Our wonderful neighbors Don and Paula invited us to join them tonight for the mini-arts and crafts fair,
"Sunset Celebration," at the Sailfish Marina on Singer Island in Riviera Beach. I had never heard of it before, but attending reminded once again me of just why I love #FloridaLiving.
#Selfie of Peanut Island in the background, what what!
The festival is every Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and it's free other than the $5.00 parking.
It's so TROPICAL
Love that ambiance, y'all!
Another Peanut Island photo
Here are my top three reasons why I highly recommend you check out this fun arts-and-crafts festival:
#3. The "I'm on vacation" feel of it all. The festival is like a preview of the Caribbean islands, thanks to the Island-flavored tunes of the talented
Clark Rodriguez (who sings the kind of music you're pretty much guaranteed to hear on a cruise ship), and the scent of conch fritters mixed with ocean salt wafting through the balmy air.
#2. The wares for sale. You're likely to find unique items, such as blown glass bottle spoon rests, handmade jewelry created from sea glass, and artwork that is decidedly beach-y in theme.
I would love to one day decorate my house with beach-themed artwork
Beautiful necklaces for sale
Don said, "You post photos like that on Facebook all the time," LOL!
One thing that caught my eye was a beautiful photo of a baby sea turtle hatchling facing the ocean. It spoke to me of hope, longing and optimism for the future. OK, maybe it didn't say all of that, but it *did* feel like that baby turtle was thinking, "I'm gonna conquer the WORLD! Or at least this big ol' ocean!!"
So the second time around that we walked by, my sweet husband Nathan purchased it for me. :) I <3 it so much!
I also struck up a conversation with the lovely vendor Allison, who said her fiancé Lazaro Ruda of
TheLivingSea.com had taken the photo. I all of a sudden felt a memory trigger, and I said to her, "Did he once review an underwater camera?!" She said he did, and I remembered I had read
this article which quoted him as the "underwater wunderkind" when I was debating which underwater camera to purchase (side note: my hot pink used-from-amazon underwater camera broke this week. Not my fault. Gonna get a refund. So sad).
Allison said Lazaro had found and photographed the sea turtle hatchling near the 7-11 at the City Beach on
Singer Island. That's where Nathan and I usually like to go hang out when we pick a beach, so the story was already cool to me... it gets better: when Lazaro found it, the baby turtle was going the wrong direction, away from the ocean. As a member of the
Sea Turtle Conservation League of Singer Island, he put the turtle on the beach and snapped this phenomenal photo. Allison said the turtle picked up its head, looked at the ocean and immediately took to the water, where it belonged all along. One sea turtle saved-- so many more to go.
Photo by Lazaro Ruda, TheLivingSea.com
#1. Last, but not least, the top reason I recommend you check out this magnificent celebration of the sunset... is the actual SUNSET. Need I say more? I think not.
Soak it in, people. The view is free!
Have you ever been to the Sunset Celebration before? Do you think you'll ever make it out there? Let me know in the comments below! :)
Love ya,
~Angela~
