Purple Cauliflower??? White Asparagus???

I guess this post should be labeled "Weird Stuff We've Eaten". We never knew that either of these existed, but there they were at the Fort Pierce Farmers Market. Being the adventurous souls that we are we had to try both of them. Amazing!! The purple cauliflower tastes about the same as the regular kind but is so pretty that it really adds to the presentation of the meal. The white asaparagus has a slightly milder and sweeter taste than the green. We really enjoyed both of them.

Paula

Printing Press Mailbox (by Paula)

Here's another pretty cool thing we came across on our river walk the other day. It's a very old Heidelburg Windmill-type printing press that someone stuck in their front yard around their mailbox. Having spent many years in both the printing and newspaper businesses, Jim got a real kick out of it.

Paula

The Flipflop Tree (by Paula)

On our long walk along the river beach, we came upon a real "shoetree". Apparently, the people in the nearby house pick up all the shoes that wash in from the river, and hang them on this little tree. It's loaded with flipflops, crocs, and boat shoes - there's even a diver's flipper. Unfortunately I couldn't find a matched pair of anything in my size.

Paula

Fun in Fort Pierce (by Paula)

We've been having a great time in Fort Pierce! Been to the Navy Seal Museum, the beach, the Historical Museum, the Waterside Blues Festival, Sunset Magic at the Marina, twice to the weekly Bike Night downtown (200+ motorcycles), dinghy riding on the river, and LOTS of walking. And I do mean LOTS of walking! We've walked over ten miles each week since we've been here. Can you imagine yourself walking four miles round trip to get groceries? Yesterday we walked five miles r/t along the river for fun (ok, and because we knew we'd be eating burgers and stuff at Bike Night). Walking is good exercise and we love it because we get to see so much. We literally "stop to smell the roses" all the time. We enjoy seeing different plants, flowers, birds and animals so much, it's a wonder we haven't worn out our digital camera!

Paula

Buffy the Super Squirrel (by Paula)

During our fourteen months in Titusville, we must have walked a couple of hundred miles or more through Sand Point Park, right by the marina. It became habit to carry a fanny pack full of peanuts to feed the squirrels all thoughout the park. We would always stop at one particular spot to sit for a bit, and had several squirrels in the area that we came to recognize and name. One in particular became our favorite. We named him Buffy because of his ear color. He became so comfortable with us that he would climb right up on us looking for peanuts. It got to the point where he recognized us and would chase us down the roadway! Buffy moves fast, but Jim was able to get a short clip on video one day, with narration, so turn on your sound and enjoy!

Fort Pierce - Week One (by Paula)

FORT PIERCE "THE SUNRISE CITY"

The winds finally calmed down, and we left Vero Beach on March 4th at 7:45 am, with definite intentions of coming back to stay a month sometime. We traveled about 15 miles south to Fort Pierce and by 9:45 we were docked at the Fort Pierce City Marina. We're spending March here because we couldn't get a slip in Stuart until April (too many snowbirds heading back north).

We walked a block to the Visitor's Center and pick a great free city map and tons of brochures about what to see and do in the area. Had dinner and some really expensive but good cocktails at the Tiki Bar Restaurant which is right at the marina. Got to see a Delta IV rocket launch - it was nice but nowhere near as fun as watching it from Titusville.

Fort Pierce has turned out to be a great place and we're really happy that it worked out this way. There's a park/plaza attached to the marina and it seems like there's always some free (I love that word) event going on there. The city has a monthly "Friday Fest" street party and it happened to be the day after we arrived. What a blast. Lots of people and all kinds of booths selling food and different artwork, etc. We listened to a live band called the "Uproot Hootenany". What a great band - mostly southern rock and celtic music, really talented guys, especially the fiddle player.

We got up Saturday morning and walked back over to the same spot, where there's a weekly Farmer's Market and Arts & Crafts Show. It's the nicest farmer's market we've ever seen, there's even live music playing. It was like going to another street party!

On Sunday we took a walk to find the nearest grocery store (about a mile and a half away). There was a West Marine (boating supplies) next door and we got a really good deal on covers for our shore power cords, so it was definitely worth the walk.

On Tuesday we walked over the bridge and went to the Marine Science Center and the County Historical Museum, which are next door to each other. By the time we got back to the boat four hours later, we were pooped!

Wednesday, the 10th, was our third wedding anniversay. We had dinner at the Tiki Bar, then walked around downtown (it was the monthly Artwalk night), and finally stopped at Uncle Carlos' for some excellent gelato.

We rented a car for three days and drove to Sanford on Friday - it rained all day! We had to make the run, two hours each way, because our bedroom a/c wasn't working and we needed stuff out of our storage unit. So we get there and realize we don't have the storage unit key! Luckily, the lady in the office rememberd us and was willing the cut the lock off. Of course, we bought a new one from her. On the bright side for the day, we did get to see five bald eagles during the drive. That always makes it great day!

Vero Beach (by Paula)

Sunday, February 28, 2010 - we finally untied the lines and started heading south again!! We left at 7:45 a.m. and went 75 miles to Vero Beach Municipal Marina, arriving at 3:45 pm. We had actually planned to anchor out well before we got to Vero, but couldn't find a spot nearby that we could get into easily with our 4.5' draft. For any non-boaters wondering why it took us eight hours to go 75 miles - we probably could have done it in five but the diesel would cost so much we wouldn't be eating for a month! Besides, we really like to watch the scenery and the wildlife. We had several pods of dolphin riding our waves on and off all day - what a wonderful sight to behold!!!!

Aside from being stuck on a T-head at the marina and being beaten up by the wind constantly, we really enjoyed our three days in Vero. On Monday morning we walked about five miles through Riverside Park, close to the Marina. We had lunch at the Riverside Cafe - they have the most amazing luau bread, unfortunately they wouldn't sell us any. We did get an extra basket though, and took it home with our leftovers, yum!! In the afternoon we took another walk, this time to the beach. It was really nice to see the ocean again and the weather was perfect.

Tuesday was a rain day - no big deal, we both like to read alot. On Wednesday, we hopped on the city bus at the marina and rode all over the beachside area. Vero has an excellent bus system and, get this, it's free!!!!!! They have a donation box on board, which, of course, we contributed to, but it's free!!!! As I always say, if it's free, it's me! What a great system, you change change routes all day long and get to anywhere you need to. Did I mention that it's free?!?! Remember, we no longer have a vehicle with us, so something like this is important - we still need to buy groceries, etc. We headed out on foot in the afternoon and walked to the top of the nearby 65' bridge - beautiful views of the marina and the area. We would love to stay here for a month sometime.

Paula