April 16, 2024 - Stuart, Florida

Tuesday

After we had coffee, we cleaned up the boat a bit and drove over to Shepherd's Park.  We are picking Doug and Gwen up there and taking them for a ride in the boat.

We decided to go West toward St. Lucie lock. on the st. lucie river instead of going East through Manatee Pocket because it will be calmer (less boat traffic).   Doug said he hadn't been in the area for 30 years, and he was surprised at the new things he saw.  The clouds gave us moments of less sun, and the wind kept us cool the entire way there and back.

We dropped them off back at the park and we went back to the boat and read our books (and might have taken a short nap).  We had dinner, played a few rounds of dominoes, and took the dinghy into shore to walk the boardwalk for some exercise.  Kip also took the dinghy to shore to get some sunset pictures.  

April 15, 2024 - Stuart, Florida

Monday

We didn't do too much today.  Kip made French toast and eggs for breakfast.  Wouldn't you know it...  right when breakfast was done the pump out boat pulled up.  Kip had to leave breakfast and pump the toilet out!  Yikes!  

Our granddaughter, Vada (7), asked her mom if she could call us this morning.  We had a nice chat with her.  She asked if she could have a sleep over at our house when we get home.  She was bummed out that we were on the boat without her.  We will have to bring her to Florida with us for a few days next year.  She would love that.

After breakfast Kip went up to the marina to charge the computer.  Then he picked me up and we took bikes to the grocery store for just a few items.  

We got back and read books until supper.  Supper was good tonight - we had steak and chicken with vegetables and apples.  

Maybe I can talk him into a game of Dominoes too!  

 

April 14, 2024 - Stuart, Florida

Sunday

We got up and had coffee we parked at the dinghy dock.  We walked up to the farmer's market at the park.  We purchased a few plums, some caramel corn, and two pastries.  

At about 12:30 we went back up to the band shelter to listen to the band that will play from 1-4 p.m.  The band is called Vintage Radio, and they play classic rock.  

After the concert we walked up to Duffy's to meet Doug and Gwen for dinner.  We had a great time with them.  After dinner Kip and I had ice cream and took the dinghy back to the boat.  

It was a very relaxing day today!  

April 13, 2024 - Stuart, Florida

Saturday

We were up fairly early and cleaned the boat.  Ashley and Brittany are driving from Fort Lauderdale to Stuart to visit us while they are on their mini vacation.   We are really excited.  We met them up in the parking lot and walked into town to go to the Stuart Sidewalk Sales.  We had coffee and breakfast in town and shopped for quite a while.  They bought items for themselves and for their young daughters too!

From there we took a walk to the Sunset Bay Marina where we are moored, hopped into the dinghy, and went to show them where the boat is.  We also took them on a short ride into one of the narrow channels in the mangroves for the fun of it.  

We had a quick snack on the boat and then decided to climb into their rental car and go to Stuart Beach.  The day was windy but not the 40 mph gusts we had the other day.  We had fun looking for shells and watching Kip get soaked by an incoming wave.  

Kip finally decided to just jump in since he was already wet.  We asked him if he had any extra clothes and he said no, but "the rental car has vinyl seats."  

After the beach we went back to Stuart and had dinner at Duffy's (outside).  Then, of course, everyone had to have ice cream at Kilwins.  We laughed so much today that we cried!  Kip was describing how he had sand in his pockets, lots of sand, handfuls of sand.  

We walked them back to their rental car and said our goodbyes.  We had a great time with them today, and they said they wished they could stay longer.  Kip removed the sand from his body and clothes and relaxed until bed.  The sunset was really pretty tonight.  

April 11 - 12, 2024 - Stuart, Florida

Thursday

Today is very windy - up to 40 mph gusts.  We stayed in the boat most of the day but by evening we needed a break.  We ended up taking the dinghy to shore and going to a restaurant in town called Duffy's.  

Friday

Today we hung around the boat until about 10:00 a.m., and then we biked to the grocery store.  We read quite a bit, took showers, and enjoyed the calmness of the evening.  We are having company tomorrow...  it will be a surprise!  

Here is an article from the TC Palm newspaper (thanks for the heads-up Doug).  Stuart, Florida was named number 1 for best coastal small town.  Kip and I are not surprised... we love it here.

April 10, 2024 - Stuart, Florida

Wednesday

We talked about our plans yesterday for what we wanted to do today, and here we go:

No more lumps on a log!!  We are going to ride our bikes to the Florida Oceanographic Society Coastal Center on Hutchinson Island.  It is very windy, so the bike ride over the two bridges should be interesting.  We had a really fun time there.  We were able to pet the stingrays, touched sea urchins, saw huge fish, sharks, and sea turtles.  We also took the nature walk through the mangroves and walked through the aquarium exhibits building.

After purchasing a manatee Christmas ornament, we rode bikes across the parking lot to Publix and picked up chicken tenders and fruit for lunch.  We went to the Stuart Beach picnic area and ate lunch, and the birds were yelling at us the entire time for some food.  

We then walked the beach.  There were no shells, but I did pick up a small amount of garbage.  The wind was crazy, and the sand being blown around felt like needles on our legs.  We left the beach and sat on a shaded park bench for an hour so we could walk across the street to see the 4:00 car show in the Elliot Museum parking lot.

I noticed as we sat on the bench that the contrast between the clear blue sky and the greenery was pretty, and the light pole for the basketball court looked like a cross, so I had to take a picture.

While we waited for 4:00, we texted with Ashley and Brittany.  They arrived today at Fort Lauderdale for a quick vacation.  We hope to see them one day this week before they go home.  

At exactly 4:00, we walked over to the car show.  Well, it took is exactly two minutes to view all of the cars...  all seven of them.  What a bust!  We were cracking up.

We rode our bikes back to Stuart and, since we weren't hungry for supper, stopped at Kelwin's for ice cream.  Then we rode back to the marina and relaxed for a while.  Our attention was suddenly on a catamaran that kept going back and forth by the shore.  We weren't sure what he was doing.  Finally, the catamaran tried to tie to a mooring ball, but couldn't get it connected.  

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's.......  Super Kip to the rescue!  

Kip took the dinghy over to the catamaran and helped him tie to the mooring ball.  The guy said he only had one engine and was by himself.  Way to go Kip!

We had a fun day today, and I'm sure we will be tired from the biking and the wind.  

April 8-9, 2024 - Wildcat Cove, Fort Pierce, Florida to Stuart, Florida

Monday

Well, we left right away this morning to go back to Stuart.  We passed a couple of very "interesting" boats...  anyone interested in this one?  😬

We got back to the marina and tied back up to the mooring ball and rode bikes to the grocery store.  We are tired from our busy weekend and went to bed early.

Tuesday

We didn't do much today either.   I think I took several naps, and we had a great steak dinner!  Hopefully we can get caught up on our sleep and have more exciting things to blog about!  

April 7, 2024 - Fort Pierce Marina, Florida to Wildcat Cove, Fort Pierce, Florida

 Sunday

We got up and had some coffee before heading up to the booth for continental breakfast.  

There are about nine of us going to the beach to work with the SeaKeepers Society and pick up garbage.  Kip is cleaning the boat up and waiting for Doug and Gwen to arrive for a boat ride.

Our group picked up over 36 pounds of garbage!  It was a nice morning and very worthwhile.

I got back shortly after 11:00, and Doug and Gwen were on the boat.  We took them on a ride and stopped for lunch near the Fort Pierce Inlet.  

Some people didn't plan for low tide and got stuck!

The water was really beautiful here!  

We got back a few hours later and dropped them off at the gas dock, got gas for our generator and dinghy, pumped out, and headed to Wildcat Cove to anchor for the night.  We went on a quick dinghy ride, but there wasn't much to look at besides mangrove trees.  We are both tired, probably from the sun and fresh air.  We don't mind!