So here I am - a non-drinker, gluten-intolerant and pretty close to vegan - finding myself at the Alpine Village Octoberfest in Torrance, CA. My husband had been wanting to go for weeks. He eats and drinks anything he wants, and to him, a tent the size of an airplane hangar filled with beer and sausage sounds like paradise.
I tried to postpone this until it was the end of October. Now was his only chance. I knew what I was getting myself into. He asked if I had eaten a salad or something as a preventive measure. I had been working, so I didn't have time to make dinner. I'm sure I can eat sauerkraut, I said. Off we went.
There were oceans of beer! An oompa boompa band doing polkas and the chicken dance! Thousands of drinkers singing along! A gigantic tapestry of a Bavarian castle in the hilltops! Girls looking like Sunset Strip blondes trying to look German!
The food selections were just what I expected: German bratwurst, Polish sausage, chilidogs, mega-pretzels and apple cake. The drinks: beer, soda, coffee or bottled water. I didn't feel like being singled out as The Water Drinker at the party. Plus, the port-a-potties looked pretty scary.
But I had a great time pretending I was in Munich for a night, listening to yodeling contests and munching on sauerkraut and potatoes off of my husband's plate. Would I go back next year? Probably not. But I survived!
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