Halloween on the Riverwalk in Jupiter

Calling all scarey, creepy ghosts and goblins to join Jupiter Parks and Recreation in celebrating Halloween on Saturday, October 25th from noon – 2 p.m.  Celebrate Halloween at the Riverwalk Events Plaza underneath the Indiantown Road Bridge.  Come see your fellow Jupiter residents in their creative costumes and enjoy music, ghoulish games and more.  Be sure to bring a lawn chair.  Refreshments will be available for purchase.  The even will be held rain or shine.

For more information, contact the Jupiter Community Center at (561) 741-2400 or visit their website at www.jupiter.fl.us/ParksRecreation.

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Battle of the Abacoa Neighborhoods

The following article was published by Bristol Management. Come join the fun and cheer on your neighborhood athletes!

Bristol Management proudly presents the Battle of the Abacoa Neighborhoods on Saturday, May 31st and Sunday, June 1st.

This EXCITING 2 DAY EVENT kicks off at Roger Dean Stadium for a summertime family fun baseball game between the Palm Beach Cardinals and the St. Lucie Mets on Saturday, May 31st at 5:15 p.m. The evening will conclude with an amazing FIREWORKS DISPLAY ! Tickets for this event will be $5.00 per person and children 2 & under are free. Tickets may be purchased at the stadium or online at Roger Dean Stadium.

Each neighborhood will have a different color ‘battle’ t-shirt that represents their neighborhood and everyone will be invited out to the ball field for a pep rally to cheer on their neighborhood athletes prior to the start of the game. You can order your ‘BATTLE’ t-shirt for $4.00 at Order ‘BATTLE’ T-shirt or at the Bristol office at 1930 Commerce Lane Suite 1, Jupiter, 33458.

Let the ‘battle’ begin on Sunday, June 1st for the competitive sporting events!

The Golf Tournament will be hosted at the Abacoa Golf Club, and start at 8:00 a.m., (with registration will probably be around 7:00). It will be a shotgun start, scramble style…team of 4s! Entry fee is $70.00 per participant.

The Tennis Tournament starts at 7:00 a.m. and will be held at South Jupiter Community Park, 1501 W. Frederick Small Road, in Abacoa. It will be played ‘Rockin’ Round Robin style. Entry fee is $15.00 per participant. Limited registration

The 5K Run will be mapped out throughout Abacoa and will commence at the Town Center Amphitheater and end on HOME PLATE at Roger Dean Stadium. Entry fee is $15.00 per participant. Run will probably start 7:30 a.m. with check-in around 6:15 a.m.

AWARDS CEREMONY will be held at the TOWN CENTER AMPITHEATRE at 3:00 p.m.

What about the rest of the community? WAIT there is more…

Town Center will be having all the FUN with a Kid Zone and LIVE entertainment at the Amphitheater from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Town Center stores will be having an Open House along with the yummiest Taste of Abacoa!

We encourage everyone in Abacoa to support their neighborhood and Town Center by participating. This event is designed for the Abacoa Community and we hope that its grand success will evolve it in becoming an annual event! So, MARK your calendar for May 31st & June 1st.

Cinematic Couture at Palm Beach Gardens Mall

The kids, grandma and I spent Saturday doing what every girls favorite past time…shopping for shoes! I make no apologies, it needed to be done! The kids each left victoriously with a pair of shoes in hand! Nothing is more satisfying than finding perfect pair of shoes.

We shopped at The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens. Over past few years, the mall has immensely improved with designer stores such as Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Chanel and more. The interior design has been updated to attract the sophisticated shoppers in the area.

This month The Gardens Mall has a fascinating exhibit, Cinematic Couture, of costumes used in recent films. There they have 40 costumes on display from movies such as:

Becoming Jane

Casanova

Death on the Nile

Elizabeth

Emma

Ever After

Evita

Finding Neverland

Frankenstein

The Golden Bowl

Gosford Park

Goyas Ghosts

Hamlet

House of Mirth

Howards End

In Love and War

Jefferson in Paris

Land of the Blind

Miss Potter

The New World

OneGin

Out of Africa

Phantom of the Opera

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

The Portrait of a Lady

The Prestige

Sense and Sensibility

Shining Through

Victor Victoria

The White Countess

Young Toscanini

The exhibit will be on display through April 28. Visit Gardensmall.com.

Susanne Quirk is a real estate sales associate with Cobblestone Realty specializing in oceanfront and luxury homes in Juno Beach and Jupiter, Florida. Contact Susanne at (561) 386-0350, e-mail, or visit her website, The Juno Beach Realtor.

Articles of Interest:

Palm Beach Fashion Week

HGTV Designer Offers Her 30 Best Homestaging Tips

Dining Out In Jupiter, Florida

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Palm Beach Fashion Week

For those who are all about the latest and hottest trends from top designers, Palm Beach Fashion Week is here! Enjoy ten days of pure indulgence into the world of fashion. Glamorous runway shows of top fashion designers, live music performances, private cocktail parties with new product launches, golf tournaments, and charity events. Tickets are one sale now. For more information, call (561) 805-8681 or toll-free (877) 722-2921.

Event Details:

February 29: Opening Night Gala at Mar-a-lago
Featuring Jewelry by Ivanka Trump, swimwear by ERES and presenting the runway looks of Vlassis Holevas. Benefits Wheels for Kids. Cocktails, dinner, runway show, dancing under the stars. Tickets, $350.

March 1: “The Box” at The Colony, Palm Beach
Runway shows featuring Worth Avenue brands, and designers from New York, L.A., Europe and South America. Tickets, $35; includes pre-reception.

March 1: Rock The Ritz-Carlton, Palm Beach
A fashion and jewelry extravaganza. By invitation.

March 2: “The Box” at The Colony, Palm Beach
Tickets, $35; includes pre-reception.

March 3, 6-8 p.m.: 150 WORTH party on Palm Beach
By invitation.

March 3, 6:30-8:30 p.m.: Max Mara, Palm Beach
In-store event.

March 5: Ritz-Carlton Club, Jupiter
Tickets: $50. By invitation.

March 6 at Noon: Nordstrom runway show
The Gardens Mall.

March 6 at 6 pm: The Bear’s Club, Jupiter
Cocktails and light fare. Informal modeling. By invitation.

March 7 at Noon: Braman Fashion Lunch
Braman Porsche Showroom on Okeechobee Blvd. By invitation.

March 7 at 7 pm: Downtown Delray Beach
Fashion on the Avenue. Open to public.

March 8 at 11 am: Best in Show–People and their Pets
Gucci Courtyard, Worth Avenue Palm Beach.

March 8 at 6:30 pm: Closing night Celebration of Fashion and Lifestyle.
CityPlace, West Palm Beach. Benefits Kids Sanctuary.

Artigras Coming To Abacoa

The 23rd annual ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival will be held at the Abacoa Town Center in Jupiter, Florida on President’s Day Weekend February 16, 17 & 18, 2008.

Artigras has become a nationally recognized fine arts festival attracting more than 150,000 art lovers and collectors. It is the one art festival in the area that you do not want to miss. A great opportunity for unique finds in art, jewelry, home decor and more.

Produced by the North Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce, ArtiGras was recently named one of the top 50 fine art festivals in the country. Three hundred artists will have their unique wares on display along with a few artist demonstrations, Youth Art Competition, ArtiKids children’s interactive activity area, Private Art Preview, Celebrity Art Auction, entertainment and more!

Tickets are on sale now and are discounted if purchased in advance.

Palm Beach Gardens Restaurants Win Florida Trend’s Golden Spoon Award

Two of our local restaurants were crowned winners of Florida Trend’s Top 20 Best New Restaurants. Both located in Palm Beach Gardens, III Forks at Midtown PGA and Amazonia Brazillian Grill in Legacy Place were both listed as restaurants worth checking out. See our review of III Forks. We haven’t returned there, but we have heard nothing but great reviews from friends and acquaintances. Check out Palm Beach Post critic, Charles Passey’s review of Amazonia.

We haven’t visited Amazonia yet, but feel free to leave your own review in our comments section. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Dining Out in Jupiter at Samantha’s

By Susanne Quirk

We dined at Samantha’s in the Jupiter Shoppes this weekend.  It was our first visit there although Samantha’s has been around for a couple of years.  I was eager to go because close friends of ours had recently dined there and raved about the place.  I don’t mind saying that they are quite the critics when dining out.  Their reviews carry weight with us because they dine out almost nightly and have acquired a long list of restaurant recommendations in the process.    They won’t hesitate to give you a detailed critique along with their recommendation! 

Samantha’s is quietly tucked away in the Jupiter Shoppes located next to the now defunct billiards place.  Inside and outside dining is available.  The restaurant is very cozy and intimate.  There are not many tables and that is a nice change from the mega chain restaurants that are flooding the area and can be so difficult to get into.  The seating is limited and I would advise making reservations.  We did not have reservations, however the hostess was very pleasant and fortunately was able to squeeze us in.   

The menu is extensive and I wanted to provide it here for you.  So, I searched online and in my search I also found some great reviews consistently making claims that the calamari is to die for.   We didn’t have an appetizer to give you our thoughts on that, but we did have dessert.  But before I get into that I’ll go over our entrees first.  I had the usual Filet Mignon and I was quite impressed.  It wasn’t my preferred Oscar style but I was pleased with all 11 ounces encrusted with Gorgonzola, Roasted Garlic Cream & Red Wine Reduction – all for $38.   Great price since we’ve paid more than that for smaller portions.  My steak was so big I didn’t pay too much attention to the mashed potatoes and seasoned vegetables.  

Dessert was the best part of the dinner.  I perused the dessert menu and found a delicious bread pudding loaded with vanilla bean ice cream, bananas and drizzled with caramel.  Pure heaven!

We enjoyed everything about Samantha’s.  The food was great, the service was top notch and I can’t wait to go back for the dessert. 

There’s a great website for those who dine out frequently www.SouthFloridaDines.com.  This website is packed with restaurant reviews, menus and more.  They also offer gift certificates at discounted rates.

Dining Out In Jupiter, Florida

By Susanne Quirk

We hit another steakhouse Saturday night. It was a long day, I wasn’t feeling well and I was ready to refuel my body with a big, fat, juicy Filet Mignon. So, we headed out to our favorite place in the area. I’m hesitant to say exactly where because Joe doesn’t want anyone to know about our favorite place. It is our little secret and he would rather keep it that way to avoid a long wait. So, I won’t say just yet.

We have been going there for a few years now. Tony, our favorite waiter, is always there to serve us and knows we like booth seating! The cost is on the high end, but it is worth every penny. You are guaranteed to get a great steak every time. In fact, in season many call in advance to reserve a prime rib (barrel cuts only). Joe loves the end cut and if we are not there early enough we miss out. That’s not a problem since there are so many other entrees that are just as tasty.

The menu is a la carte. For appetizers, I’ve had the Colossal Shrimp Cocktail, Lump Crab Cocktail and the Stuffed Shrimp. All were very good. Other appetizers include Soup du Jour, Oysters Rockefeller and more. They offer a wide variety of salads – the Beefsteak Tomatoes, Sweet Onions and Buffalo Mozzarella is delish! Entrees include your typical steakhouse fare with an assorted selection of meats and seafood. I’m a creature of habit and a Filet Mignon – Oscar’d works for me. For those who have not experienced a Filet Oscar, it is jumbo lump crabmeat piled high, topped with bérnaise sauce and then topped with a few crisp asparagus. Just a quick mention about sides – the Lyonnaise Potatoes are the best. It’s a great experience.

Any guesses yet? No, it’s not Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. They do have a similar menu but we prefer our restaurant. The steak has been more consistent in quality and taste and the restaurant is easy to get in and get out. If you haven’t guessed yet, our favorite steakhouse in Jupiter is Barrymore’s Restaurant.

Give their menu a try and let us know what you think.

Business Expo Fundraiser to Benefit Children & Families

The holidays have always been a time when we think about those in need. Well, here is a great opportunity for us to give back to our community. On November 29, two charities, The Palm Beach County Heart Gallery and Santa’s Sleigh Riders, will benefit from the Holiday Business Expo Fundraiser at the Abacoa Golf Club. Santa’s Sleigh Riders is funded by Families First of Palm Beach County. A $10 donation is all that is required to shop for the holidays with local businesses. A silent auction, door prizes, including a chance to win a cruise. That’s right – win a cruise for two aboard the Mariah, spa certificates, gift baskets, golf foursomes, weekend getaways and a chance at 5 day/4 night stay in St. Thomas. The first 100 attendees receive a FREE gift.

Be sure to bring your recycled ink and toner cartridges. Cartridge World of Wellington will be hosting an additional fundraiser and will donate all money received from your cartridges to these two charities.

Business booths are still available. For more information, contact Brenda Ammon at (561) 307-4978 or email Brenda at ultimatehealth4u@aol.com

Hidden Gem In Jupiter

By Susanne Quirk

Today, I was out running errands and was reminded of one of Jupiter’s hidden gems, Dune Dog Cafe. A casual cafe that reminds me of Jimmy Buffet, Key West and Margaritas. Don’t get me wrong – it is definitely a great family place. It is a place where every local has dined (embarrassed to mention if you haven’t) and a must visit for every tourist, family or friends visiting the area. If you’ve been to Jupiter, then you’ve been to the Dune Dog.

The Dune Dog Cafe is tucked away off of Alt A1A in Jupiter. An open, outdoor cafe where the relaxed atmosphere makes me feel as though I should be kicked back on a boat listening to Jimmy Buffet. A nice little reminder you are in paradise! And the icing on the cake? Thursday night is lobster night for $15! Can’t beat that. They also have your usual fare – hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs, etc. Let us know about your hidden gem.