Last night Dancin' in the Streets would have taken place in Old Town Stuart, Florida if the festival hadn't been ended by it's sponsor, Stuart Mainstreet. This was an annual event that took place every August in downtown Stuart, and was extremely popular with the locals. The photograph on the left shows my sister Susan posing in front of a poster advertising the festival back in 1996. Susan and I often visited our mother Mary down in Stuart during August, and we were usually there when the festival took place. However, we never attended it - our mother didn't want to leave her condo after sunset for some reason. Most of her neighbors felt the same way. And as far as I know, Stuart never had a vampire problem back then, or for that matter, even now.
Years later, in 2015, I was down in Stuart in August taking care of condo business and finally got to attend the festival (also known to locals as "Drinking in the Streets"). It really was a lot of fun. Sadly, Stuart Mainstreet ended the festival just a few years later, saying interest in the event had declined. I myself don't believe it. I think the merchants did not want to lose a day of business, even though it was just a single Saturday in the middle of summer. Also, a lot of upscale residents began moving close to the downtown area, which probably had an impact on canceling the festival, too. Very sad, as Donald Trump likes to say. The photograph on the right, by the way, is of myself, mother Mary, and Susan posing in front of a London cab parked in front of the Jolly Sailor, a restaurant that used to be located in Old Town Stuart before being forced out by rising rents. Happily, the Jolly Sailor still exists as an outdoor bar overlooking the Sunset Bay Marina, where you can sit at the bar or a table and watch the sun set as you down a pint. Thank God some things from the old days still exist.
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