Breakfast with Santa

Breakfast with Santa returns to the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens on Saturday, November 28, and Sunday, November 29. It's a family morning centered around the Wells Barn, where the main draw is a visit with Santa himself. The breakfast is catered with pancakes, so it's a sit-down meal with the kids before you head over to see the big guy.

If you're not familiar with the spot, the Conservatory is one of Ohio's premier botanical gardens, sitting on 13 acres east of Franklin Park, about two miles from downtown Columbus. The grounds bring together botanical biomes, gardens, art installations and exhibitions, including the Chihuly Collection, the Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation Children's Garden, and the Dorothy M. Davis Showhouse with its bonsai collection. Right next door, the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Community Garden Campus adds another four acres of public garden, with an apiary, a rose pavilion, a berry house and 40 community garden plots, all open to the public at no charge.

The Conservatory also offers free community admission on the first Sunday of each month for Franklin County and Columbus residents, and it runs after-hours events like Chihuly Nights alongside seasonal displays like the Winter Ice Festival, the Paul Busse Garden Railway and the Orchids exhibition. This breakfast is one of those seasonal additions, and it runs across two weekends: November 28-29 and December 19-20.

Tickets are $24 per adult (13+) and $16 per child (3-12), and children under 2 get in free. Keep in mind that admission to the Conservatory isn't included in the ticket price, so if you want to wander through the biomes and gardens after breakfast, that's a separate entry. The event is held at 1777 E Broad St, Columbus, OH 43203.