Sauerkraut Festival

The second weekend in October is my absolute favorite time of the year. No kidding, I look forward to it every year, more than Christmas, my birthday, 4th of July, all of the other special days in the year. A small town, not far from us, Waynesville, Ohio is transformed into a crafters/antiquers/eaters' paradise. The town hosts the Sauerkraut festival. Over 400,000 people cluster around booths on Main Street looking at homemade crafts and foods made from sauerkraut, including, pizza, brownies, sundaes (my favorite), nachos, brats, pies, sauerkraut balls, cabbage rolls, cookies, to name a few.

I know it sounds crazy but it is my heaven. Lining this street are some of the best antique stores around (with the exception of the Springfield, Ohio antique flea market, also not far away). I am like a maniac. I never know where to look first, the crafts, the antiques, the food. It doesn't help that I love sauerkraut, weird huh? I always get a sauerkraut sundae which is german potatoes layered with kraut, cheese, sour cream and an olive, it looks like an ice cream sundae. So yummy. I have a hard time not getting one of everything.

I usually go with my best buddy and some other gals from college but I couldn't this year because it was homecoming week at hubby's school, and he was crazy busy. I have basically been a school widow for the past seven days. On Sunday I was being all "woe is me, someone is eating a sauerkraut sunday right now as we speak" and my husband said, "let's go."

Now like I said, this is typically a girls' day only, and definitely no kids. I mean 400,000 people on one street!!!! How do you manage a stroller in all those people? I didn't get to go last year (what, the shock and horror, don't even get me started!) and I was really missing it so by golly we went. The kids were not happy. "Mooo-oom, we don't like sauerkraut!" I told them I did and we were going. We stopped and got them happy meals to eat on the way which made them forgive me a little bit.

Hubby carried little man which took care of my stroller worries but did make our browsing/shopping/eating time a little rushed. It was also deathly hot, no shade so long-term shopping was not permitted. Hubby kept us moving. But I didn't care, I was blissfully happy. The sights, the smells, the sounds of a polka band, were a perfect recipe for a great day.
I missed going with my gal pals, we've been going together for years. Something about all those crafts and goodies with the girls is just so much fun. I am so happy we went as a family, I needed that sundae! It was really sweet of hubby to offer to go, I know he was exhausted after all the homecoming bru-ha-ha. I hope next year, I can make it with the girls. They are much more patient with me when I want to dig in dusty corners of every shop looking for the perfect trinket to take home. Just a note, I didn't buy any crafted items. I bought a flower frog and I am going to make something really cute to put in it.

I was so excited, I forgot to take more pictures. I had these high hopes of posting my sundae here, but since it was my Christmas morning, I kind of forgot.

Here is the link to the Sauerkraut Festival info page. If you are in southwest Ohio next October, be sure to check it out.