Category: Food

My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 1, 2021

It’s Part 4 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.

4 Thursdays ago was my 2ND full day exploring the treasure of Florida’s Treasure Coast. I awoke in my hotel room near downtown Vero Beach, and I drove over to First Watch for Breakfast. I could’ve walked over, but the skies were threatening with showers, so I played it safe. Over at First Watch they have an item known as the Floridian French Toast. Think French Toast topped with powdered cinnamon sugar and lots of fresh fruit – banana, kiwi, and strawberries. It’s amazing.

Time to work-off those calories. I visited Round Island Riverside Park – an Indian River County park off Florida’s State Road A1A (on the barrier island). It’s a fairly large park (83 acres) along the Indian River / St. Lucie County line, and I explored a small part of it via its nature trails, boardwalk, and observation tower. I would’ve explored more of it, but the mosquitoes were biting, and showers were in the area. This looks like a fun park to explore in the wintertime during a colder day when the mosquitoes are hibernating.

My next stop was the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum near Fort Pierce. I was their first customer at 10 AM, and I spent a full 2 hours there. Admission was $12 for veterans (surprisingly not free for a military museum). There’s plenty to see and do both inside and outside, and you can easily – especially if you have older kids (teens) – spend a half-day there. As for me I took a lot of photos (40) – nearly all of them outside. The parking lot of the museum is also the parking lot for the adjacent public beach, so families could spend a half-day there as well. That sounds like a full day’s worth of fun via a single parking space. (I didn’t visit that particular beach.)

So that’s my Thursday morning. It’s just past high noon now, and I’m checking-in at the Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Fort Pierce (inland) off U.S. 1. Admission was free as a veteran. I spent about an hour there. It’s a small park (5 acres), and there’s some interesting things to see. I actually wrote a short 5-star review for it on TripAdvisor, so you can look for it on there. (TripAdvisor is another social media site that I’ve been on continuously for a long time – over 9 years. I’ve posted 76 reviews on the site.)

My next stop was the hard-to-find St. Lucie County Regional History Center. (It’s their county museum.) It’s been there for over 50 years, and it looks it. Nevertheless looks can be deceiving from the parking lot.

This place was rather extensive – both inside and outside. It’s part guided tour and part self-guided. This place greatly exceeded my expectations for it. I had a nice 80-year-old man – a fellow veteran who was once stationed (some 60 years ago) at Homestead AFB (where I work today) – guide me at the start of my tour. He was very knowledgeable with local history. He checked-up on me a couple of times during my self-guided tour. He’s a volunteer for the county’s historical society. Once I’m retired and relocated in a few years I’ll very likely do something very similar – that is – volunteer as a museum docent for the local historical society. I think it’s my calling (past and future). Several years ago I volunteered as a museum docent for two full winter seasons inside Everglades National Park. I really enjoyed that unique experience.

Well it’s time for an early-dinner now in Fort Pierce. (Remember this was 4 weeks ago.) When I continue this road-trip recap with Part 5 next Thursday we’ll visit the beach. In fact we’ll visit 2 beaches – 14 miles apart. Looks like there will be a Part 6 on the following Thursday after next, so brace yourself for more fun !

Tags Florida, Travel

Blogging Driving Food Movies Nature Photography Travel Weather

My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date June 24, 2021

It’s Part 3 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 Elliott Museum on the barrier island off the coast of Stuart known as South Hutchinson Island. From there I headed north along Florida’s scenic State Road A1A. I soon entered St. Lucie County, and once I reached the Fort Pierce Inlet I headed inland (along A1A since there is no bridge over the Inlet). In downtown Fort Pierce A1A and U.S. 1 share a concurrency for a little over a mile. A1A then heads back out to sea to the barrier island on the other side of the Inlet. I stayed on U.S. 1, and I took that most of the way up to Vero Beach – my hotel destination for 3 nights. Once I entered the city limits of Vero Beach I believe that it was the first time in my life that I had done so – as a 33½-year resident of South Florida.

After I checked-in to my hotel and room I walked over to the nearby Bonefish Grill. I got there a few minutes before they opened for the day at 3 PM. I was not only their first customer of the day, but I was their only customer during my entire meal ! The service was great, and the food was great. I think I’ve eaten at Bonefish Grill once or twice before in my life (while on vacation). There’s actually one about 18 miles from home, but I’ve never been to that one. (I should visit sometime. They are actually open for Lunch.)

After my early dinner I drove over to the local movie theatre in town to see “A Quiet Place Part II“. It was my first movie seen in a movie theatre in 2021. I saw 3 last year in 2020. During much of the 2010s I was averaging about 35 movies per year !

After the movie I headed over to South Beach Park (a city park) on the Atlantic Ocean. When I got there at about 6:35 PM I noticed that lots of people were leaving the beach and heading for their vehicles. I was the only person getting out of his car and heading towards the beach. Once I arrived surfside I realized why everyone was abandoning the scene – including the lifeguards. A raging thunderstorm was quickly blowing in from the sea. I took a few photos of the darkened sky, and I too headed back to my vehicle. I drove back to my hotel 2½ miles inland. It was starting to rain lightly as I walked inside my hotel. As it turns out the thunderstorm was a complete bust. It pretty much fell apart as it swept inland, and only light rain fell from it for a few minutes. I should have stayed in my car at the beach until the storm passed, and then enjoyed the beach after.

That’s the end of Day 1 of my road-trip adventures. That was Wednesday June 02ND 2021, and I drove 203 miles on that day. I’ll present Part 4 for you next Thursday, and we’ll head back over to the barrier island, and we’ll visit some fun places on both sides of A1A and U.S. 1 in the Fort Pierce area.

Tags Florida, Travel

Blogging Food

My Top 5 Restaurants

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date February 4, 2021

And now – for something completely different. It’s my current Top 5 Restaurants within 5 miles of my home. In traditional #CountUp fashion I’ll start with # 1 and work my way to # 5.

Can you tell I love steak ? We have 3 major chains of steakhouses less than 10 minutes away (in normal traffic), and I love all 3. Longhorn opened in 2009, and I’ve blogged about it often over the past dozen years. They used to be my runaway # 1 smash restaurant for many years, but recently they’ve been trounced by both the brand new Outback Steakhouse in town, and Olive Garden (next door to Longhorn).

I’ve only been to Outback twice since they opened late last year, and I’ve been impressed both times. Their warm, soft, and curiously dark “Honey Wheat Bushman Bread” that you get with every meal while you wait for your meal is absolutely scrumptious. I actually thought it was Pumpernickel until I did a Google search on it. My first two times at Outback I got their Outbacker Burger with swiss cheese. Again – mouthwateringly delicious. It comes with Aussie Fries. I think they are the best fries of the 3 steakhouses.

Olive Garden tops my current list. You know there are places where the food is great, but the customer service leaves a lot to be desired. There are some places where the food is average, but the customer service is top-notch. Other places have food and customer service that fluctuates back-and-forth and is not very consistent. My local Olive Garden is none of these things. The food is great. The customer service is great (perhaps the best of any restaurant in the local area). Both are very consistent. They used to have a popular slogan – “When you’re here – you’re family.” Well whenever I visit my local Olive Garden (almost always during the first Lunch hour) I feel like I’m part of their family there.

Incidentally it was a tough call for that # 5 spot. I went back-and-forth between Red Lobster and Applebee’s. The former has the better food, but the latter has the better customer service. Also the food is less expensive at Applebee’s. I eat at Applebee’s far more often these days than I do at Red Lobster – almost always on Sunday afternoons after church service. Ultimately it was Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits that catapulted it over Applebee’s. Red Lobster’s house bread tops the house bread at every other restaurant in my Top 5.

Who’s hungry ?