Neiner's Beer Garden Diary

Some questions I ask myself, feel free to listen in:

Who am I?

I am a 28ish year old guy from Atlanta, GA.  I was born in Atlanta, went to elementary school, middle school, high school and college in Atlanta.  After college, I moved to Fort Lauderdale, FL for a design job where I worked on signage and graphic design for a landscape architecture firm for 2 years.  After Florida I moved back to Atlanta for a design research job.  This job took me to a bunch of countries in Europe and all around America’s farmland for over a year.  After this job I moved to Japan to teach English for 2 years.  Now, I’m back.  It’s beer garden adventure time!

I have a lifetime love affair with tennis.  I dig a vast assortment of card games, puzzles and lazy-time activities.  Oh, and documentaries.  Gotta have me some documentaries!

Why am I doing this traveling?

I learned that despite loving the jobs I have had in the past, I grew restless with them after about 2 years no matter how much I enjoyed the work.  I came to realize that what I have always told others would be my dream career, to own a bar or beer garden of my own, is not just a dream.  It is totally attainable and worth going for if I can focus and follow through.

This traveling is the first active step in attaining the goal of opening my own beer garden.  I will travel around the US and learn from all of the most important establishments about how they made themselves a success.  If it is up an sustainably running, I am 100% interested in how it got that way.

I came back from Japan with a bit of savings and no job.  This is my free time to get busy living.

Where am I going?

I want to explore as many distinct regions of the US as I can in order to see how different geographies translate into different beer garden styles and strategies.  I hope to be able to use these influences in my future establishment.

This will take me on a route from Georgia through, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Missouri, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Illinois, New York, Maryland, DC, North Carolina, and Florida.  Hopefully.

Why beer gardens?

I have always been most comfortable relaxing outdoors amongst trees.  When I was in Berlin visiting a friend, we went to a beer garden and it was like magic.  So simple.  So easy to have a conversation without distraction.  I am fascinated that more Americans haven’t demanded more, but sadly they seem rather scarce.  I kind of want to know “why?”

What is a beer garden?

According to Wikipedia a beer garden is:

an outdoor area in which beer, other drinks, and local food are served.

That works for me, ‘cept I don’t require the local food.

That is a rather loose definition and could apply to about 30% of all restaurants and bars in America, but I think we can all agree that when we eat outside at an Applebees, we aren’t at a beer garden.

I think that what truly makes me feel like I am at a beer garden is when the priority is placed on the outdoor space with beer as it’s main beverage.

Wood picnic tables are a nice touch too.