Treat the wunderkinds to a yodeling great weekend
If you think the fun's over because the kids are back in school and the leaves look ready to commence their color cabaret, I have one word for you: "Nien."
Oktoberfest is a very family-friendly kind of fall carnival and you need not traipse to the summit of Mount Gudenberg, Germany, either. There are plenty of chances to raise your stein to the tune of "Ein Prosit," enjoy the gemutlichkeit and schunkel the weekend away without losing too much time to traveling.
The merrymaking consumes La Crosse, Wis., from Sept. 28 through Oct. 6 during one of the Midwest's largest and most authentic German festivals. The town's 47th Oktoberfest includes parades, lots of live music, kids' activities, food, contests, games, carnival rides and athletic competition. It's not all oompah tuba tunes and polka dancing; there's a full night of blues performances as well as jazz singers, classic rock and oldies bands offering songs that the kids might recall.
Take a look at www.oktoberfestusa.com or call (608) 784-3378.
When little Dieter and Dagmar are sated with strudel, have them work it off at the Children's Museum of La Crosse (www.childmuseumlax.org), the town's skate park or one of the most scenic bike trails in the Midwest, the 400 State Trail, which links to others, including the La Crosse River State Trail. For lodging ideas, go to www.explorelacrosse.com or call (800) 658-9424.
Can you get any more thematic than celebrating Oktoberfest in Germantown? (Wisconsin, that is, a suburb just northwest of Milwaukee.) Combine the big-city appeal of theater, museums and hotels and plenty of wieners in Germantown, a 30-minute drive from downtown Milwaukee. Dheinsville Settlement Park and Museum is the site on Sept. 29 and 30. While there, browse the original 22 structures that were built by German immigrants of the Hunsruck Mountain region. See the fire hall, barn and the original haus of town shoemaker. Call (262) 628-3170 for details.
You'll have to travel a little farther to reach the nation's largest, most authentic Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati showcases the deep German heritage of Southwestern Ohio with more than 500,000 revelers every year. You needn't have the 200 million nasal cell receptors that German shepherd dogs enjoy to catch the scent of grilling bratwursts, crispy schnitzel, hot pretzels and apple and cherry strudel. After a weiss or special Oktoberfest beer, those pickled pigs' feet and sauerkraut balls might look mighty tasty, too.
Do the kids enjoy "So You Think You Can Dance" on TV? Tell them this Cincinnati fest is famous for establishing a Guinness World Record for 48,000 participating in the World's Largest Chicken Dance. Past leaders of the Chicken Dance spectacle include Verne Troyer, who played Mini Me in the Austin Powers films, and Vince Neil, lead vocalist for the rock group Motley Crue. (The event is so bizarre VH1 named it the "Least Metal Moment" in the history of rock 'n' roll.)
You'll have to call soon to get the Oktoberfest package at Millennium Hotel Cincinnati: complimentary buffet breakfast for two, a limited-edition beer stein and a $20 gift certificate to the Hofbrauhaus Newport brewery and restaurant. Rates begin at $139 (plus taxes) available from Sept. 21-24. Call (866) 866-8086 or visit www.millenniumhotels.com. The downtown hotel is within walking distance of the Oktoberfest celebrations taking place Sept. 22 and 23 (www.oktoberfest-zinzinnati.com).
When the sky is a clear blau, the maple leaves are turning rot and the earth begins its transformation from grun to braun, it's time for Amana Oktoberfest in Amana, Iowa.
The festival from Sept. 28-30 will entertain your inner Schwarzenegger in a building that's the heart of the village, the Festhalle, a great barn built in 1900. The Teutonic rite of autumn offers strangely wonderful sights, such as keg-toss competitions, log-sawing contests and a brat-eating challenge (finish a 1-foot-long bratwurst in the shortest amount of time, and win an Amana Meat Shop gift certificate).
You can't beat entertainment from the likes of Barefoot Becky and the Ivanhoe Dutchmen and a fashion show full of lederhosen and dirndls.
Best of all, you won't see discount stores, big-box retailers or chain restaurants among the historic Amana Colonies buildings dating to the mid-1850s and made of indigenous materials. So what if you can't make it to that charming little German village on the Austrian border to get lebkuchen cookies, handmade ornaments and cuckoo clocks? The Iowa settlement offers gems, such as an Old World lace shop, German gifts and goods and even an original 1858 village general store.
The Amana Colonies offer a host of quaint bed-and-breakfasts and a historic restored hotel, but families might go for condos with full kitchens or the Amana Colonies Holiday Inn with mini-golf and an indoor water park.
For details on all, go to www.amanacolonies.com or ring (800) 579-2294.