Latest / Inside West Palm Beach / Holiday In Paradise 2024 Preview: Sandi Tells All!

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Holiday In Paradise 2024 Preview: Sandi Tells All! · Inside West Palm Beach

11:04:58
Welcome to the City Center podcast. I'm
11:05:00
Jerry Marcello. West Palm Beach is the
11:05:03
place to be as old man winter settles in
11:05:05
around the country. Along with our near
11:05:07
perfect temperatures comes a holiday
11:05:09
tradition for West Palm Beach. It's time
11:05:12
for the return of holiday in paradise and
11:05:14
Sandy, the world's only 35
11:05:17
foot, 700 ton holiday sand tree.
11:05:20
Stand by for a full rundown on what's on
11:05:22
tap this year, including some new guests
11:05:25
for 2024. That's next on the City Center
11:05:28
podcast from West Palm Beach.
11:05:37
Another year, another holiday in
11:05:38
paradise. It is going to be particularly
11:05:40
special. Joining us today is Mary
11:05:43
Pinnack, who is the marketing and
11:05:45
community events manager for the city of
11:05:46
West Palm Beach. Mary, welcome.
11:05:48
Thank you. Good morning. For those who
11:05:50
don't know about holiday in paradise,
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let's give them an overview about what it
11:05:54
is and what goes on. Sure. Well, holiday
11:05:57
in paradise is the city of West Palm
11:05:59
Beach is very, very special December
11:06:02
offering for the entire community
11:06:05
residents and tourists.
11:06:06
And it features Sandy and Sandy is the
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world's only 700 ton, 35 foot tall
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holiday tree sculpted completely from
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Florida sand. Wow. And she's tropically
11:06:21
splendorous. That's even a word, right?
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So you basically we have this, this event
11:06:28
going on where the centerpiece is Sandy
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with the 700 tons of sand. There's also
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other things going around.
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There are other things to do. Is there
11:06:36
music playing? What else? Sure. Well,
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first of all, Sandy, she stars in her own
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music and light shows every single night
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from December 5th through the 31st. And
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so she's really special during the day
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because you can see all the details of
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the sculpting. But at night, she's really
11:06:52
in her glory. Beautiful shows. And this
11:06:56
year, she's bringing back Ferris, the
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Ferris wheel. But every year
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she brings a special guest.
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And this year she stopped in Peru before
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she got here. Sandy did. Wow. And she is
11:07:09
sharing harmony. Wow. And harmony is a
11:07:13
llama. Well, I'll tell you what, we have
11:07:14
something very special for the folks who
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are watching this. We not only have
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through the magic of television, the
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ability to go out remote to the site of
11:07:23
holiday in paradise. We've got a mic in
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front of Sandy tree and Sandy's going to
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join us right now. Sandy, are you there?
11:07:30
Hi, Jerry. How are you this year,
11:07:33
darling? We're doing great. Welcome back.
11:07:35
We talked last year. You look even bigger
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and more beautiful this year. Well, thank
11:07:41
you. I know I am more beautiful. You
11:07:43
know, as women age, we are like wine. We
11:07:46
just get better and better. And I must
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admit, I am a tad bigger than I've been
11:07:53
in the past. Just a tad. But I'm a woman
11:07:56
of substance, Jerry.
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Indeed. Indeed. But let me let me bring
11:07:59
up a good point here. Mary was talking
11:08:01
about the fact that during the off season
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when we're not here in West Palm Beach,
11:08:06
you traveled the entire world. And this
11:08:08
year you were in in South America. Is
11:08:10
that is that what I understand? That's
11:08:12
correct. I went down to Peru and it was
11:08:15
fabulous. The food was spicy hot. Some of
11:08:19
it, though. I had to ask for it a little
11:08:21
modeler. I'm a sassy girl,
11:08:23
but I'm not a spicy girl.
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Indeed. So so while you were there in
11:08:28
Peru, you came across something that we
11:08:31
just touched on. Tell us a little bit
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about the what you've brought back for us
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this year. Well, I have brought back
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something that every community needs.
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South Florida included. I have brought
11:08:43
back harmony. Harmony so we can all de
11:08:47
stress from our everyday lives. And a
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harmony is the most
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beautiful llama you've ever seen.
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She is all dressed up in bright colors.
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She's got her Florida garb on and she is
11:09:02
ready to celebrate. I have not seen a
11:09:05
llama dressed in Florida. Is it like
11:09:06
Lily? She has some flowers. She has some
11:09:10
pink and green on her. You know the
11:09:13
Florida colors, Jerry. Wow. So okay. So
11:09:16
that's amazing. We were going to have a
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llama be a be part of part of the event
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this year. Tell us a little bit about more about that.
11:09:24
Yeah. So not only are we going to have
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many beautifully sculpted llamas this
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year, Harmony and her happy herd because
11:09:33
she has to bring a happy herd. You know,
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she has to have an entourage. True.
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Because she's got a match up with Sandy,
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you know. And that's not easy. As if
11:09:41
that's even possible. No, I know. I'm
11:09:44
begging your pardon, Miss Sandy. And we
11:09:48
also are going to have a live llama at
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some of our events that the kids are
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going to love. So Harmony will be the best.
11:09:53
So Harmony will be there in person at the
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tree lighting on December 5th. Okay. At
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the Sandy's pancake breakfast on December
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8th. And then she's going to be at the
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movie night on December 13th where we're
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going to actually show two Disney movies
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that are, guess what, starring a llama.
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So it's a llama-mazing holiday, Jerry.
11:10:17
Well, that is really great. Now hopefully
11:10:18
people will take advantage of coming down
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and actually seeing the llama. And that
11:10:23
would be a really neat thing. So, okay.
11:10:27
So we have the llamas. We have beautiful
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Sandy there. We have, tell us a little
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bit, you mentioned earlier a little bit
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about Ferris. Tell us about what Ferris
11:10:36
is and what's in store.
11:10:38
Well, you know, a couple of years ago,
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Sandy thought she better bring her cousin
11:10:42
down and he's a little bit, he can be a
11:10:45
little bit obnoxious, not obnoxious, but
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he has a really outgoing personality. So
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she brought Ferris down and it's a about
11:10:55
a 55 foot tall Ferris wheel, beautiful
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Ferris wheel. And he was such a hit that
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now she's not letting go of Ferris. And
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Ferris likes sharing the limelight as
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much as Sandy will let him.
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Well, he's not the brightest crown in the
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box. If you know what I mean, Jerry.
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I understand Ferris does
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have his ups and downs.
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He just goes round and round and it never
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ends up anywhere. You
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know, people like that.
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So we have Ferris back again this year
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and I have had some folks who actually
11:11:27
took part and rode on Ferris and say that
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the view is breathtaking, whether it's
11:11:31
day or night. So that's really, bring
11:11:33
your camera. It's quite a view.
11:11:35
Yeah, it really is. I mean, some of the
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best selfies you can get, not just with
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Sandy, but then taking pictures of the
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intercoastal, the beautiful vista that we
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have. It's the highest location that you
11:11:45
can get on the waterfront.
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Now, I'm only open at night. Ferris is
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only open at night, though, from six to
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10. He will be spinning during the
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pancake breakfast. If you buy tickets to
11:11:57
the pancake breakfast, oh, it's
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delicious. Santa's there, Mrs. Claus, and
11:12:03
you will get a Ferris ride during the day.
11:12:05
But that's the only special time. Ferris
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is kind of lazy. He
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won't work 24 hours a day.
11:12:12
We need to talk to him about it.
11:12:16
Okay, so that's really important. Now, we
11:12:17
mentioned, you mentioned your pancake
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breakfast. Let's go over a little bit
11:12:21
about that because that's not just a walk
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up. That's something that you want to buy
11:12:24
tickets to. Tell us a little bit about that.
11:12:25
Absolutely. So we started this, I think,
11:12:27
four or five years ago. So, so popular.
11:12:30
The kids come out with their parents.
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It's a great time to get to see, not just
11:12:34
have these fabulous pancakes, but to see
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Santa. You're not waiting in those long,
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long lines that you can
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find at other locations.
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So it's $17 plus fees per person. Well
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worth it. Not only do you get the pancake
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breakfast, you get the Santa. You also
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get, as Sandy said, a ride on Ferris that
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day. And you get to pet the live llama.
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So where else can you do all four of
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those things at one time?
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And Mary, some of my sponsors are coming
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out that day to do
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activities with the children, too.
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And that's perfect. We love
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that. We love all the activity.
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It's a perfect event for kids and
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families as well. Okay, so if I'm
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interested in taking part in
11:13:16
that, where can I get tickets?
11:13:17
Yep. So wpb.org slash events. You go
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right there. Yep. Go to the city website.
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We'll hook you right up with the
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location. You can buy
11:13:25
your tickets in advance.
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Okay, so we've touched base on some of
11:13:29
the major things that are taking place at
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Holiday in Paradise. So let's go over. Do
11:13:35
you have any sense of if there's some
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special events you really want to talk
11:13:38
about that go through the month?
11:13:40
Yeah, sure. Absolutely. Well, the first
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one right off the bat is the tree
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lighting, where we light
11:13:45
Sandy for the first time.
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Yeehaw!
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It's always the best event to start
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things off. That'll be December 5th.
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It'll be during Clamatus by Night, which
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is our heritage event where music and
11:13:57
memories are made. So
11:13:58
it's perfect for that.
11:14:00
And that'll be from 6 to 10. From 6 to 9
11:14:03
will be a really good band. Uncle Morty's
11:14:06
Rhythm Cream, all the way from
11:14:08
Gainesville, Florida.
11:14:10
And I hear they are a super fun time. And
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then we'll have, like I said, the llama.
11:14:14
We have a holiday gift boutique. I think
11:14:17
we have over 30 vendors in that this
11:14:18
year, which is the most ever. So you can
11:14:20
do your shopping right off the bat.
11:14:22
That's awesome.
11:14:23
Right off the bat. Tons of food vendors.
11:14:25
Santa Claus will be out. So it's going to
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be a great time. And then on December the
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8th, as I mentioned, is
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Sandy's Pancake Breakfast.
11:14:32
December the 13th, we have the movie
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Night. And that is with the Emperor's New
11:14:39
Groove and Crook's New Groove. The two
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Disney movies starring a llama. So you're
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going to get your llama fill.
11:14:47
La Malicious. It's going to be fantastic.
11:14:50
La Malicious. And then on December the
11:14:52
15th is Sunday on the Waterfront. And
11:14:54
that is that spectacular Aloha Islanders
11:14:57
tropical show, which features the
11:14:59
Polynesian dancers and the fire eaters.
11:15:02
Everybody talks about that.
11:15:03
Yeah. And I want to say that's at least
11:15:05
your 10 that we've brought them back.
11:15:07
It's an annual tradition. It is
11:15:09
completely an annual tradition. And then
11:15:12
on December the 18th is Soul in the City
11:15:17
Jazz with the Lady Ella Band, which is a
11:15:21
tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.
11:15:22
And it's going to be amazing. She also
11:15:26
has a little holiday in there too. So
11:15:28
that also requires tickets. So you'll
11:15:30
want to go to the website for that. My
11:15:33
gosh, we have a lot going on.
11:15:35
Sandy, tell me, do you have one of your
11:15:39
favorite events? Is there something that
11:15:40
really stands out for you?
11:15:41
I tell you, Jerry, I just love the entire
11:15:44
month. I even love November when the team
11:15:47
is sculpting me. It's so nice to see
11:15:50
people come on down during the green
11:15:52
market during the day and
11:15:53
look at me on Saturday mornings.
11:15:56
I am not shy, Jerry, in case you haven't
11:15:59
gathered that. And I like to say hello to
11:16:03
everyone here. I've been coming here for
11:16:05
13 years now, Jerry.
11:16:08
It's my happy holiday place.
11:16:11
Well, we're just so excited to have you
11:16:13
there. And yeah, I mean, right now, you
11:16:16
know, at the time we're recording this,
11:16:18
it's a perfect opportunity to go on down.
11:16:20
The weather's been spectacular. Go on
11:16:22
down to the green market. Go ahead down
11:16:24
there and check out how beautiful the
11:16:26
sculpture as you're forming and you're
11:16:29
blossoming out in your full glory.
11:16:31
Exactly. And I'll be there every Saturday
11:16:34
through December, too. So if you want to
11:16:37
see my detail, come during the day and
11:16:40
then come at night and
11:16:42
see my spectacular shows.
11:16:45
I think people don't really realize it.
11:16:47
We just think we turned on some lights
11:16:48
and that's it. No, there's a giant laser
11:16:50
light show that goes on.
11:16:52
Oh, my gosh. You know, the first year of
11:16:53
Sandy, it was just kind of a little
11:16:55
glowing experiment, let's call it. Right.
11:16:58
Right. And then she really boomed her
11:17:00
second year going forward. And it's just
11:17:03
grown just from lighting Sandy to the
11:17:06
entire downtown all the
11:17:07
way up Klamata Street.
11:17:09
It is a spectacular vision. Yeah. It
11:17:12
makes you feel like you're in someplace
11:17:15
you've never been before because you're
11:17:16
seeing things you
11:17:17
can't see anywhere else.
11:17:18
Indeed. And for folks who have not gone
11:17:21
to the gone there, that is truly a sight
11:17:24
that is be with you for the rest of your
11:17:26
life is how beautiful it
11:17:27
is when it's all lit up.
11:17:29
So let's go ahead and do something that
11:17:30
we did last year, which I think was
11:17:32
really, really helpful. You know, we we
11:17:35
are you guys are experts at getting folks
11:17:37
to be down there and enjoying themselves.
11:17:39
What would you give as far as some pro
11:17:42
tips to folks who have never been here
11:17:43
before? What's the best place to park? Is
11:17:45
should they eat first? How long should
11:17:47
they be in plan on being
11:17:49
down on the site? Right.
11:17:50
Well, I think let's start by going to the
11:17:52
website. It's up right now and you can
11:17:54
see everything that's going on the entire
11:17:56
month of December. Once again, the web
11:17:58
web address. W p b.org events.
11:18:02
W p b.org slash events. Yeah, we want to
11:18:05
go there first. You want to get your full
11:18:07
itinerary. You want to mark the things
11:18:09
that you want to make sure you go to. You
11:18:11
want to get your tickets in advance
11:18:13
because the Sandy's pancake breakfast
11:18:15
historically sells out.
11:18:16
Yeah, the jazz is going to be.
11:18:19
I'm sure I sell out to those are the two
11:18:22
paid events. You want to mark the night.
11:18:25
She want to get there for the Ferris
11:18:26
wheel because it can be really busy on
11:18:28
the weekends to so I would say get your
11:18:31
schedule ready. Get your Sandy schedule
11:18:34
set. And then when you do plan to come
11:18:37
down, I always recommend to get a little
11:18:40
early. Get here a little early. And the
11:18:41
great thing is you can come down at five.
11:18:43
You can eat an early dinner.
11:18:45
One of our, you know, terrific
11:18:47
restaurants that are on the street. There
11:18:49
are many on Clematis all around all
11:18:51
around downtown. Come come down to the
11:18:53
waterfront. You can see a couple of
11:18:55
shows. The kids can play in Paradise
11:18:57
Island, which features the be good ship
11:19:00
lollipop. It's a giant sandbox with a
11:19:03
real pirate ship in theme with the be
11:19:05
good ship lollipop. So you can spend at
11:19:08
least a couple of hours in Sandy land.
11:19:10
You can see the four sand sculptures on
11:19:11
the waterfront, which
11:19:13
are amazing. The ship is
11:19:15
a great place to come in. You can watch the shows. You can watch the shows this
11:19:15
year. So there's a lot to do. Catch
11:19:17
another show. Maybe you go up the street
11:19:19
for a couple of after dinner drinks or
11:19:23
maybe go get some ice cream. Then come
11:19:26
back and you can watch the shows right
11:19:27
till 10. You can make an entire night out
11:19:30
of it. And as Sandy said, if you come
11:19:32
during the day, you can see the full
11:19:34
detail. Play in the lawn. There's just
11:19:37
things you know, it's just this past
11:19:39
weekend with this weather. It was just
11:19:43
the place. And one of the city's most
11:19:45
great hotels, the band West Palm is has
11:19:49
an ice skating rink. So after you come
11:19:52
visit me, you can go take a little skate.
11:19:54
There you go. Do you like Sandy? Do you
11:19:58
like it during the day? Like people visit
11:19:59
during the day or do you prefer the
11:20:01
nighttime? I'm just a people person,
11:20:03
Jerry. I like him coming anytime. I want
11:20:06
him to smile and say hello. It makes me
11:20:09
smile to make them smile. What a
11:20:13
personality. It's just something amazing.
11:20:15
She really captures the spirit of the
11:20:17
holidays here in West Palm Beach.
11:20:19
Absolutely. One logistics thing. Say I'm
11:20:23
coming into town with my car. Where
11:20:26
should I park? Is there a place to park?
11:20:28
Yeah, I would always go to the city
11:20:29
parking garages first. And on our
11:20:31
website, we link up to those too. Again,
11:20:33
as far as a tip, know where you're going
11:20:35
to go to park in advance. Sometimes you
11:20:39
can get lucky and get a meter, but I
11:20:42
don't count on that.
11:20:43
I head to the garage.
11:20:45
And on the weekends, there's a $5 flat
11:20:47
rate for the garages during the green
11:20:50
market. If you're heading to the green
11:20:52
market during green market hours, the
11:20:53
city hall and the quadrille, the
11:20:57
climatous garage are free. So yeah,
11:21:00
again, don't get stressed out about it.
11:21:03
No, you're heading to the holiday. Happy
11:21:04
place. You're going to find a place to
11:21:06
park down here. A lot of people are going
11:21:07
to be visiting. A lot of people have kids
11:21:09
home. Is there a day of the week that's
11:21:12
better than another as
11:21:13
far as really enjoying
11:21:15
the thing without being too crowded?
11:21:18
Well, obviously, if you come down during
11:21:21
the events, there's a lot more activity
11:21:22
going on. If you're somebody that wants a
11:21:28
quieter experience, although the music
11:21:30
and light shows are going on Mondays and
11:21:32
Tuesdays are sometimes a little quieter.
11:21:36
But you never know. The closer you get to
11:21:39
the holidays, the closer you get to the
11:21:41
week of December 20th,
11:21:42
it's busy. Because here's why.
11:21:45
People come down, as Sandy said, they're
11:21:47
coming down to see her sculpted. And
11:21:49
they're saying, Oh, I got to see when
11:21:51
she's done. I have to come back down
11:21:53
here. So then they come to the tree
11:21:54
lighting or they come that first weekend.
11:21:57
Well, then it's so amazing to them. I've
11:21:59
got to tell my family, friends and
11:22:01
neighbors. So then they come back 234
11:22:03
more times. So it's really interesting to
11:22:06
watch that. And you can listen to them at
11:22:08
the tree while they're telling. They're
11:22:10
telling their story of how Sandy's made,
11:22:12
which sometimes I got to jump in there
11:22:13
and say, well, quite right.
11:22:15
But yeah, well, it sounds like any day of
11:22:20
the week is a good day to go. Just have
11:22:22
your plans. Come on down. And really,
11:22:26
from what you described, it's the best
11:22:27
thing to do is to go down there and plan
11:22:29
on it like an afternoon evening. The
11:22:31
whole day you could be downtown. Totally.
11:22:33
Oh, definitely, Jerry. That's what I was
11:22:37
gonna say. Come on down and plan your
11:22:39
whole day down there. You can go daylight
11:22:42
into evening, eat dinner and then see one
11:22:46
of my shows at night. It's amazing.
11:22:49
Fantastic. Fantastic. Well, Sandy, I want
11:22:51
to thank you for taking the time to talk
11:22:53
to us today via remote, via the magic of
11:22:56
television. Thank you for joining us and
11:22:58
thank you for being here in West Palm
11:22:59
Beach again this year. Well, bless your
11:23:01
heart, Jerry. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoyed this.
11:23:03
I am so lucky to have met Mary and she
11:23:07
brings me here every year. Her and her
11:23:09
team, they do everything to get me here
11:23:12
and it takes a lot. Let me tell you, I'm
11:23:15
more a little more than your average
11:23:17
girl. I have to echo exactly what Sandy
11:23:21
said. Thank you to you and to the entire
11:23:24
team at the parks and Rexford City of
11:23:26
West Palm Beach. You guys deliver every
11:23:28
year and it's gonna be particularly
11:23:30
spectacular this year.
11:23:32
It truly is our pleasure. It's personally
11:23:35
my favorite time and thing of the year.
11:23:40
So Sandy's a bestie forever. Forever,
11:23:43
Sandy. Thank you darling. Bless your
11:23:46
heart. Thank you, Sandy. And thank you,
11:23:48
Mary, for joining us today. Thank you.
11:23:50
And thank you for joining us. We hope
11:23:52
you'll come to downtown West Palm Beach
11:23:54
for a wonderful visit to Holiday in
11:23:56
Paradise. The City Center podcast is a
11:23:59
production of the City of West Palm Beach
11:24:00
Communications Department. I'm Jerry
11:24:03
Marcelo. We'll see you next time.