Oktoberfest

We went to Oktoberfest at the local Turnverein this past weekend.  We went on Saturday afternoon once Lulu woke up from her nap, but the rhythm of the celebration seemed off.  We kinda felt the same way about going on Saturday last year, so I think we're going to go on Fri evening next time, made crush of college students and all.

Lulu actually agreed to wear her dirndl with its matching shirt (as opposed to Maifest last spring) and its apron!  Gropius wore his lederhosen and I wore my dirndl, too.  Here's a post-Oktoberfest photo once we got home.

nominee for awkward family photo??

When we arrived, we went ahead and found a spot and ate dinner.  Lulu and I had sausage and sauerkraut while Gropius had the ham knuckle (eisbein?).  And of course, there was beer and wine to drink.

hamming it up for the camera

After we finished eating, we went downstairs and enjoyed the music and dancing.  The Schuhplatter dancers were there again this year as well as the Al Gruber family band.

the main hall is always full of people...

someone wanted to watch the dancing until....

....she decided she had to join in the dancing.

children fascinated with the "alpine horn"
(aka a modified beer bong)

And we wandered outside to the biergarten to see what was going on outdoors.  Turns out that they had music outside, too, as well as food.

perhaps I can put that clarinet to good use after all....?

Before we left, we wandered back upstairs to enjoy a slice of cake and finish off the last of our tickets, but we got home in time to put Lulu to bed around her usual bedtime.

Sacramento Beer

I was reading in the latest issue of Sactown magazine (while on the treadmill at the gym, no less), that prior to Prohibition, Sacramento was the nation's largest hops-growing region.  Unfortunately, once Prohibition passed, it never regained its national prominence and the Pacific Northwest took over.

But apparently, a local entrepreneur is trying his hand at making a fully Sacramento beer.  Including locally grown hops.  And he's having quite a bit of success:


After reading the article and watching the video, Gropius was anxious to try it and our local Whole Foods just happened to have a BIG display of it, too.  So, he busted out this one to enjoy:

And I think we might be getting a few more before they sell out, so we can let our visitors enjoy some of Sacramento's beer, too.

And it just so happens our local Whole Foods has 20% off beer for today only....better motor!