That time of year. My favorite festival. Here is some audio from the Lowenbrau tent last year. I find it amusing since they have a recording of 'Country Roads'. When my wife and I went to Oktoberfest, we practically went straight to the tent from the airport, and expecting just oompa music, they were singing New York New York and Country Roads. Combined with the jet-lag, sleep-deprived stupor, it was somehat surreal. http://www.loewenbraeu.de/4_gastro_events/4_4_oktoberfest/4_4_2_webcam/index_stat_webcam.htm Many local ones are fun too. I think we'll try Fredericksburg's this year. Anyone been there? We'll prob do the Wursfest this year too (later). Any other good Oktoberfests around?
John Denver is a God at the Hofbraeuhaus in Munich. Country Roads is played every night. When I was working there I'd go there every now and then to get my fix of American and Japanese tourists.
Hahahaha! You live in the Natti??? I spent a year there working downtown and lived at the Westin... Now that I know you're from the Natti, I can explain a lot of your behavior. Yes, there are a lot of German-Americans there, especially with the Main Strasse in Covington. I'd imagine that there would be a nice Oktoberfest there.
bigtexx, What did you think of it? We met quite a few people pretty quickly...northern Germans, Bavarians, Swiss, and lots of Americans who worked/studied in Paris or Italy. Festive.
Huh, what did I do that makes you think I am German-like? Next time you in town, let me know and we have some beer. Zinzinnati just had this year's Oktoberfest last weekend. The locals boast our annual festival is the nation's largest, most authentic Oktoberfest. Some say the largest outside Germany. Oktoberfest comes early Oktoberfest brings bier, bratwurst and lederhosen to MainStrasse http://www.cinweekly.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050907/NEWS0102/509070328/1067/all
A lot of folks prob don't realize how many Germans emigrated to Texas in the 1800's. One in 6 Texans have German heritage, and it wasn't until the 1950's that the last of the local German press died out.
Just one weekend? What a waste! I've been to the original, and ones in Big Bear Lake Ca, Huntington Beach (Old Town), Orange Ca, Albuquerque (Rio Rancho) and Torrance Ca.
The only real noticeable "German" part of Texas would be the area north of San Antonio. New Braunfels, Fredricksburg, Boerne, etc. I've never seen much influence anywhere else, aside from the random beer garden here and there.
I've never actually been to Oktoberfest, and frankly don't have a burning desire to go. The crowds are somewhat of a turnoff to me.
Actually, the 'German Belt' stretches from Galveston/Houston to the Hill Country. http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/png2.html Here's a list of some of the towns (and again, it's not just that there are German Towns in Texas, it's that 1 in 6 have German heritage): ... Later German immigrants settled in New Baden, Anderson, Pflugerville, Dessau, Westphalia, McGregor, Coryell, Thorndale, Copperas Cove, The Grove, Womack, Tours, and Malone, all in central Texas; from Rosenberg to Damon in East Bernard, Schulenburg, Weimar, Yorktown, Meyersville, Deutschburg, Ganado, Vatmann, Woodsboro, Tivoli, between Tynan and Skidmore, in Orange Grove, Violet, and Fashing, all in southeast Texas or near the Coastal Bend. Not all the German settlers came directly from Germany; they also migrated form other parts of Texas and from other parts of the United States. Some such settlements include Muenster, Lindsay, Pilot Point, Mount Carmel, Fulda, Olfen, Windthorst, Rhineland, Nazareth, Umbarger, Slaton, and Scotland. (In spite of its name, Scotland was a German settlement; it was a secondary settlement of Windthorst, established on a subdivision of the Scotland Ranch--thus the name.) Marienfeld was renamed Stanton; and New Brandenburg was renamed Old Glory during the World War I anti-German hysteria. These settlements are in north and northwest Texas, on the High Plains, and even into the Texas Panhandle, forming a chain of "folk islands" in the cultural sea of Anglo Americans. ... A map of present-day Texas shows a "German Belt" from Houston westward to the Fredericksburg vicinity in the Hill Country. Yet, the German settlements are not only clustered in this band or belt; they are also scattered throughout nearly all parts of the large state of Texas. ... http://hostville.com/hoelscher/gertex.htm
I'm mildly surprised. I would have expected that you wouldn't miss a good party. Just too many people.... or is it really the John Denver music?
Pflugerville, Schulenburg, Weimar, Deutschburg, Muenster, Rhineland, Umbarger. Damn! I never would have guessed.
I went to the real Oktoberfest (3 times) last year in Munich!! I had a blast!!! If I could, I'd go back every year for a great party with a million of my favorite people! I would highly recommend it if you can swing it.
