A Snowbird in Paradise

It is hard to take a good photo of the Concert in the Park because of the evening light.  At the point the above photo was snapped the sun was setting quickly and people had not gathered.  In fact, the musical group hadn't finished setting up.

The concerts start at 5:30 and play until 8:00 once a month.  The park has parking on both sides; Highway 1 on one end, and Indian River Drive on the other.  The portable band shell appeared after the hurricanes instead of the ground-level picnic pavilion. 

Our first concert was about 5 years ago.  We saw the gathering, heard the music and stopped as we were driving by. The artist, as had been the tradition for the first concert of the season, was Pete Harris.  We loved the music, semi folk in the Jimmy Buffett tradition.  When we were back home, I googled Harris on the computer and discovered he was suffering from brain cancer and this was to be his last concert.  Days after we returned home in April, he passed away and the area honored him with a huge casual gathering at Captain Hiram's Sand Bar, one of his favorite musical venues.

This evening the music was from a very good traditional bluegrass group.  The audience is usually retirees with a smattering of young families and grandchildren.  Although there is a small set of bleachers, and a smattering of picnic spots, most people bring folding chairs of some kind.  There is food available and many bring picnics, wine and cheese, or take-out pizza.  This night we had chicken combo bowls from KFC and stayed in the car.  We could hear just fine but the above photo was the best I could do.