Well, made the trip there and back, it was a great time.
While in Stuttgart, we went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and Nurnberg (not sure if it's spelt the right way) and saw the "Angel" who opens the market. Talk about a huge crowd.
We then pressed on to Munich, and eventually to Frankfurt.
Ended up in an A3 with winter tires. Sixt was great and basically gave them to me, as the price didn't change at all. 230 KPH was way different than anything you'll do here in the US too. Loved it.
Only thing that sucked about the trip was I got some of those Kinder Uberraschung Maxi (chocolate eggs), and the postal service between there and here crushed my box while shipping. They all broke by time it made it here to the US. Needless to say, my daughter was not happy
We are alive, and I appreciate the input everyone gave. Enjoyed every moment of it, and the weather was perfect the whole way through.