O'ZAPFT IS!
Your
humble
scribe of all things cheap and fun hasn’t had much fun lately. I’ve been
sequestered in the dark cold confines of control rooms busily working, working,
working. I’m “tapped out,” as it were. But, I know there is a big world there,
like the one I see on TV, and people out there, somewhere, are having fun. If
freed from these chains of commerce though, I have a fun wish list a mile long,
but as this is October I’ll whittle it down to two favorites, Oktoberfest and
apple picking.
GET YOUR OOMP-AH ON
Oktoberfest
begins with the proclamation “O’Zapft Is!”… It is tapped. And, that’s about as
much information about the traditions and history of this 16 day German
celebration here. You can read about how it began in Munich in the early 1800’s
elsewhere. You can fret that in America the beers served at the myriad of
copycat fairs and harvests and Oktoberfests around the country may not have
been brewed within the city limits of Munich or that German purity laws, or
Reinheitsgebot, are ignored, but I won’t. You may even say that Oktoberfest
begins in September and should be over by now, that no matter how many German
Oomp-ah bands honk and chortle, no matter how many people cavort in a chicken
dance, eat pretzels, follow around the two guys dancing with a roasted pig on a spit over their shoulders, no matter how many Alphorns warble, it can’t be
Oktoberfest because it’s over! I say, I’m gonna elbow past you to get to the
bar.
If I
get out of this dark room anytime soon I’m going to try to hit three different
places.
Zeppelin Hall Biergarten
One is
the Zeppelin Hall Biergarten, 297 Grand Street, Jersey City, NJ. It’s loud and
airy and a lot of fun. Live bands, but no lederhosen. It’s more hipster than
anything else, but the array of beers is fascinating. They claim to have
Oktoberfest festivities through to the next October.
Radegast Hall & Biergarten
More
traditional in its beer offerings, the Radegast Hall & Biergarten has a lot
of German beers on tap. Located on the
corner of North Third and Berry in the hipster capital of the world,
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Radegast is vast, with live bands, but still no lederhosen. Food is
exceptional here. Spring for the Currywurst or Venison Sausage!
Stoudt’s Brewery
The
Oktoberfest experience in Stoudt’s, North Reading Road, Adamstown, PA, is much
more traditional and worth the long drive out there. Indeed, here you’ll find
men in Lederhosen and families doing the chicken dance. They serve only their
beer here, but when the two guys with a roasted pig on a spit slung between
their shoulders shimmy along the dance floor you’ll swear you hit the jackpot
by saving on the airfare to Munich. $30 gets you 3 drinks and a mug and all the knee slapping fun you can handle.
Their
Oktoberfest goes on every Sunday through to the end of the month.
Tree-Licious Orchards
Apple
picking is fun and I’ve been doing it for years with the kids. I remember great
times trolling the rows with the kids communicating via walkie talkies as to
where to find the best apples. Countless families have similar experiences, but
for me what makes Tree-Licious in Port Murray, NJ special is its solitude.
The rolling hills make for beautiful scenery and the rural setting makes for
sparser crowds. There have been times our only other contact while at the farm was their Yellow Lab who would lope along with us. Supposedly they are only open on the
weekend, but we always managed to talk our way in during the week. (There we
go, the chains of commerce forcing me to work weekends even back then…sigh).
It’s too late for their Apple Festival held
last weekend, but you can pick apples until November 22nd.. Come for
the apples, the cider and fresh baked goods, or just hang out in this beautiful
setting in western Jersey. Earlier in the growing season you can pick your own
peaches, plums and pears and for the first time this year through Halloween you can pick
your own pumpkins.
This
weekend, October 17th, Tree-licious is holding their final Farm to
Table dinner of the year. This BYOB series, features food grown on the farm,
costs $35 per person. There will be live music.
Please! Some of you get out there and enjoy life! Please....
