Photos And a Review Of This Top South Bay Beach Cities Annual Event
Here’s to the beers and cheers.
I would like to host my 16-ounce cup of Longboard Lager to the beer garden, the signature event of the annual Old Hometown Fair in Manhattan Beach, CA. It’s what makes Hometown Fair one of the most fun times of the entire year in a town that’s pretty fun most of the year.
It springs to life on Saturday afternoon on the edge of a baseball diamond in Live Oak Park, surrounded by food and craft booths, with a band on a stage playing in the distance.
All those other elements are not of concern to the single adults, who pour into the beer garden by the hundreds. By 2 o’clock it’s packed and that’s when the Hometown Fair is in its full glory. You see great friends you love to be around, you see people you may have not run into since last year’s Hometown Fair. and you have beer with fun new people you’ve just met. Everyone is smiling, laughing, telling stories and creating new memories.
“Cox,” I once told a friend who had just moved to the area, “put the first weekend of October on your annual calendar. It’s Hometown Fair.” And Cox has done just that, even though he now lives in Brentwood and is married with two young Coxes. He makes sure to get a hall pass each year for the beer garden.
We were particularly blessed in 2012 with great, sunny weather. And a large tent – new this year – in the center of the beer garden proved to be a popular hangout to take a break from the sun. The Mira Costa lacrosse and other sports teams benefited from beer ticket sales, and people were only too happy to “contribute.” The taps were constantly pouring Bud, Bud Light, Shock Top Belgian Wheat and my personal favorite, Longboard Lager.
Imagine that, a great event, a beer garden and my favorite beer on tap! With all this fun, the day flew by as if we were in the Madonna high-speed video “Ray of Light.” One minute, you’re talking with someone and the next minute it’s last call and they are shooing you out of the beer garden.
So we simply went to the bars.
I actually paused briefly because there was an absolutely gorgeous sunset taking place at the Pier. There was a line at Shellback Tavern, so we wound up at Shark’s Cove. Ercoles, too, was packed. When this fun day-turned-into-night ended, it was not the end of the beer garden, for the beer garden also goes on Sunday.
It’s hardly as crowded and wild as on Saturday but by late afternoon it’s rocking again.
And, just like Saturday, before you know it, it’s 6 o’clock and the beer garden is closing.
And we all can’t wait for it again the next year.
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