Waking up in Paradise

Like the song says - Waking up in Paradise.

You would think that coming from an urban area with all the activities and perks, and moving to a somewhat small town would be boring. That's what I hear but from people who are not willing to venture out into their own surroundings.



Not one of my problems. I travel back and forth every weekend and this particular weekend I decided to take in some local culture. I headed to Stuart's downtown to get a bite to eat on a hot Friday night and found myself enjoying great food, great bands, and a beer or two at the Dancin' in the Streets celebration. The 27th annual event is a huge fund raiser for the downtown events organizers and a huge fun raiser for me. Even more exciting to just stumble upon it.




The setting was perfect for this event. I had never noticed Memorial Park before. Takes a few seconds to drive by but it is much larger than I expected. They ran a temporary fence around and were charging around $18.00 to get in. There was a nice restaurant across the street but the long lines so early told me this was more like a place I wanted to check out.

Two stages kept the tunes cranking and a 2:00 am cutoff brought in the crowds. Then they did it all over again Saturday night. This party held thousands and when I was ready to pack it in near closing, it was hard to find the gate through the crowd. Unlike where I am coming from, the crowds were as polite and pleasant as the rest of this little town. I did a bit more exploring later this weekend but this was a great way to kick it off.




[click here] for more photos from the event. Not my best as I only had my cell phone.