Delray Beach And Art On The Square

My sister Susan and I drove down to Delray Beach from Stuart, Florida this past Sunday for the Art on the Square Fine Art Show. The last time we drove here, in August, to see an art show at Old School Square, the Delray Coastal Showcase, there was no sign of an art show whatsoever. I was worried that the same thing would happen this time, too, but thankfully it was taking place there as promised. This was not a major festival, but still very nice, and worth attending. There were paintings, sculpture, mixed media, photography, and other types of art on display. I checked out the photography booths - all were tropical scenes, none very interesting, and after a while we moved on to check out downtown Delray Beach.

Delray Beach always seems to be crowded on the weekends, and most of the restaurant patios were doing a booming business. I have noticed that many of these restaurants have bars lining the sidewalks, and most of those barstools were filled, too. And for those of you who have followed my posts about the Blue Anchor Pub, which was built in the 1840s in London, but disassembled and rebuilt in Delray Beach in the 1990s, it is still closed due to multiple health code violations and lawsuits concerning unpaid rent. It is haunted, by the way, by Bertha Starky, who was killed along with her lover by her husband when he returned home unexpectedly and found them in their upstairs quarters. She now has the place all to herself, at least for now.

We parked in the Pineapple Grove Arts District, the home of galleries, studios, boutiques, and the Arts Garage, which has live music, performances, and exhibitions, and is considered the cultural center of Delray Beach. And there is also free parking on the street, which is a major plus for me. I took the photograph on the left of that wall mural of a happy looking monkey as we were walking back to the car. Just like the last time we visited, the traffic heading west toward I-95 on Atlantic Avenue, the main drag, was bumper to bumper, and so we headed east to A1A and the ocean, and drove along the beaches and past multi-million-dollar mansions on the way home, hoping that the tax cuts the owners received from Donald Trump's Big Beautiful Bill were helping them with what must be huge mortgage payments. And speaking of Trump, he was in residence at Mar-a-Lago this past weekend, and so our trip along the ocean was cut short as we had to detour off Palm Beach Island, since the road in front of his club was closed in order to prevent anyone from getting anywhere close to the front gate of that deranged old SOB's home. And I mean that with all due respect.