Many Americans view Cinco de Mayo as a day for margaritas and Mexican food. Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's independence day. Mexico’s independence is celebrated on September 16. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over the French forces of Napoleon III on May 5, 1862, at the Battle of Puebla. The very first versions of those May 5 celebrations did not begin in Mexico. They began in the U.S. during the Gold Rush era and the Civil War. The early celebrations were and more about taking a side in a then-ongoing geopolitical conflict and less about food and margaritas.

Since today is Cinco de Mayo  and there are plenty of fiestas in town and most people enjoy a great gathering for any reason.  South…

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Have you ever been up close and personal with a long legged pink bird?  If not, the opportunity exists at the Palm Beach Zoo.  The impressive Palm Beach Zoo and Conservation Society,1301 Summit Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 33405 has made the opportunity to feed flamingos a reality!

Each afternoon the 'Flamingo Experience' at the Palm Beach Zoo offers clientele an intimate encounter for just $35 a person.  A maximum of eight guests are escorted into a sequestered feeding area where the Chilean Flamingos come out to meet their fans. Touching the elegant birds is not encouraged, but the flamingos can touch you with their nares. Obviously, they don't have hands so they check out the everything with their mouths.

The flamingo snack/meal is on the menu…

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Jupiter Island mansion sold for a drastically reduced price after nearly four years on the market.  International icon, Céline Dion, has finally found the perfect buyer for her multimillion-dollar home.  After trying to sell her Florida estate for $72.5 million for years it will now finally close for $38.5 million.

Dion and her husband, René Angélil, built the stunning oceanfront mansion in 2010.  Sadly, Angélil, died of cancer last year.

A Canadian real estate broker helped sell the property, along with a real estate broker in Florida. The identify the new owner has not been disclosed but said the American buyer wanted the property as a vacation home. The $38.5 million transaction finalized last week.

For more information on other homes…

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When I grew up, Saturday entailed us mowing and weeding.  Not quite my American dream, or that of my brothers as young teens, but we had a lush green lawn and it was every suburbanites dream. To some, a lawn is the crowning glory of their South Florida home. Yet to others it is a tremendous hit on their checkbook.

Everyone loves the appearance of an impeccable lawn.  Don’t you enjoy the smell of fresh cut grass and the feel of it under bare feet.  The cost to maintain it, mowing, edger’s, mowers, aerators, chemicals and fertilizers.  This is the bare minimum to achieve a beautiful lawn or hiring a lawn service.

Lawn service can be a tremendous hit on the checkbook. Studies show that well maintained landscaping can add 15% to the value of a home. …

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Gardens are beautiful and butterflies seemingly bring the garden to “life” with fluttery movement from plant to plant. South Florida is a great area to have a butterfly garden. Butterfly gardens come in all shapes and sizes. It can begin in a single pot or a plot of land. It is possible to add a few plants to a couple of beds or a window box or transform an existing garden.

A garden full of butterflies requires a good mix of butterfly nectar and select plants so that butterflies will not only be attracted to your shrubbery for a drink, but they will also lay eggs. This provides a place for the entire butterfly life cycle to ensue.

The butterfly life cycle includes various stages: eggs, caterpillars, chrysalis and finally, butterflies. All the…

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When staging your Palm Beach County home for sale, your furniture placement will be adjusted to invite buyers into the property and allow them to walk freely in the room and then pass to the next.  It may not be the layout you prefer or use, but it is to facilitate the sale of your house.

 Ideally, a home stager can be your ace in the hole to sell quickly. The home stager will suggest to you what stays and goes, what to put away and what needs to be upgraded.  According to the National Association of Realtors, home stagers start with an “evaluation in which they’ll review your home from curbside to back fence offering a list of instructions and suggested enhancements, changes and upgrades for you to get done.”

The goal of staging is to showcase…

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One of the many reasons to reside in South Florida or live seasonally is the beauty and abundance of waterways.  Nothing is more serene than gazing out your backyard and see the sunshine glistening on the water behind the house knowing it is at your beck and call.

The climate in South Florida is almost always conducive to fishing, leisure boating, swimming or watersport activity.  To keep Palm Beach County waterways safe the Florida Wildlife Commission encourages boating safety courses. 

The U.S. Coast Guard's Boating Safety Division also supports this concept.  The Coast Guard's Boating Safety Division is dedicated to “reducing loss of life, injuries, and property damage that occur on U.S. waterways by improving the knowledge, skills, and…

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Image courtesy of Delray Affair.

The 55th Annual Delray Affair takes place this weekend, April 7 – 9, 2017, along the friendly streets of downtown Delray Beach.  Nicknamed the "Greatest Show under the Sun", the Delray Affair is one of the largest arts & craft festivals in the southern United States. It takes place along the palm tree lined streets of downtown Delray Beach and encompasses 12 tree lined blocks. Artists from all around the United States exhibit at the Delray Affair.

Long before the Delray Affair came to dominate East Atlantic Avenue with its displays of arts and crafts, the Gladiola Festival had an eight-year copious run as a feature attraction and even attracted some of the biggest movie stars of the day. It has morphed into what…

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You’ve been looking forward to a spring vacation from the ice and cold for months and the time has finally come to pack.  Here in Palm Beach County you’ll need a swim suit, sunglasses, sandals, and broad spectrum sunblock. Protecting your skin from the sun’s UVA/UVB rays is important while sunbathing in the “Sunshine State”.

Palm Beach County is home to exclusive areas like Jupiter Island and Palm Beach. The beaches and real estate in this area is second to none.  Palm Beach County also has charming seaside towns of Jupiter, Juno Beach, Delray and Boca Raton, which are also prized for their incredible homes and condos on the beach, Intracoastal Waterway and Loxahatchee River.  The abundance of sparkling blue waterways, beaches, as well as the real…

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Amongst all of the celebrations going on in South Florida for St. Patrick’s Day this year, one of the best is the Delray Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade. 

Marking its 49th year, the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade of Delray Beach is a spectacle you won’t want to miss. Led majestically by 70 World War II veterans and the South East Florida Honor Flight, the parade takes the streets by storm. The vets while be escorted by uniformed Firefighters and Police Officers from all over the United States, and beyond. Local singing artist Sarah Crane, from the HOW foundation, will sign our national anthem, as the veterans and first responders stop in front of Northern Trust bank. An incredible display of uniformed soldiers carrying flags and followed by bagpipes,…

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