Deering Bay Estate Seafood Festival

I found out about The Deering Bay Seafood Festival in January and couldn't wait for March 20th to get here!
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I found out about The Deering Bay Seafood Festival in January and couldn't wait for March 20th to get here! After attending the South Beach Food and Wine Festival, I get excited for all food festivals, add in seafood and well, I am in heaven. I was especially looking forward to lobster in any and all forms. What I wasn't expecting was the huge crowd I encountered there. There was barely any place to park and the usually quiet and serene Deering Bay Estate was hustling and bustling with people and good energy. The festival had started at 1pm but I thought it wasn't going to be crowded, so I didn't get there till 3 p.m. That was a big mistake, and next year, God willing, I will get there early and ensure I don't miss a second of this fabulous festival. After finding parking on Old Cutler Road, I took a cool stroll inside. The day was overcast with a threat of rain, but I hoped it wouldn't rain until much later. As I approached I saw a sign that said sold out, but this did not deter me as I had spoken to a friend that was going also, and she had confirmed that there were still tickets on sale, so I continued my journey, and she was correct; I paid for my twenty-five dollar ticket and entered the huge wooden gate to seafood heaven.

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As I weaved through the throngs of happy, smiling people of every color and ethnicity possible, I already knew that this was going to be a good experience. Although I hadn't found my friend yet, I felt comfortable and safe by myself. I walked down to the waterfront where there was a large open space of grass housing the food tents lined up to my right, and the stage that was in the middle of the field, slightly to the right with a Live band entertaining the good people with songs from a variety of genres, which included country, reggae, pop and 80s rock. They were even playing Soca by the ticket stand. This pleased me very much.

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I surveyed all the food booths and decided on Rodbenders which had a wide variety of items. I settled on fried shrimp and conch fritters with coleslaw and French fries, but there were other options such as crawdads (crawfish), conch salad, shrimp cocktail, crab legs, fried fish, tamarind stew, salt fish fritters, paella, but much to my disappointment, no lobster. I got over that disappointment quickly though, got my food and proceeded to wade through the sea of people to an empty seat on a bench to enjoy my catch. As I was enjoying the conch fritters and swaying to the sound of "Walking on Sunshine," I discovered my friend walking across the field and madly waved her down till she saw me and joined me on the bench. I met her boyfriend and her other friend and we all sat and had a jovial conversation about a myriad of topics. Our little gathering soon dispersed unfortunately, due to impending rain but a good time was had by all, and I would definitely recommend this adventure to all food lovers.

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