Columbus is definitely an interesting city. In the morning, my brother and I had breakfast at a wonderful, little German café called Juergen’s, in Germantown. It looked, smelled, and sounded just like some of the small bakery cafes I went to when I lived in Germany. Even the small, red-brick building looked like it had been transplanted from some small town near Munich or Heidelberg. Inside, the bakery display case showed off fresh baked bread, rolls, and pastries, including a ‘sweet pretzel’ (a pastry that looks like a soft pretzel, but it is made with sugar and pastry dough of some kind) and elephant ears (the pastry, not the animal, of course). The menu offered German breakfast, including omelettes and a wonderful pancake that was like a crepe, but a little thicker. We had a wonderful breakfast, and I left with several brioche rolls, a couple of small elephant ears, and a large loaf of whole wheat bread (for the Dominican priests and brothers as a thank you for letting me stay in the guest room).
We then drove around Germantown for a little bit so I could see the quaint, old-world style homes. We stopped at a wonderful book store, The Book Loft. If you enter through the back (it opens onto two different streets), you walk through a passage lined with plants and flowers. You go up a few steps and there are several tables of books for you to browse through. Then you go toward the entrance, where there are more tables of books, and then inside, where there are shelves of books going up to the ceiling. The rooms are small, and you keep walking through thin passages lined with books from floor to ceiling. The passages zig-zag through the building, and you often have to climb up a few stairs and sometimes then down stairs to get to the rooms. It is a maze of rooms lined with books, and it is easy to get lost. Eventually you get to the last room, which opens out to the next street. I practiced self-control and only bought a few books, most of them gifts for other people.
And suddenly it was lunch time! We went to the Northern Market for ice cream. We wandered around all of the different vendor’s stalls. It is a bit like Lancaster’s Central Market – a huge building with vendors selling all kinds of products, from candles to hot sauces, to meats and baked goods, and more. We spent a bit of time tasting the different, odd flavors of Jeni’s Splendid Ice cream’s, sorbets, ice cream, and frozen yogurts, then took our scoops of Yazoo Sue with rosemary bar nuts and saison with sunflower seeds and golden flax (my brother’s choices), brown butter almond brittle and Savannah buttermint (my choices) to the upstairs area with all the tables and chairs for dining there. The ice cream was different, but delicious.
We left the Northern Market to see the James Thurber House. It is just one of many Thurber lived in while growing up in Columbus. Several stories of his are said to be set in this particular house. The organization that funds and runs this museum, known just as the James Thurber House, also offers the James Thurber prize for humor, and a month long residency for writers of children’s literature. The house was set up to look like what it probably looked like while he and his parents lived there, but also contained copies of some of his artwork and photos of him and his family, along with a few other artifacts from his life and work. (See the photo essay of my visit there – which I hope to have up soon.)
We then drove over to the Westin hotel, downtown. It was originally the Great Southern Hotel, built around 1897, and the lobby bar displays many copies of Thurbar’s art work on its walls. We sat and drank iced tea (okay, and a cablecar – an interesting drink kind of like a martini, but not).
We had dinner at a wonderful Thai restaurant, then went to the Ohio Theater. The theater first opened in 1928 as a movie theater with its own orchestra and organ. The opulent Spanish-Baroque style theater has 2,779 seats and a lavish interior. In 1969 it was slated for demolition, but the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) bought and renovated it. It is gorgeous and impressive. CAPA offers cheap movies (usually old movies) periodically over the summer in the theater, and this happened to be one of those nights. For $7.00 (total), my brother and I got to watch the movie My Favorite Year. The movie started at 7:30 p.m., but at 7:00 p.m., the organ rose up from under the stage, and we were treated to a performance of organ music, including old show tunes. It is a massive Wurlitzer, probably built in the 1930’s. The pipe's are hidden behind curtains and drapes in what were the old theater boxes for the rich. Then the organ descended back into the depths of the stage and the movie began. The movie was interrupted about 45 minutes into it for an intermission and more organ music. After the movie was over, the organist played again for about 15 minutes.
I left Columbus the next morning for the very long drive to Hannibal, MO. More on that, later.
We then drove around Germantown for a little bit so I could see the quaint, old-world style homes. We stopped at a wonderful book store, The Book Loft. If you enter through the back (it opens onto two different streets), you walk through a passage lined with plants and flowers. You go up a few steps and there are several tables of books for you to browse through. Then you go toward the entrance, where there are more tables of books, and then inside, where there are shelves of books going up to the ceiling. The rooms are small, and you keep walking through thin passages lined with books from floor to ceiling. The passages zig-zag through the building, and you often have to climb up a few stairs and sometimes then down stairs to get to the rooms. It is a maze of rooms lined with books, and it is easy to get lost. Eventually you get to the last room, which opens out to the next street. I practiced self-control and only bought a few books, most of them gifts for other people.
And suddenly it was lunch time! We went to the Northern Market for ice cream. We wandered around all of the different vendor’s stalls. It is a bit like Lancaster’s Central Market – a huge building with vendors selling all kinds of products, from candles to hot sauces, to meats and baked goods, and more. We spent a bit of time tasting the different, odd flavors of Jeni’s Splendid Ice cream’s, sorbets, ice cream, and frozen yogurts, then took our scoops of Yazoo Sue with rosemary bar nuts and saison with sunflower seeds and golden flax (my brother’s choices), brown butter almond brittle and Savannah buttermint (my choices) to the upstairs area with all the tables and chairs for dining there. The ice cream was different, but delicious.
We left the Northern Market to see the James Thurber House. It is just one of many Thurber lived in while growing up in Columbus. Several stories of his are said to be set in this particular house. The organization that funds and runs this museum, known just as the James Thurber House, also offers the James Thurber prize for humor, and a month long residency for writers of children’s literature. The house was set up to look like what it probably looked like while he and his parents lived there, but also contained copies of some of his artwork and photos of him and his family, along with a few other artifacts from his life and work. (See the photo essay of my visit there – which I hope to have up soon.)
We then drove over to the Westin hotel, downtown. It was originally the Great Southern Hotel, built around 1897, and the lobby bar displays many copies of Thurbar’s art work on its walls. We sat and drank iced tea (okay, and a cablecar – an interesting drink kind of like a martini, but not).
We had dinner at a wonderful Thai restaurant, then went to the Ohio Theater. The theater first opened in 1928 as a movie theater with its own orchestra and organ. The opulent Spanish-Baroque style theater has 2,779 seats and a lavish interior. In 1969 it was slated for demolition, but the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) bought and renovated it. It is gorgeous and impressive. CAPA offers cheap movies (usually old movies) periodically over the summer in the theater, and this happened to be one of those nights. For $7.00 (total), my brother and I got to watch the movie My Favorite Year. The movie started at 7:30 p.m., but at 7:00 p.m., the organ rose up from under the stage, and we were treated to a performance of organ music, including old show tunes. It is a massive Wurlitzer, probably built in the 1930’s. The pipe's are hidden behind curtains and drapes in what were the old theater boxes for the rich. Then the organ descended back into the depths of the stage and the movie began. The movie was interrupted about 45 minutes into it for an intermission and more organ music. After the movie was over, the organist played again for about 15 minutes.
I left Columbus the next morning for the very long drive to Hannibal, MO. More on that, later.