It’s Part 5 of my multi-part Thursday blog series on my recent 77-hour / (4-day / 3-night) / 472-mile road-trip spanning Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties (in that order). It was my first extended visit ever along Florida’s Treasure Coast. While there I was always within about 5 miles of the Atlantic Ocean and the adjacent Indian River.
Last Thursday we left off at the St. Lucie County Regional History Center. (It’s their county museum.) I was actually planning to visit the small aquarium next door (about 500 feet away), but it looked like they were packed, so I proceeded over to the historical museum to start there, and then make my way back. That turned out to be a treasure that greatly exceeded my expectations. No time for the aquarium. Maybe on my next visit.
I ate #LuDinner (late-Lunch / early-Dinner – think 3 PM) at a highly-recommended (by friends) place called 12A Buoy – just across the bridge (inland) from the museum. As their web site states – it’s a “rustic dive” with “exceptional eats”. I concur. I enjoyed their Crispy Dolphin Reuben. #Yum
Let’s head for the beach. It’s on to the other side of the inlet to Fort Pierce Inlet State Park. It’s the only place on this entire road-trip that I’ve actually visited before. I was last there on April 24TH 2010. It was the northern-most extent of a weekend road-trip when I mostly explored Jupiter and West Palm Beach; although, I attended a Sunday morning church service in Stuart. You can actually read all about that road-trip right here on my blog. Just use the calendar down near the bottom of this blog to go back in history by 11 years and read all about it. (OK – I’ll make it easier for you with these 2 links – April 27TH 2010 / APRIL 29TH 2010.)
My 2ND visit to this beach owned and operated by Florida State Parks was fun. I like this beach a lot. It’s clean and well-maintained. There weren’t that many people on the beach on that Thursday afternoon. I imagine that it could be quite busy on many weekends and holidays.
After about an hour I decided to head out of Fort Pierce along Florida’s State Road A1A, and return back to “home base” for this road-trip – Vero Beach. But since the previous night’s visit to the beach in Vero Beach was a bust – I’d head up to the other popular beach – Humiston Beach Park. It’s a city-owned beach with a short boardwalk overlooking it. The lifeguard stand is part of the boardwalk. There are also a bunch of souvenir stores, restaurants, bars, and hotels within walking distance of the park. I enjoyed a nice cup of ice cream at Kilwins. The later you go there – the busier they get.
Day 2 of my road-trip is now complete. I drove 48.4 miles on this day. That brings the total thus far to 251.5 miles.
Next Thursday I’ll continue this road-trip recap with Part 6 and my final full day on Florida’s Treasure Coast. I spent most of it within the city limits of Vero Beach; although, I did take a side trip even further north along U.S. 1 and A1A to the southern edge of Sebastian Inlet State Park. I’ll share Day 3 with you next Thursday, and that won’t end this story. There will be a Part 7 as well the following Thursday after next.
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