Visiting Schmidt's German Buffet in Columbus

Two things Ohio does much better than New York are buffets and mid-priced German food. And they both come together at Schmidt's.

Schmidt's is a well-known German restaurant located -- where else? -- in the German Village neighborhood near downtown Columbus. It's known for two things itself: cream puffs and an excellent buffet.

Paul and our little Fräulein

We partook in the latter a few weeks ago, for lunch on a Saturday. Sure, there are sausages aplenty on the buffet, but I'm mainly in it for the spaetzle, hot German potato salad and red cabbage.

A trip to the buffet, sideways.

Surprisingly, Edith is turning into a little Fräulein as well. We had our camera all poised for her reaction to sauerkraut and red cabbage, but it might as well have been the blandest potato for all she cared. A girl after my heart!

Yum!

Although Schmidt's cream puffs get raves, I'm not a fan. But I love, love, love the pie. The buffet is filling, so a giant slice of chocolate cream pie is an excellent end to the day.

Cream pies, blurry but delicious.

Congrats, Paul: NYC Marathon Runner!

Congratulations to Paul, who finished the New York City Marathon in 4:13:44. I spoke with him after he crossed the finish line yesterday -- he was feeling good and was pleased with his time. He returns to Columbus today.

About 48,000 runners participated in the marathon, including 22,000 who were scheduled to run last year, according to the television broadcast of the race on Sunday. The fastest man, from Kenya, finished in 2:08:24.

It's been a long-time goal of Paul's to run this marathon, and I'm glad he was able to. But I'm sorry I wasn't there to see it.

Halloween: Columbus vs. New York

I am indifferent to Halloween. My love of candy balances out my active dislike of dressing up in costumes, putting me in a decidedly middle ground.

That doesn't mean I'll deprive Edith ... when the time comes. Luckily, she won't remember her first Halloween. I had no decorations, no pumpkins, no nothing except for a Halloween outfit (not a costume) that she got as a gift when she was born. But we did hand out chocolate to the trick-or-treaters.

At our apartment in New York, we got no costumed kids. The building was locked, and it seems that most kids in our old neighborhood go trick-or-treating at the businesses along a couple of the main avenues.

Here in Clintonville, we got about 30 visitors last night. I think we would have gotten more, but the weather was quite rainy. In fact, the hours to go door-to-door were altered: instead of 6 to 8 p.m., it was announced yesterday that trick-or-treating would be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. because of the impending bad weather. Luckily, all we got was rain and nothing worse.

I was prepared with some 120 miniature candy bars, so I have some leftovers. But there are worse things in life than leftover chocolate.