Oktoberfest 2016 - To Dirndle or Not to Dirndl?

Calling the Oktoberfest a beer festival is like saying  Shakespeare was a guy that made up stories. Sure you are right, but you would seriously be understating the depth, history and culture involved. You are missing the history, the other cultural aspects, and the heartfelt fun. German word of the day: "Herzliche Wilkomen" … it literally means heartfelt welcome. I have travelled around the world, and Germans are truly some of the friendliest and most optimistic people I have every met. I think anyone who has any interest in German history and culture ought to go the Oktoberfest in Munich at least once.

The Oktoberfest was originally a wedding reception for king Bavaria in 1810. He married Therese and threw a big party, inviting the local townsfolk. Ludwig and Therese were so well loved by the town folk, that the next year, they wanted an annual do-over. Or at least the party and the beer were well loved. It became an annual event. Years later, it evolved into a beer competition and hence a festival. "Wiesen" is the German word for field. The locals do not call it the Oktoberfest, they call it Thereseweisen;" Theresa's field.  Thus, the original party was basically a kegger in the field for the king and his new bride. I went to a couple keggers in high school. That's all I have to say about high school keggers. Not because I lack an opinion, just because I don’t remember anything about the keggers in high school.

Parade of drummers

been to Wiesen twice now. The atmosphere is fun-loving and easy-going, with drinking, dancing, music, good food, and open hearted people. Many times I have been lost and confused in Germany, and a local has come up to me volunteering their help. I grew up hearing about how friendly Canadians are, and have seen this reputation to be true, but they do not have Germans beat on this. Germans love to have fun. The serious, humorless German stereotype is unfounded. Walk into a beer tent and instantly start having fun with  900 other people. I learned the hard way not to stand in front of the door to the bar.  Bar maids carrying 12 large beer glasses at a time come rushing out of there in a near run. The Germans could have been yelling at me and calling me names, instead they only gently but firmly pulled me out of the way, preventing serious beer loss, injuries and humiliation. Well, probably the beer loss was the main motivation, but they were kind and jovial about it. The same thing is true with the kitchen door, and large trays of roasted chicken and vegetables.  Sometimes I learn the hard way.  German word of the day "Freundlich."  It means friendly, not lick your friends.  I might have learned that the hard way, too, I'm not saying.

Beer tents. Fun places with a terribly inaccurate name. They are far from actually being tents. These are large permanent wooden structures, about three stories high that seat about 9,000 people. If this is what you call a tent, I would not want to camp with you if I have to help you pitch it. Each tent has a complete kitchen serving delicious German food, and of course, beer. Lots of beer. Served in large glasses that hold about three bottles. Waiters and waitresses carry up to twelve of these at a time, a very cool sight to see. In the center of the hall, full of 9,000 patrons, you will find a band on an elevated stage, about half a floor into the air, suspended over the crowd. Horns, accordions, drums, singers, all playing traditional German music. The music is loud and energetic. Even without understanding the words, and not having any alcohol in me yet, I felt like dancing. Of the 9,000 patrons, you will find at least 100 dancing on tables at any one time (often much more than that).  It is all brightly lit, colorful and festive. The moment you walk in, you feel is an unmistakable air of light-hearted fun.

There are 14 large tents at the Wiesen, all matching the description above. The tents are owned by the breweries. So the Löwenbräu tent, of course, serves Lowenbrau, and so on. The other beer companies that have tents there are Paulaner, Augustiner, Spaten, Hofbräu and Hacker-Pschorr. About 7 million liters of beer are drunk by the end of the festival. Each tent will have specific bands contracted to play for them. The tents have different food offerings. One has fish on a stick (entire fish, roasted, on a stick). One has numerous roasted meats; duck, chicken, all sorts of beef and pork. One has crossbow competitions. What can go wrong with beer and crossbows in a large crowd, after all?

There are also much smaller tents which are quieter and do not specialize in beer or have bands. We spent time in a wine tent. If it were located anywhere else, the wine tent would not be called a "tent." It would be called a cute little restaurant. In German we would say the restaurant is "Gemütlich" which does not have a literal translation in English, but would mean it is very pleasing, comfortable and friendly, and you feel quite relaxed and at home. 

One of the smaller beer tents.. specializing in Fish on a Stick...and beer

There are also coffee, donuts, and pastry tents. It's not all about beer at the Oktoberfest; just mostly about beer.  There are also plenty of outdoor food and drink stands. The Oktoberfest also has a large midway, with roller coasters and other rides, carnival games, music. German word of the day: Fahrt"  It means to drive. So the roller coaster called "Fahrt zur Holle" is the drive through hell, not what It sounds like in English. 

Fahrt Zur Holle

Most Oktoberfest participants wear lederhosen or dirndls. You don’t have to wear the traditional clothing; you can wear jeans and t-shirts, but you will feel more like part of the event if you dress accordingly. You don't have to be German to wear the traditional outfits, the Germans will not be offended if you are from another country and still dress for the festival. 

I speak a little bit German, and I am nowhere near fluent. If you want to speak German to me, speak slowly and as if to a 4 year old, and we will do fine in conversation (until I cry). However, I rarely run into a German who is not fluent in English, and as soon as they hear my accent, they begin talking to me in perfect English. The downside to this is I don’t get a chance to practice my German, the upside is that we can communicate better, with more precision and expediency. The only time I found communication difficult was in the beer tents; it is so very loud in there, and very crowded. If you go, I recommend reserving space ahead of time. This is a German festival, by and for Germans, after all, so the default language is German. So if your German skills are not very high, it is hard to converse in the tents. I did manage to have a nice conversation with a woman and her husband who sat next to me. She spoke very little English, but between the two of us we could yell a pleasant conversation She was a surgical nurse, and since I am a medical doctor, we had some things in common. If you learn a little before you go, you will find yourself picking up a lot more just by being a tourist. My wife did not know much to start with, and she picked up a little German every day. I had to tell her to put the little Germans back down, we were trying to avoid trouble. I've been to Germany before, and I am trying to avoid trouble with the law. German word of the day: Rathaus. A municipal building. i.e. where politicians work. You can figure out the word roots there.

I really enjoy the German language, although I don’t find it lyrically beautiful like I do Italian. There are plenty of German words incorporated into English.  Kaput is German for Broken. A "Kind" is a child, and "Kinder" is plural for children, Garten is garden. So you see where the word Kindergarten came from.  I am sure you have all heard the word "beer garden"  That is what my grandparents used to call bars. I never heard them say the word "bar," it was always  "beer garden." That's right you guessed it's where Germans grow beer. Pull tabs from cans and bottle cap are seeds to grow more beer. Overall, you don’t have to speak German to go the Oktoberfest, but it would help.

If you like beer, Germany, parties and music, you should go to the Oktoberfest in Munich at least once in your life. I would only add two caveats. If you do not like large, loud bustling crowds, you won't like the beer tents. The other is to reserve a table ahead of time online at www.oktoberfest.de. Finding a seat ahead of time is very difficult and requires a lot of luck and patience.

Berea -- Ending Slavery Before it Was Cool

Berea, KY is a cool and artsy little college town. It was started by Cassius Clay and Reverend Fee in the 1850's, both ardent abolitionists. They built two churches and a tiny town in the midst of scattered farms, with the intent of building a community that would fight against slavery. From its inception, it has been a liberal bastion in a state mired in right winged closed minded politics. From opposing slavery in a slave state before the Civil War, to a thriving hippie college town in the middle of Bible belt Republican-or-die Kentucky. Berea is a free thinking breath of fresh air in a state with too many uneducated fundamentalists. In Berea, people actually know what Kombucha is and that Jesus was a Palestinian, not a blonde haired blue eyed Aryan. 

Berea Coffee and Tea

This is the only place I have ever encountered where all the college students get a full scholarship in exchange for work. Every single one of them. The students work in the town and get full tuition, room and board, and a little bit of spending money. We talked to several college students. They are upbeat, optimistic about the future, and eager to learn, eager to be thorough and conscientious in their responsibilities. Berea College is a beautiful campus. It has a wide range of degree options. It is a well respected and fully certified institution of higher learning.

 

 

When we booked a room at Boone Tavern, I pictured the hotel staff in coonskin hats, a bartender in denim and leather with his foot on a stool, resting his arm on his knee, chatting with a settler drinking beer out of an elk horn. I was really disappointed to arrive at an opulent hotel that looked like it was designed by the Astors, and managers in suits.  Boone Tavern has a rich feel of genuineness and history and offers the best imaginable service. It started as a guest house for the college president in 1909. The hotel is owned by the college, and mostly run by students. You cannot find friendlier service in a hotel. All of the services are modern and efficient, and the restaurant serves impeccable cuisine. They have complimentary bicycles and reserved parking for all-electric vehicles, with free charging.  There are shops all around the hotel, and you could easily spend a pleasant day never leaving the block it inhabits.

Boone Tavern

Boone Tavern

Boone Tavern

Boone Tavern

Boone Tavern

The town is adorable with tea shops, cafes, and gift shops that begged for perusing. Everywhere there was an atmosphere of hope and future. During summer, Berea has "First Friday" celebrations. First Friday is a lot of fun. We were fortunate to be there during a First Friday. During the first Friday of a summer month, you will sway and jive to live music performed by high quality local bands. You will find food trucks and entertainers, crafts and fun-loving crowds across several blocked off blocks and the park in the town square. The music was fantastic.  It was hard to sit still, and not just from my hemorrhoids; I couldn’t help but dance.  It was so good, I kept dancing for half an hour after they were done. Then in the morning, you can go to the farmer's market for home grown vegetables, local honey and handcrafted Kentucky country home goods, and home brewed Kombucha.

Festival

Finally, Berea is where we discovered Ale81. Ale81 (pronounces "a late one"… Hey, don't ask me. It's Kentucky.) is a locally produced soda pop, a family owned business. You will find Ale81 pervasively in shops throughout Kentucky. Personally, I stopped drinking soda pop years ago when I discovered Kombucha. I decided to substitute probiotics and my own brew for chemicals and global corporations. But being local and quirky, I had to try it. It was incredible. It is like a mix of Vernors (the best Ginger Ale in the world, says the Michigan Native about the pop that was once a local Detroit only Ginger Ale), and Mountain Dew. I quickly developed an addiction and was buying a six pack every other day, and smuggling two liters into work.

Berea is a fun, cute, intelligent little hippie city. It is on my list of places I must return to, especially on Friday nights. With or without Ale81, and in spite of Boone Tavern management not wearing leather chaps

Blowing Rock and the Movies

Blowing Rock is nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains. Being a mountain town, it is quite temperate. I lived in nearby Asheville for a year, and I found the climate to be consistently pleasant; the temperature was modulated by the Smokies.  Being the hippie town that it is, you can wear your tie-dye hemp shirts almost year round. Unless you are a business person; then you wear your tie-dyed hemp three piece suit. 

Blowing Rock is less of a hippie town than Asheville, but still beautiful and temperate. It is smaller and more quaint than Asheville.  In January, average high is 39 F. In July, it is 76. Lows are 21 and 59, respectively, and those are the extremes of temperature for BR. It was first settled by Native Americans, of course. As far as European-descent colonists, settling began just a few decades before the civil war. Interest in the area picked up after the civil war, as a vacation spot with cooling elevation in the summer for people from nearby Brevard and other nearby NC towns. Early settlers turned their homes into boarding houses and as demand outstripped their space, they eventually built hotels. The first hotel in Blowing Rock was the Watauga Hotel, built in 1884.

 

Blowing Rock offers dozens of cute shops and original restaurants with outstanding food. They have numerous parks, zip lines, nearby skiing, hiking, camping, bears (did I mention bears?) and wineries. They have a monthly  art in the park event for 6 months in the summer, and movies in park. They have their own brewery. Blowing Rock is also where I discovered local soda. Just when you thought all soda pops were multinational conglomerate owned sugar water death crystal factories of doom, I discovered two amazing family owned soda pop companies on the same trip; one in Kentucky ( a future but soon post) and one in NC.

They have a summertime series called Movies in the Park. This reminds me of the drive-in theaters that I used to visit as a teenager, which reminds me of an incident involving smuggling extra guys in the trunk. There is nothing devious about the Blowing Rock Movies in the Park, however. The films are all family friendly and sponsored by local business.  This summer, they showed Hotel Transylvania 2, The Grinch, The Mighty Ducks, and The Never-ending Story.

They should work harder at matching sponsors to themes, however. I cannot find any connection between the theme of the movie and the local company sponsor for it. For example, if Cujo was showing, the nearest St. Bernard breeders would sponsor. Or McCormick's Meat Tenderizer could sponsor the Hannibal Lecter movies.  I am only mildly offended that they have not taken my suggestions with any serious consideration. Maybe I should mail them some meat tenderizer in an envelope to remind them of my idea.

 

Which brings me back to smuggling of teenagers. Back then, as you probably know, we paid by the person. So of course, teens going to movies would smuggle extra passengers in the trunk. Or at least we did. And I was the first in my posse to have a car. And I was one of the two skinniest guys… so guess who got smuggled in the trunk in my own car?  Me and Chuck. 

So then the problem became ... Where to sit to watch the movie?  I sat on the ground, with the grill of my car as a backrest. The only problem with this was that we had gone to see the original Halloween movie. It was a new release.  I never really liked scary slasher movies. And I didn’t know who Jamie Lee Curtis was at the time or I probably would have been paying more attention to her. Anyway, this one bozo, Jerry, sat in the driver's seat of MY car. He had seen the movie before. So at all the worst most suspenseful scenes, he would lay on the horn. And I would jump ten feet in the air. I eventually went to a picnic table for a coke and a burger and quit watching the film.

Well, nothing like this will happen at the Movies in the Park in Blowing Rock. (or will it? … creepy Vincent Price voice.. MWhahahahaha).

More importantly, I am no longer smuggling teenagers in my car.

The peacefulness of Blowing Rock is majestic. The beauty, surreal. My blog posts and pictures barely give you a sense of it. Come spend time in Blowing Rock, and you will never want to leave.