Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today is St. Patrick's Day, and if you are thinking about putting on some green and starting to celebrate, I've got bad news for you - all the celebrating took place this past weekend. Here on the Treasure Coast of Florida, the main event not to be missed was the Jensen Beach St. Patrick's Day Festivities and Parade, hosted by the Jensen Beach Chamber of Commerce this past Sunday and sponsored by Mulligan's Beach and Sports Bar and AC Doctors. While the festivities started at 11:00 in the morning, the parade itself wasn't scheduled until 2:00, and my sister Susan and I were on Indian River Drive waiting for it to begin. There was a bit of a delay, and as I watched storm clouds gather in the distance, I had to wonder if they were waiting for the rain to start before launching the parade. Finally, the parade came into sight, the bagpipers in the photograph on the left walked into the street from the corner where we were standing, joined the parade, and started marching and playing those bagpipes.

Not surprisingly, Mulligans, being one of the sponsors, was quite lively, and many of the patrons took a break from their celebrations to step outside and watch the parade, including all those ladies in green wigs and sunglasses seen in the photograph on the right. The Mulligans in Jensen Beach is two stories high, and the upstairs area has a great view of the Indian River, while the location in Vero Beach has a patio that is right above the ocean, where you can sit at a table and gaze at the Atlantic. Neither of which I have ever visited but keep thinking I should. As for the other sponsor, AC Doctors, I assume they were having an equally lively celebration, although for the life of me, I have no idea where they are located or if they have a bar in the middle of all those air-conditioning parts.

This is an extremely popular event around here, and a lot of fun, but it really is a small town, community affair, and the parade includes a lot of community organizations and elected officials, in addition to a group walking their dogs in tight formation, two kids on unicycles, each holding an end of a banner advertising a new brewpub, and even a group of young violinists marching down the street, as seen in the photograph on the left. Meanwhile, back in Denver, the St. Patrick's Day Parade took place this past Saturday in Lower Downtown (LoDo), after which everyone stayed around that neighborhood to celebrate at places such as Scruffy Murphy's. In Chicago, they dyed the Chicago River green in the morning and then had their parade down Columbus Drive at 12:15 P.M. with bagpipers, dancers, and green floats.

There were a LOT of families with their kids at the Jensen Beach St. Patrick's Day Parade, and it wasn't until the back end of that parade that I found out why. After all the other groups marched by, they were followed by a line of about 500 or so golf carts, all decorated like the one in the photograph on the right, and from which they threw trinkets and candy - lots and lots of candy. The parents, no doubt regulars at this event, all brought paper bags with them, which they filled with all that swag and candy their kids were enthusiastically picking up. The woman standing next to us made sure Susan got a lot of the candy and trinkets, too, including a green necklace, a "Kiss Me I'm Irish" bracelet, and many, many lollypops. She and her husband also offered to help us as we got ready to leave the crowd and head back to the car, which was very nice of them, too. A small-town parade with friendly, happy people. I would have liked to head around the corner to Jensen Beach Boulevard, the main downtown area, where the "festivities" part was taking place, but those storm clouds were almost upon us, we had a way to go to get back to the car, and I didn't want to tempt fate. And so, including the Fort Pierce Block Party on Saturday, it was a really nice St. Patrick's Day weekend. But what do we do today, on the actual holiday? Beats me.

The March Mutt Of The Month

I took the photograph above of the March Mutt of the Month the Saturday before last, when leaving the outdoor patio of the Sailor's Return, located at the Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, Florida. It was only 4:00 P.M. in the afternoon, and I had found a parking space - the last one, actually - but when my sister Susan and I arrived at the patio, all the tall-topped bar tables were filled with what I assume were snowbirds, as was every space at the bar itself. We sat down at a regular table that was vacant and located right next to one of the bar tables, but were told, as a friendly reminder for next time, that we would need to see the hostess to sit at one those tables. Which I am loathe to do if all we want is to have a drink, enjoy looking at the boats (yachts, actually), and then head home. In any case, sitting next to its owner, who was at one of the other regular sized tables, was that dog, who was the center of attention for everyone entering the place. I was not able to get a decent photo on the patio, but as luck would have it, I was able to take the photograph above as we were heading back to the car, with the dog happily posing for me while standing on that blue bench. And resolving to wait until April, after "The Season," to venture back to the Sailor's Return.

The St. Patrick's On 2nd Street Block Party

I stopped by the St. Patrick's on 2nd Street Block Party yesterday afternoon up in Fort Pierce, Florida, and my timing was perfect - it started raining as soon as I got there. But fortunately, not to hard, at least for a while, and the rain didn't seem to be bothering anyone. This St. Patrick's Day celebration is hosted every year by Sailfish Brewing Company and 2nd Street Bistro, both conveniently located on 2nd Street itself, as seen in the photograph on the left. There was a stage midway down the block where a trio were playing Irish music, there were booths with various items for sale, a street bar, food vendors, and a bounce house for the kids.

As usual, a number of people dressed up for the occasion. Most of the crowd decided to just wear green, or a St. Patrick's Day hat, while the two gentlemen in the photograph on the right decided to go "full leprechaun," drawing high fives from the crowd sitting on the outdoor patio of the Sailfish Brewery. Which makes good beer, by the way, and distributes it to grocery and liquor stores throughout the area.

As far as I could tell, most of the crowd was hanging out at the Sailfish Brewing Company, as seen in the photograph on the left, especially as the rain began coming down harder. There was a line to order beers that started at the end of the bar and went almost out the door. I would have suggested that they should have had a booth outside on the street, but of course, if they did, those people waiting in line would have looked like drowned rats by the time they got their beer. This was actually the first time I have been in that brew pub, and I was quite impressed. The front of the building consists of a long, covered, and rather dark patio, and so I did not expect to see such a lively and inviting interior. But, of course, long, covered, rather dark patios are quite useful when the sun is beating down on you, or there is one of those sudden cloud bursts that Florida is famous for. In any case, everyone was pleasant and seemed to be having a good time, and it was a fun experience, despite the rain.

The 75th Annual Under The Oaks Fine Arts And Crafts Show

My sister Susan and I drove up to Vero Beach, Florida yesterday afternoon to attend the 75th annual Under the Oaks Fine Arts and Crafts Show, which is held every March in that city's Riverside Park. And looking at the photograph above, it will be obvious how the festival got its name. This is a major juried art show, with over 200 artists from across the nation displaying their work, and is considered one of the top 200 art shows in the country. I was very impressed with both the quality and variety of the art, and was pleased to see quite a few photographers displaying their work, much of it very good. And no - neither Susan nor I actually bought anything while we were there. The items that did get our attention were priced around a thousand dollars and up, which is slightly beyond our price range. However, Vero Beach is quite an affluent community, and so I am sure the locals will no doubt make the artist's appearance at the show worthwhile. And if you are in the area and want to attend - and you should - the festival continues both today and Sunday from 9:00 until 5:00. 

Robert B. Parker's Showdown

I just finished reading Robert B. Parker's Showdown, the latest Spenser novel by Mike Lupica. I've always loved this series, created by the late Robert B. Parker, and when he passed away, I thought that would be the end of it. Happily, his family decided to hire first Ace Atkins and now Mike Lupica to continue the series, and both have done a good job of imitating Parker's style and producing new stories. The novels feature Spenser, a wise-guy Boston private investigator with a shady but fun sidekick named Hawk and a girlfriend, Susan Silverman, who is a Harvard-trained shrink. This time attorney Rita Fiore hire's Spenser to help a young man named Daniel Lopez, the son of an undocumented Guatemalan woman recently murdered in an apparent robbery attempt. Going through her papers, Lopez begins to suspect that Vic Hale, one of the biggest podcasters in the nation, who rose to fame with right-wing, anti-immigrant rhetoric, is his father, and wants to prove it, this at a time when Hale is about to sign a huge new contract. Revelations about the affair and a potential child could jeopardize his big deal, and when more bodies start to turn up, Spenser is determined to find out who is behind it all. I really did enjoy this story. The characters are witty and likeable, and it is very much like Parker's novels of old. Be sure to pick up a copy at your local library today.

My Father Nelson's Birthday

My father Nelson Hoyt was born on this date 117 years ago, in Chicago back in 1909. I am just amazed when I think about how long ago that was. It makes me realize how fast time passes without you even noticing. My father was a dentist and always hated it. He and my mother Mary were finally able to retire in 1976, at the age of 67, to a condo here in Stuart, Florida, and both were never happier. Dad had only 7 years of retirement before he passed away but enjoyed those years very much. My mother lived in Stuart for almost 30 years before coming to live with me up in Denver, although we would travel back to Stuart 3 times a year and stay at the condo until she passed away. In any case, I took the photograph above of dad at Circle Bay, which is a condo complex next door to our building, where we would sometimes walk around and look at the boats docked there. The Monterey Yacht and Country Club, where the condo is located, has a 9-hole golf course, and most people who live here are all about golf, as was both my father and my mother. At Circle Bay, everyone has a dock space, and so they are all about boats. My parents had friends at Circle Bay, and so nobody minded us walking the grounds. These days, those people are long gone, and so if my sister Susan and I decided to walk over there these days, multiple people would probably draw their guns. This is Florida, after all. In any case, I am glad my father at least had those 7 years of retirement after all those years at a job he hated. He deserved more but luckily had those.

Back To Stuart Beach!

I spent some time at Stuart Beach the other day - as seen in the self-portrait above - now that the big cold wave is over and highs are currently in the 80s every day, as God intended. And I am happy to report that things are back to normal: people are back sitting on the sand and actually going into the water, even the natives. The only negative is that we will not be seeing all those snowbirds in their bikinis and speedos putting on a brave face and diving into the ocean in 50-degree temperatures, which is always quite amusing. Serves them right for taking all the tables at the Sailor's Return's outdoor patio every night, not that I am bitter about that.  And believe it or not, people are now actually saying they miss the cold temperatures now that it is getting hot and humid again. The same old story, just like back in Denver: counting the days until summer in the middle of winter, and longing for the snow during the 90-degree summers. People never change.