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Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair guide to the beer garden.

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– Pub Club Pub Journal –
Tales from Around the Globe

Back in the Beer Garden
Hometown Fair
Manhattan Beach, CA

Tia (center with puckered lips) with friends in the Hometown Fair beer garden.

It started as a full three day adventure, the Hometown fair and a wedding in San Diego.

The Hometown Fair is an annual tradition in my former place of residence, Manhattan Beach, California. It's two days of local arts and crafts, but for us crafty adults, the only real attraction is the beer garden. Everyone comes out for the beer garden, and I'm glad m cousin's wedding worked out to be the same weekend so I could go to both in one trip.

Like most of us Hawaiians, we choose to take red-eye flights to the mainland in order get the most of our short trips and time changes. The First Class Upgrade was incredible and a first for me! I actually slept on the plane. Did I mention the free booze? 

Arriving in LA at 5 in the morning, I went straight to Manhattan Beach and ordered Mexican Food – had to have it! Then I drove down to Del Mar and sat in traffic for 5 hours with my Grandma. When we arrived at our destination, my Grandma was so stressed out she suggested we drink the two warm beers we had in the trunk, so of course we pounded two HOT beers before heading to the wedding. 

Unfortunately, the wedding sucked. There's nothing like getting kicked out of you cousin's wedding for making a toast about her seeded past and having everyone in the wedding party come up and buy you shots for the toast you couldn't finish!

Saturday night, while I was sitting with my arms around the toilet as a result of all those shots, I was now wishing I hadn't missed Saturday at Hometown Fair. Fortunately, there was still Sunday!

The next morning started with a pre-Hometown Fair mimosa brunch for my friends at my Grandma's house. Of course, she had no clue, We arrived at Grandma's to a house load of people ready to drink – yes, finally I was going to have a good time! 

After 4 hours of serious drinking we arrived at the beer garden. The Hometown Fair is the greatest party. It's an afternoon of pure party action. Which is why the rest of the day is a blur.  I do remember being in Shellback's, a local dive bar, and drinking Purple Hooters, possibly sleeping on the table, then off to Harry-O's for more cocktails and scary kareoke! By the time I finished, it was near midnight and I had partied hard for about 15 hours. Getting up at 5 the next morning for my flight back to Hawaii was a pain, but I departed party satisfied.   

The Moral of my story is this: Never miss the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair for a Ho's Wedding!

Beer garden patrons are a friendly, happy group.

Next stop on the Party Bus: Baja Pub Journal!

Notes from the Beer Garden

By The Bartender

Ahh, the Beer Garden.

This is one of the best weekends in Manhattan Beach (the Christmas fireworks rank up there too, but it's only a few hours, not an entire weekend).

It's just a patch of grass that serves beer and cider (good local beer from the Manhattan Beach Brewing Company). But it's the people that make it happen.

Hometown Fair is a carnival with craft booths, food, rock climbing and a small stage for small local bands. But the real action is the beer garden. Everyone who has ever lived in Manhattan Beach seems to show up for it.

Saturdays are packed; Sundays are for the die-hards. PubClub, naturally, goes both days (hey it's only once a year; might as well maximize the opportunity!).

One noted local – South Bay Jane is her moniker – calls it the "beer prison." That's because lines form after 2 on Saturdays and it's impossible to leave. But also because it is contained by two – yes two – rows of fencing. Guess the organizers feel it's necessary to cage up the animals.

It's a mingling mecca, many looking for potential partners, catching up with old friends or, in some cases, trying to hide from ex-mates.

About every half-hour, someone will hold up their plastic cup and start a cheer, which is soon followed by the other couple of hundred people.

The beer garden opens before noon and it's a must to get there on Saturday by 2. It goes until 5:30, though beer ticket sales end 45 minutes earlier. It's always a trick to have enough tickets, so the key is to buy them whenever there's no line at the ticket booth; just before the sales stop, there's always a line.

Tickets are $5 each and beers require one ticket. By the end, there's hardly a sober person standing. Then, of course, it's off to the beachside bars.

For some, the day starts much earlier than the beer garden. 7:30 a.m., in fact.

That's when the 10K run takes place, winding through downtown Manhattan, through the tree section and finally down the beach on The Strand. Bands play on several street corners and about 4,000 people participate.

Soon after the completing the run, many like to celebrate with bloody marys, and the bars at the finish line are crowded. This is what makes Manhattan Beach so, well, Manhattan Beachy.

People run and get healthy, then immediately go for bloodies to warm up for a beer garden.

That kind of cool attitude is why many who live here call Manhattan Beach the Fountain of Youth.