PORT SALERNO, FLORIDA.

PORT SALERNO, FLORIDA.

Coordinates: 27.1442 N  80.1917 W

For some reasons, we always end up in Port Salerno. Believe me, it's always a pleasure to return there. Our first visit, was on January 24th, to participate to it's 9th annual Seafood Festival. Not at all typical from what we are accustomed to see in Atlantic Canada. Port Salerno is a fishing village of aprox. 10,000 people, located on the east coast of Florida, more specifically near the mouth of the St Lucie River and the Atlantic Ocean. The seafood festival, is an annual event, initiated by the local fisherman and their families to benefit the community and support non-profit organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club, local schools, the Humane Society, just to name a few and the Treasure Coast Waterway Cleanup program. This is a one day event only, that brings over 35,000 people to the only waterfront seafood festival on the beautiful Treasure Coast of Florida. It is the local fishermen of Port Salerno, and their families  that catch, clean, cook and serve most of the seafood. I read, that this event first started off, as a fish fry party at the local docks. Then, it was in an effort to bring positive awareness of the local commercial fishing industry, that the yearly fish fry, turned into this amazing seafood tasting festival, bringing in hundreds of vendors, live music and activities. 

We spent that afternoon exploring, taking in some live music, enjoying a little beer and sampling some of these great seafood dishes, like fried calamari, crab cake, conch fritters (JP's favourite), crispy crab balls, and for the more daring,  shark bites, gator bites and grilled dolphin. 

Since then, we just seem to be returning, not only by car, but also by boat, where you can dock and enjoy an awesome meal and refreshments at one of the local waterfront restaurants. As for the men, a little fishing is also called for, after fuelling and stocking up on bait.

Port Salerno's Commercial Dock Authority, offers many services such as a marina/ dry stack, commercial fishing, fish/bait shops, fish cleaning stations, recreational fishing and boating, charter fishing and kayaking. The public also has access to the docks, warfs, beach, park and boardwalks. 

I have posted a series of photos taken at different days and occasions. Some was taken from the Sansprit Park, some from the docks and some was taken right from the water. 

I also tried to showcase my photos in sequence, during and after the seafood festival. 

Enjoy!

BAHAMAS CRUISE 2015

Bahamas Cruise 2015

Welcome to my blog, of our Royal Caribbean Cruise on Enchantment of The Seas. A vessel of 11 passenger decks , with a capacity of 2,446 people. It has already been one month, since  we embarked on a 4 night 5 day cruise to CocoCay and Nassau, from Port Canaveral. Where does time go, when you're having fun? Because of high winds and seas, our only day trip to the cruise line's private island, CocoCay, was cancelled and we sailed directly to Nassau. 

The Bahamas is an Island Country, in the Atlantic Ocean, consisting of more than 700 Islands, located southeast of Florida and north of Cuba. 

Nassau (New Providence), is the largest Capital city of the Islands. Of course we had ourselves a little tour and visited; Fort Charlotte and Fort Fincastle constructed in 1793, which can be reached by climbing the Queen's Staircase. This staircase was built solemnly by slave labour. The fort, just a short walk west of downtown Nassau and the cruise ship terminal, offers a great panoramic view of the harbor,  as you can see from the attached photos. With our tour guide we had a short drive by of the major historical structures and buildings of Nassau. The one that really got my attention was the Pompey Museum of Slavery, built in 1769. It's function at that time, was a market place until the late 1800's, sadly, it was there that enslaved Africans were sold among other commodities.  We also went to Paradise Island, home of Atlantis, located on the northern edge of the city. On that part of the tour, we could not help ourselves to take a stroll at the Village at Atlantis Yatch Club. JP did a little search on the Yatchs we've seen there. He figured, that it would cost a minimum of  $150,000.00 a week, plus expenses to charter one of these beauties. We finished our tour, by walking down town. We did one of my favourite things, not shopping, but do a little people watching, and stopping for a bite to eat with the locals. We had some home style Bahamian Cooking. My favourite; jerk chicken, pork and ribs, with beer to wash it down. It came with their national dish, rice and beans and a side of coleslaw. We could not help but starting with a sampler of one of JP's favourite island foods, conch fritters. Sorry, no photos of food this time. 

Our cruise ship and state room was very nice and comfortable.  Our favourite night again, was the 70's disco inferno night. Best lounge, where you could find us every night before dinner, was the Viking Crown, situated on deck eleven, at the very top of the vessel, almost at the bow, one of the best place to sit and watch the seas go by, while sipping a little of our favourite wine. 

Have posted photos from our Bahamas album, enjoy!