Oktoberfest

Walhalla, South Carolina, where my mother-in-law and her husband live, began as a settlement of German immigrants who arrived aboard ships from Hamburg, Germany and Bavaria. Trustees of the German Colonization Society of Charleston bought 17,859 acres (72.27 km2) of land for $27,000 on December 24, 1849.  

The town pays homage to its German heritage with a three-day festival every October - a tradition that was started in 1979.

Walhalla celebrated Oktoberfest this weekend. All kinds of vendors and music on Main Street, plus a carnival at Sertoma Field - the local soccer arena.  I could have spent a FORTUNE on jewlery and other handmade items, but kept the shopping to a minimum. I really wanted to get a Clemson "pup" tent for Anna, but just couldn't justify the price.

There were a bunch of vendors selling the expected bratwurst and beer, as well as barbecue, but I was craving "fair fries". I just couldn't find a vendor that had vinegar among their condiments. Just when I had given up, the very last booth that sold fries had some.  YES!  I was handed my paper cone of hand-cut, just-cooked fries and I promptly picked up that squirt bottle of vinegar.


The kid working the booth warned me, "That's vinegar you know... I don't know why, it's weird, but some people seem to like it".  I just laughed and thought, "Yup, that how we yankees eat our fries!"

Evidently the deep-fried Twinkie Jim ate just wasn't enough, so he had to try deep-fried Kool Aid, too.  No...that's not a typo.  We were dumbfounded when we saw the sign. How in the hell do you fry Kool Aid??!

Turns out, they flavor funnel cake batter with Kool Aid then fry it in balls and cover them with confectioners sugar. They were actually pretty good - but came in only one flavor, cherry, which isn't one of my faves.

Thank goodness the booth selling deep-fried Snickers was closed by the time we walked home...

Chasing Waterfalls

There are SO many waterfalls in this area of South Carolina. A lot of them are just short hikes into the woods of Sumter National Forest here in Walhalla. We hiked to Yellow Branch Falls last weekend - a good 3 miles round trip. The amount of water actually "falling" was a bit disappointing due to the severe lack of rain this summer. It was later in the afternoon, so my photos are a bit dark (I really need to upgrade my camera.)

Did get a good shot of the cutest little lizard though... :)

Kings Creek Falls was a pretty hike we took in August (photo to left).

Issaqueena Falls/ Stumphouse Tunnel is one of my favorite places to go. This summer we actually found another trail that takes you around the side to a spot where you can stand on a ledge behind the waterfall. Indian legend tells of Issaqueena, a young Cherokee girl who pretended to jump over the falls to avoid capture by white settlers - but she hid behind the falls instead. I think I may have stood where she did.

The story of Stumphouse Tunnel is very cool. Check out some info here.

Random Stuff

So far, I haven't met anyone who is actually FROM South Carolina.  The sweet, older couple at the Tiki Hut - from Mass.  The rental agent showing us places in Easley - from Jersey.   The guy in Liberty, John, with a house to rent - from Montana.   John said Jim has to work on his accent, but I was fine. Ha! Ayuh!

Watched some of the Clemson game today with my father-in-law, who is NOT a fan (as you can tell from the pic of his vehicle).  It hurts your eyes to see so much orange in one place!  Hoping to catch a home game before the end of the season.

Anna, after a few days of deep depression, now thinks she rules the house. She has already let my MIL's dog know that it is NOT OK to go near her food (and she's like 4-5 times Anna's size!).  Gram #2 gives her treats and lets her sleep on her bed. And Gramps lets her out of her crate after we leave. She still hasn't completely adjusted, and still isn't quite herself, but she is getting there.

And here are some of my favorite quotes from my first week here:

"Welcome to South Carolina, yankee!  The average IQ in Oconee County just went up 10 points"

"Your name is Lisa, right?  That's not spelled L-I-S-E-R by any chance, is it?"

"The best pizza around is at Joe's New York Pizza, and the best wings are from the Irish pub next door"

"Hell, people down here think there's 3 or more syllables in the word 'SHIT'...."

"Quality" Inn??

All goes well on the road ...until we decide to find a hotel room for Saturday night, so we can break the trip up over 2 days.  Being the smart shopping, budget concious, penny pinching (yeah, yeah - cheap) gal that I am, I grab some of those free promotional brochures with lodging coupons in them at the Virginia welcome center. Call two places and neither will honor their coupons...surprise, surprise.

Yeah...think I will try Travelocity. Type my request in and can book a room 25 miles away for $75.  Sold!

We check in, make 4 trips from the car to the 2nd floor with our stuff, the dog's stuff and the dog.  After being on the road for three hours since the last rest stop, I'm doing the dance.  "Jim! why isn't the tank cover on the toilet? And why isn't there any water in the bowl?"  He figures they made some repairs and forgot to put the toilet back together - turns on the water, puts the cover back on, flushes a few times and all is good.

Jim goes to the bathroom an hour later and there's an inch of water on the floor.  Guess we now know why the toilet was 'OOO'.

Run around the entire builiding to the front desk and explain the situation. He's a young kid and looks a bit dumbfounded. Puts us in the room next door.

Make four more trips moving all of our stuff to the next room. Get stuff put away. I head to the bathroom for a shower.  "Jim, your turn to call the front desk"  Yup. Bathroom floor is covered with water.

We get moved AGAIN to the next room down the line. I head to the bathroom immediately to be sure there are no plumbing issues. Looks good! Oh, except for the big spider in the corner. I go to step on it and it jumps - yes, JUMPS, under the door. Freaked out, I am looking for it when Jim comes over and needs tissues. I tell him about the spider and he says he has his own insect issues (hence the tissues). Sure enough there are some weird-ass beetle type things on the wall, the door, the window...

OMG!!  Call the front desk AGAIN. Tell the kid he can come up and see for himself that we are NOT lunatics who are hallucinating.  At this point, he probably wants to send us to the Days Inn across the street, and I would gladly go. 

We are moved into our 4th room of the evening...3 hours later I can take a shower and wait for Dominos to deliver.   Can't really say I recommend the Quality Inn in Staunton, VA.