Dancin' In The Streets Is History

I was giving serious consideration to driving down to Stuart, Florida with my sister Susan and her two dogs (Blackberry and Tutu) next month so we could attend Dancin' in the Streets (also known to the locals as "Drinking in the Streets"). This is a street festival that has taken place in downtown Stuart since 1987.  I took the photograph on the left of Susan posing in front of one of the poster's advertising the event, most likely back in the 1990s.  The festival celebrated it's 30th anniversary in 2017, but in 2018 it was canceled due to "downtown construction." I recently found out that the festival has been discontinued due to "lack of attendance." I myself attended the festival in 2015 and it was packed, and so I have to wonder if this is the real reason.  Downtown Stuart is now "Old Town Stuart," and has a lot of new upscale restaurants, boutiques, and very pricey condo developments that have been complaining for years that the festival ruins their business on that Saturday in August. I have to wonder if that is the real reason the festival was ended.

On the bright side, I just read that Virgin Trains USA has begun construction on the next leg of their high speed train that will connect Miami with Orlando and eventually Tampa. Martin County originally opposed the project (probably on the grounds that trains traveling through Stuart at 125 miles per hour might splatter unsuspecting elderly people crossing the tracks), but agreed to withdraw their lawsuit when Virgin Trains promised to build a station in Stuart or nearby Fort Pierce.  This means traveling to Orlando to catch a flight or to Fort Lauderdale or Miami to spend the day will take a fraction of the time it takes to drive there.  I am just hoping that they use the rail car I am posing in front of in the photograph on the right.  It was Henry Flagler's private railroad car.  And since Flagler was the one who developed the East Coast of Florida and founded the Florida East Coast Railway, it would be only fitting.  Look for that car traveling down the tracks in 2022.