I occasionally like to post about interesting Florida towns. And over the last two years, while regularly visiting my mom in assisted living, I’ve had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time in Sebastian.
Or at least in a sliver of Sebastian.
Among other things, Sebastian is home to America’s first national wildlife refuge. This thanks to Teddy Roosevelt’s determination to save Florida pelicans from mass slaughter for the sake of feathering women’s hats.
There used to be some really cool sculptures on the Indian River side of the Sebastian sliver. But they were removed to make way for the town’s new “working waterfront.”
Apparently you can do art and cut bait. But not in the same place.
Oh, I keep referring to the Sebastian sliver because virtually all of the really interesting stuff in town is sandwiched in the sliver of land between the Indian River and U.S. 1.
The rest of the city, maybe 90-plus percent of it, consists mostly of anywhere-Florida strip commercial development and cookie-cutter subdivisions.
Sebastian has two really cool breweries, practically next door to each other. They collaborated on a brew to honor Teddy’s pelican rescue operation.
BTW: Pareidolia means “the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern.”
Mash Monkey means they make beer.
Let’s drink to both.
I’m a big fan of Capt. Hirams. And, no, this isn’t a paid pitch.
Yes, a Spanish treasure fleet sank off Sebastian Inlet. Much of the treasure has been recovered. You can learn all about it at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. But don’t expect any free samples.
Top: Squid Lips.
Bottom: An orange house.
Sebastian started as a fishing village and that tradition continues today.
Unfortunately, decades of mismanagement and overdevelopment is turning the Indian River Lagoon into an ecological disaster area.
The river is still pretty to look at though.
I wonder if, every time an old grouch dies, the town has an election to designated a new one. I’d love to attend those candidate debates.
There are a lot of palm trees in Sebastian. That is all.
Despite flooding problems, sea level rise and climate change, there is still quite a bit of new development going on in Sebastian.
But to its credit, the city has avoided the sort of wall-to-wall high rise construction that all but hides many Florida waterfronts from public view.
I like Sebastian’s sliver. If you have to run aground somewhere, this isn’t a bad place to do it.
FreeGNV 