Just another day in Frankenmuth

We woke up a little late and nearly missed breakfast at the hotel, which would have been a shame because we would have missed the waffles! I don't know if you know this, but I love, love, love breakfast, especially waffles! The waffle makers at the hotel were giant pieces of metal; you poured in your waffle mix, shut the lid, turned the waffle maker over with a handle, then waited for the ding to tell you that your perfectly-cooked waffle was done. I told Aaron that I wanted a waffle maker such as this, but he told me that the one waffle maker we already have is certainly enough for anyone.

The Woolen Mill...cute little murals all over it.



Zehnder's, known for their world famous chicken dinners. We didn't go. You should if you visit Frankenmuth. When we were little, my parents took us to Zehnder's and my dad's fish still had the head, eyeballs and all. We were pretty grossed out and amazed.


We walked down to the Bavarian Inn, where there is a Glockenspiel (click on "Glockenspiel" for the video) on the side of the building. The play is of the tale of the Pied Piper. I thought it was lovely - Aaron thought it was ridiculous. He had never heard of the Pied Piper...seriously, where did this guy grow up? Was he always an adult, whereas I was perpetually a child?

If you look closely, there is a line of rats following the Pied Piper.

Not a big taffy fan myself, but I do love to watch it "pulled and kissed."

We drove to Bronner's, the world-famous Christmas store that goes on for acres and acres and is open 361 days a year. As someone who detests commercialized Christmas, Aaron was a bit overwhelmed. But he bought a very cool beer stein with a hunk of the Berlin Wall on top, so he was rather pleased. Take a virtual tour here.

We also went to the Silent Night Chapel, which is a replica of the one in Obergdorf, Austria, and is just as I remembered from childhood.

After Bronner's, we went to the River Place Shops, which I never been to before. It was a bit disappointing - the shops were all so odd.

We walked to the Frankenmuth Clock Company, where we saw some incredible yet overpriced clocks. Aaron bought me a genuine Black Forest Cuckoo Clock for Christmas last year, and the man who sold it to him through in a little statue of "The Clock Peddler," which I display on my desk at work. My cubicle buddy and I named him Fritz. I was so stoked to see Fritz as a mural on the outside of the building! We drove back and had lunch at the Frankenmuth Brewing Company. The food was delicious and we ate on the terrace overlooking the Cass River. The ducks in Frankenmuth are so funny because they sound as if they're laughing. I asked Aaron if he thought the people of Frankenmuth taught the ducks to do this to please the tourists. We took a short tour of the brewery with another family, who were terribly obnoxious. The tour was extemely brief, and the man from the other family was a huge know-it-all. He kept asking ridiculous questions so that he could answer them and show off how smart he was.

We then went to indulge in more alcohol aboard a wine and chocolate boat. There were 6 us, plus captain and another shipmate on this little electric boat that didn't make any sound. They gave us 5 pieces of chocolate and a sample of wine to go with each one. Then at the end, we each got a glass of our favorite wine. It was so beautiful and relaxing, and we even saw some deer along the way. I highly recommend it.

Well, I didn't take any photos of it, but our main reason for coming to Frankenmuth was for Oktoberfest. We had a wonderful time, met a lot of people, ate pretzels, drank Hofbrau, and even polka'd! It was a lot of fun, but I think that Fort Wayne's Germanfest is just as good.