When asked on August 7 if he could travel to Germany for a beer festival story, Mac Lacy immediately said, “Oh ja”, and less than a month later, the president and publisher of The Group Travel Leader Inc., a Lexington company, was on a flight to Frankfurt to experience two smaller beer festivals in the Historic Highlights of Germany few Americans know about. His experience was so exceptional that Lacy didn’t just write an XXL article about it; he even reflected on that hoppy journey in his opening remarks to the winter edition of Select Traveler Magazine. His editorial reflects on his week-long journey through Augsburg, Regensburg, and Erfurt—and what it taught him about German culture and the value of seizing travel opportunities.
What This World Traveler Discovered in Historic Germany:
Lacy traveled with Ted Keppler of Inside Europe, who stepped in for his wife as an exceptional representative for the Historic Highlights of Germany. When asked which character traits he attributes to his German heritage, Keppler offered a revealing list: hardworking, rule-following, punctual, and organized. Lacy notes he could have written these observations himself after traveling through Bavaria and Thuringia — experiencing genuine German Gastfreundschaft (welcome hospitality) and beloved traditions cultivated over centuries, yet still very much alive today.
“Travel is about culture first”, Lacy concludes. Discover a place’s people, and they’ll show you the rest. When opportunity knocks, answer. Having never heard of Augsburg’s Plaerrer beer fest or the Regensburg Dult before, but enjoying both hoppy celebrations tremendously, this American world-traveler has since become a spokesperson for both.
About Historic Highlights of Germany: Our association represents 17 heritage cities offering authentic alternatives to Germany’s largest metros: Aachen, Augsburg, Bonn, Erfurt, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Koblenz, Lübeck, Münster, Osnabrück, Potsdam, Regensburg, Rostock, Trier, Tübingen, Wiesbaden, and Würzburg. Learn more at historicgermany.com.
Read Mac Lady’s complete editorial here: selecttraveler.com
Don’t forget to mark your calendar for both the spring and fall editions of the Regensburg and Augsburg beer festivals. And if you can’t wait til April, look into the Würzburger Frühlingsvolkfest, held annually leading up to Lent, with a summer edition, Kiliani, that starts the first weekend of July.