Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg,Texas

Front door of the visitors' center-major coleus growth  

 



5  10 25 cent store

Noble immigrants arrived here in the Hill Country of Texas from Germany in the early 1800s.  This area is west of Austin and includes such towns as San Antonio to the south, Comfort, Stonewall, Banderas, Dripping Springs, Luckenbach (of Willie fame) New Braunfels, Fredericksburg and many more wonderful names. Fredericksburg ,hereafter aka Fred., is a prosperous town of 10,000 + with a main street packed with stores, hofbraus, (brewpubs) and eateries with menus that list schnitzels and wursts of all kinds. Naturally there are shops displaying 'scootin' boots, leather goods, homemade ice creams, pastries and chocolate shops and shops representing the local wineries. There is a 5,10 and 25 cent store, a great visitors center, a half dozen B&Bs plus motels for a bustling tourist trade. About 20,000 are expected this weekend. Replete throughout the hill country are vineyards and, I am told, are second only to Napa Valley in wine production. Larry and I are working for our keep at Texas Wine Country RV Park a few miles outside of Town. We are directly across from Grape Creek Vineyards with it's Tuscan style villa. They have received gold, silver and bronze awards in national competitions for their Viognier, Syrah, cab, merlot, Riesling, Pinot Grigio and more. They want $20 each to tour and $12 for tasting.  A little steep for me.  I'll stick with Ste. Genevieve wines, another Texas vineyard, they're quite good, sold in the grocery and easy on the wallet.

The November issue(out now) of Artist Magazine has an article on page 8 entitled Art & Common Gound.  It is about and artist that started a workshop business called art and vino that has become very popular. I was delighted to read about the thriving art interest be it galleries or hands on artists here where I am living at this time.

I am looking forward to attending an event called First Friday Art Walk, Fredericksburg.

 I am off to work now to paint faces and help with pumpkin painting. I  teach art and do crafts with adults and children.

 Larry is the DJ and tonight he is having 'Stump the DJ" at the pool. He also does karaoke on another night, organizes jam sessions, and mans the pool tables. I know, but somebody 's got to do it. We are given black polo shirts and a name tag for our uniform. First time we've had black. Sensible color. In the past we 've had green, bright blue, yellow and light blue and they all get dirty half way thru the day especially if your cleaning out firepits or painting.



No Madison Ave art dept here

Add Fredericksburg to your list of places to visit. It's October and days are warm and nights are cold. As winter progresses it will get colder during the day but not parka and mittens weather.