I swear I could see the sign from Highway 512. It called to me, like a beacon through a dense fog.

Biergarten.

Welcome to Oktoberfest at the Puyallup Fair.

I didn’t imbibe – hey, I’m on company time – but managed to dig into a bratwurst ($7) from Mount Angel Sausage Company. My first impression was that it just seemed heavy for such a food. And it was mighty tasty. It had spices but didn’t knock you over the head with them.

And I needed something to wash it down with, so I went to the Root Beer Garden. (Cute name, eh?) For $3.50, I got a souvenir stein full of the tasty stuff.

Speaking of stuff, I’m stuffed after all of this.

Let’s be honest: Most people come for the beer. After 7 p.m., Oktoberfest at the Puyallup Fair becomes a 21-and-over event. Even in mid-afternoon, the liquid ambrosia flowed freely.

That’s what attracted Mike Budd. He just got off work in Sumner and made a beeline for the fairgrounds.

“Hey, I like beer,” he said. “And this is a pretty cool place to have a few.”

Indeed it was. German music filled the room, prompting several people to dance. A woman swayed on a swing attached to the rafters. And food booths served up sizzling sausages.

“There’s something about an Oktoberfest celebration,” Tacoma’s Keith Henderson, “that makes me just want to come and have a good time.”

Oktoberfest Northwest continues through Sunday at the Puyallup fairgrounds.

Hours: tonight until midnight; Saturday- 11 a.m.-Midnight; Sunday-11 a.m. -7 p.m.

Admission: $8. Children 12 and under free with adult. (Half price on Sunday.)

More info.

Really, is there any doubt what drew these two to Scandinavian Days at the Puyallup Fair?

One’s name is Skjaldvor Guo. The other is from Sigrid Straatveit. They’re both from Olympia.

“We’re Scandinavian, so we just had to come!” Guo said.

The two, both from Finnish and Norwegian heritage, spent about three hours at the celebration. Inside the hall at the fairgrounds, hundreds of people lined up for Swedish meatballs and lingonberry sauce. They roamed through booths that offered T-shirts, hats, arts and crafts and clocks for sale. Exhibits described the Scandinavian history of the region.

Jamie Shilley brought her 11-month-old daughter, Violet, to the celebration. The 33-year-old Tacoma woman is part of a mothers’ group that organizes day trips.

She was waiting for the Viking meal – a plate crammed with meatballs, potatoes and vegetables. She also spent some time at Oktoberfest, just across the street.

“I’m really looking forward to the food,” she said. “And I’ve already looked at some of the booths. There’s just a lot of neat stuff here.”

OK, I’ll admit I’ve never been to the Nordic countries. A trip to Amsterdam – a mere 387 miles from Copenhagen – is as close as I’ve received. But I got the feel of Scandinavia: Words were written with with plenty of Js and Vs and Os with lines through them, and bunch of similarly designed but differently colored flags surrounded me. (Didn’t see any guys sporting a golden helmet with horns, though.)

And if this is how they eat in northern Europe, then they’ve got it good.

I started with the Swedish meatball plate with lingonberry preserves ($5). Some folks put sauce on meatballs that’s so thick it’s like glue, but this stuff was just right.

I finished with some Scandinavian pancakes ($4) – two crepe-style pancakes filled with strawberry preserves and whipped cream and topped with powdered sugar. As Southern belles like to exclaim, “Good Lawd.” This was pure deliciousness on a plate (even if they could’ve used a bit more strawberry).

And because they’re just called Scandinavian pancakes, you can use your imagination about what country they’re from. I pretended I was eating Icelandic dessert.

Zelma Zalit has been driving from Federal Way the past eight years to attend the Greek Festival at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Tacoma.

“I’m here for the cheeses, the pastries, all of it,” the retiree said. “It’s just all so good.”

She also enjoys the celebration of other cultures, she said as she ate a gyro and listened to Greek music.

“It’s the ambiance of a different culture,” she said. “That’s what keeps me coming back.”

Meanwhile, patrolling the booths of the tent like a seasoned beat cop was none other than Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor.

“The gyros were very good, the souvlakis was wonderfully marinated and had just the right amount of oregano, and the calamari was excellent,” he said. “And that doesn’t begin to talk about the pastries.”

Give him credit: Dude knows his Greek food.

There are two places to grab a bite at Tacoma’s Greek Festival: Inside the church itself, where you can purchase by the plate, or outside under a large tent, where the food comes a la carte.

I opted for outside.

First stop was the table selling gyros ($5). I got mine without tomatoes (just don’t like them that much). The meat was tender but not overly greasy. The sauce was tangy but not salty. And the whole thing was gone in about three minutes.

The Greek fries were tasty and a good deal for $3. They’re Greek instead of French fries because, as the guy serving them told me, “they’ve got Greek seasoning on ‘em.” Oregano? I dunno; I ain’t the food critic. But one topping I did recognize was feta cheese. I never thought it would go well with French, err, Greek fries, but I was pleasantly surprised.

And I finished things off with baklava ($2). My biggest complaint about the stuff is that usually it falls apart into about a thousand crumbs after the first bite. This stuff, though, kept together but still managed to be flaky. I was tempted to purchase an entire tray of 12 pieces for $12, but my editors wouldn’t be to happy if I tried to expense my gym membership.

The festival continues all weekend at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 1523 South Yakima Ave.

Hours: tonight until 10 p.m.; Saturday: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday: 11 a.m. -7 p.m.

Admission: Free

More info.

Starting next week, I’ll have a new beat at the paper. I’ll cover the military, primarily Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base. It’s an interim assignment while we figure out who’s gonna cover what at our paper.

Reporter Mike Archbold is shifting gears to blog here and write the kinds of stories that I’ve worked on the past year. Columnist Kathleen Merryman will still post here as well. And I’ll still occasionally contribute to Word on the Street if I see something good (or at least until the higher-ups wise up and pull my access).

The switch starts Monday. So if you’ve got any good story ideas, shoot an e-mail to Mike. And check out my new home on the Web, FOB Tacoma.

I’m heading to the Greek Festival at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Tacoma today. It's my job to eat the goodies and write about it. Mmm... expense account.