more we looked at it, the more we though it could work well for both showing off the great things there are to see , do , eat and drink and also, as a powerful trip planning tool for our visitors.

Pinterest is a visual way to bookmark links. Whether it’s pictures of things that inspire you, DIY or craft projects you want to try, videos that make you laugh, or places you want to visit, it’s a really nice way to help yourself remember those aspirations and share them with your network of friends. Pinning these images and videos is very easy - first you need to do is pull the "Pin It" button into your browser’s task bar. When you find an image or video you want to pin, just click that button, select which of your boards you want the item to be pinned onto, then type a few words about it. It takes about five seconds. You can find images and videos to pin all across the web, or you can browse or search Pinterest and re-pin things that other users have added.

Pinterest is also great for planning a trip. For instance, if you’re planning a visit to Columbus in the spring, you can check out our boards , follow us, and re-pin on your own board images of the activities you want to do , restaurants you want to try and places you want to stay . The really nice thing about this is that you can very easily co-plan a trip with another person or a group. If you’re finally taking that long-talked-about girls getaway or getting the family reunion organized, you can invite all the members of your travel party to pin to the same board so you’re not all searching through email chains to agree on the plan for a day out.

Because Pinterest is gaining popularity quickly, you normally have to request an account and wait a few days for it to be activated. To make the process must quicker, Experience Columbus is happy to send you an invitation, which gets you in right away. To request and invitation, email me at jvargo@experiencecolumbus.com . Please make "Pinterest" the subject line of your email.

As you explore this new tool, let me know what you like and don’t like about Experience Columbus’ boards (http://pinterest.com/expcols .) What do you wish you could find, that we haven’t covered yet?

Happy Pinning!

There’s no doubt about it - Columbus is a foodie destination. If you’ve got a foodie in your life, there are lots of ways to share the Columbus Food Scene this holiday season.

Columbus Food Adventures - These tours are the perfect introduction into all the flavors and behind-the-scenes info on the city’s food scene. Chose among several options, including a tour of Short North restaurants, more adventurous ethnic fare on the Alt Eats tour, and in warmer months, the Taco Truck tour. A gift certificate lets you pick the tour, and allows the recipient to pick a date that works best for them.

Juergen’s Bakery - Juergen’s, a Bavarian bakery located fittingly in German Village, offers the ultimate in sweet treats exclusively this time of year - the Stollen. Stollen is a traditional fruit-studded sweet bread that’s sure to become a tradition on your holiday table. You can also choose among other German pastries like strudel and linzertorte.

Books - This year, some great Columbus food books were published. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home shows home cooks how to create Jeni’s world renowned ice cream in their own kitchen, and how to play with imaginative flavors. Breakfast with Nick is a book written by Columbus’ premier breakfast blogger, Nick Dekker . It’s perfect for the person on your list who loves bacon, eggs, donuts and coffee.

Distillery Tours - Columbus’ spirits scene is taking off and gaining national attention. Treat the cocktail maven on your list to a tour and tasting at Watershed Distillery (outstanding vodka and gin) and Middle West Spirits (flavorful vodka and whiskey.) If you’re really nice, a bottle from each would be the perfect foundation to for a Columbus-based home-bar.

North Market School of Cooking - The North Market is arguably the hub of the Columbus Food Scene, with vendors selling locally grown ingredients and a whole range of prepared foods. The top floor of the market holds a treasure: the Dispatch Kitchen, where cooking classes with the city’s best chefs are offered. It’s dinner, wine and a show for the foodies on your list.

Dine Originals Gift Certificates - If you want to treat someone to a special night out, Dine Originals gift certificates are a perfect choice. Choose from almost 50 locally owned, independent restaurants, ranging from DeepWood between the Short North and Downtown, Alana’s Food and Wine in Clintonville, Black Creek Bistro in Old Town East, and Luce in Powell.

What else would you recommend for folks shopping for foodies? As always, you can keep up with the Columbus Food Scene on Facebook .

This post is written by Sandi Combs, Marketing Coordinator for Experience Columbus. You can follow Sandi on Twitter @Sandi_ExpCols .

If you’re like me, shopping for the women on your gift list is easy. What’s not always easy is finding something that’s truly personalized or unique. Fortunately, Columbus has plenty of places where you can find a one-of-a-kind gift for all the women in your life, from your grandmother to your wife. Here are 9 of the best:

1. substance for FASHION CONSCIOUS PEOPLE (Short North) Substance has a beautiful array of sustainable clothing and accessories for the fashionista on your list. Check out the Design Lab to see the latest creations of the in-house fashion designers.