My Fall Break Adventures Part 2: Chattanooga Oktoberfest & Birthday Fun

I am finally in my last semester of nursing school. It has been a grueling 2 years, and this last semester has proven to be the worst. Naturally, I have been in a dire need of a break. Thankfully, my fall break was from October 11 to October 15, 2018. I managed to take full advantage of this time 😊

To see part one of the adventure, click here.

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October 13, 2018

We made it back from Dollywood around 2 a.m. so we did not end up getting out of bed until around 11 a.m. It was so nice to get to choose when to wake up without any pressure. Today was going to be a great day. Today was Oktoberfest in Chattanooga!

We have attended Oktoberfest the past 5 years, and it is always a blast. It works out that it is always around my husband’s birthday (most of the time falling on his birthday). This year is was a couple of days before but was still awesome!
Oktoberfest is held at the Chattanooga Market in downtown Chattanooga. There is a mix of food, beer, dancing, music, and vendors. While the market goes on every weekend, this event brings in a huge selection of artisans. One of my favorite things is mingling with local business.

My favorite vendor has to be Hoff and Pepper. We discovered him three years ago when he founded his company in Chattanooga. It has been a pleasure to see how much he has grown in such a small amount of time. Hoff makes the BEST hot sauces we have ever had. Before discovering him in 2016, I did not eat a lot of spicy foods. I would dabble here and there, but it was not a regular in my diet. After discovering Hoff and Pepper, it now consumes my diet. I use his sauces in almost every dish I make to some degree. This year he introduced two new items: Wake Up Call and Southern Stinger. Obviously, I had to add both to my spice cabinet. Each year I stock up on enough of his products to last until the next Oktoberfest. Honestly, I cannot speak highly enough about his products.

I cannot talk about Oktoberfest without mentioning beer. Sadly, their prices went up $2 this year (from $5 to $7). I realize this is still a great price for craft beer, but it was a bit disappointing. I love that they support local breweries.

My first beer was Hutton & Smith On-Site Alt. It was light and crisp with a beautiful copper color. It was malt forward and was only moderately bitter. It was a great way to start the festival! The second one I tried was actually a cider. I do not normally like ciders, but the bartender talked me into it. It was Gypsy Circus Pumpkin cider. It was also light and crisp with strong flavors of pumpkin with a hint of apple. For a cider it was quite delicious. I would not say I would buy it again, but I did enjoy it. Lastly, I ended the festival with Yee Haw Oktoberfest. It was a traditional malty German lager with rich and toast favors. It was not overly bitter which I really enjoyed. My husband got the Dogfish Head Oktoberfest and it very bitter (we both liked the Yee Haw better). We would have drunk more but we were on a tight budget for my fall break festivities.

Lastly, the food. Usually I go for a traditional bratwurst, but something else caught my eye this year; the cheddar pretzel dog. My husband and I both had to try these! They were from a local bakery called Federal Bake Shop. The owner is German and brought over his family recipes. He used a ½ lb. Nathan’s hotdog and wrapped it in a blanket of homemade pretzel dough then topped it off with cheddar cheese. We added a little mustard to it before devouring it. It was a solid 10/10!

After the festival we went home, took a couple of shots, and watched Deadpool before calling it a night.

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October 14,2018

I love to cook! It is one of my passions in life and I really enjoy sharing it with others. Today was my day to put my skills to use. Even though my husband’s birthday was not until Monday (the 15th), this was the day our friends could come down for dinner, cake, and celebrations.

I started the day off by baking my version of a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing. It was what he had requested, and I was not going to disappoint. After making the base cake I poked holes in it and poured in sweetened condensed milk. Then I had to wait until it cooled completely before I could make the cream cheese icing and spread it on top. This makes for an extremely moist, fluffy cake.

Once everyone was on their way, I started the process of making pizzas from scratch. This is one of my all-time favorite foods to prepare. My dad taught me years ago and I am so glad I paid attention. One pizza consisted of pepperoni, bacon, and beef topped with mozzarella and cheddar cheese. The other consisted of pepperoni, red onion, and mushrooms topped with mozzarella and cheddar cheese. I like to make my crust a little thick, so it is crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle.

Finally, our two good friends from high school arrived and joined in the celebration. We had only got to seen them once this year (it has been a traumatic year for me, if interested check out my first blog), so it was really nice to get to spend some time together. Especially since one of them took a job promotion and will be moving out of state next week. It was a wonderful night filled with some special memories.

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October 15, 2018

Today my husband turned 29! I have been so fortunate to watch him grow from a shy teenager into such a humble man. The past decade has been spent growing together, always trying to better one another. I love celebrating his birthday, it is one of my favorite holidays ♥ I told him we could do whatever he wanted to do today. His response was to stay home, rest, play video games, and get on Steemit. Welcome to adulthood! Ha! It did end up being a nice relaxing day; it was the perfect way to end such a grand adventure. Now, it is back to reality for the both of us. That is until our next adventure …