Independent Donut Crawl and Franklin County Trail

I get notices for Ohio festivals and when I saw the Donut and Beer Festival was coming up in Columbus, Ohio, I wanted to go.  I love donuts.  What could be better than biting into a hot, fresh bit of fluff and sugary batter?  I wasn’t interested in the beer part of the festival, but the donuts, individually and uniquely crafted, sounded wonderful.  Unfortunately I couldn’t get anyone to go with me.  It also wouldn’t be a good idea for me to eat that much sugar at once.  Pretty sure that isn’t on a low-carb diet plan.

But I can’t get the idea of a Donut Crawl out of my head.  Butler County, in between Dayton and Cincinnati, has a Donut Trail that sounds intriguing but too far away.  Delaware and Franklin County, where I live, has lots of donut shops.  So I want to do an Independent Donut Crawl.  One donut a month might be doable.  And if I could get three other people to go with me, we could get four different kinds and each have a bite of each donut.

I have even done quite a bit of research about donut shops near me.  I looked on TripAdvisor and wrote down the top-rated donut shops.  Several online lists described the best donuts in Columbus.  From everything I read, I started to compile a list of donut shops that would be on my Independent Donut Crawl.  But there are so many variables.  Should I include Krispy Kreme or Dunkin’?  Their donuts are delicious, especially when they are really fresh.  But they are everywhere.  What would be unique about a donut crawl that includes donut chains?

Dragon Donuts didn’t have much of a selection

What is a chain anyway?  Most states define a chain as anything with more than five locations.  Amy’s Donuts, which is consistently rated as one of the top donut shops in Columbus, has seven locations across the United States.  The Columbus location is franchised and opened in 2016.  Are franchises chains or independent shops?  Peace, Love and Little Donuts is another small chain.

If I only include donut shops that aren’t huge, national chains, I get a list of 23 donut shops in Franklin and Delaware County.  But that doesn’t include bakeries.  When is a place a bakery and when is it a donut shop?  If I visit one a month during the months we are in Ohio, that would take me about five years.  I may want to do an Independent Donut Crawl, but that seems like an excessively slow speed even for a crawl.  At least I wouldn’t have to worry about overdosing on sugar.

Schneider’s Bakery in Westerville has a bigger selection but their cookies are better than their donuts.

I might have to give up the idea of a donut crawl.  Give up the idea of comparing donuts or finding the best donut in Columbus.  Or I could just enjoy a good donut whenever I find one.

What do you think?  What is your favorite donut place, wherever you are?  Would you be interested in joining me on a Columbus-area Independent Donut Crawl?  Or reading about my search for the best donut in Columbus?  I would love to hear from you.