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My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

It’s Part 7 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.

I awoke early on Day 4 – Saturday June 05TH 2021 – my 54TH birthday. In the weeks (even months) prior to this road-trip I had planned to enjoy a free birthday Grand Slam® breakfast at Denny’s, but they’ve actually changed things up over the past couple of years. Instead of simply walking-in to any Denny’s on the exact day of your birthday, telling them that it’s your birthday, showing them proof via your driver’s license, and then enjoying a free birthday Grand Slam® – now you have to be a part of their Rewards program, and receive a digital coupon for a free birthday Grand Slam® that you can utilize once anytime during your birthday month.

I decided to save my digital coupon from Denny’s for later in the month. Starbucks gave me a reward for any item on their menu free – good only on the exact day of my birthday – so it was off to Starbucks of Vero Beach for a quick small Breakfast.

After that it was a mostly uneventful drive home – down U.S. 1 – onto Florida State Roads 713 and 70, into Okeechobee County, around the eastern edge of the big lake, and then southward onto U.S. 27 and back into Miami-Dade County. I drove 180.2 miles home, and the total miles of the road-trip from start to finish was 471.8.

This was a fun yet well-planned road-trip. I planned it back in early-2018, and I scheduled it for the first week of June of 2018. I had to cancel it when a work-related road-trip to Georgia took precedence. Early this year I decided that this would be the year to take that road-trip, and so I scheduled it for the exact same 4-day / 3-night part of the first week of June. Most of the places that I visited were on my original 2018 itinerary. This was a road-trip where I wasn’t looking for potential part-time volunteer or employment opportunities post-retirement. I wasn’t driving around looking through potential future neighborhoods. I just wanted to visit new places that I’ve never been to before in my life, meet interesting people along the way, and enjoy some great food. I accomplished my mission.

Inside the Indian River Citrus Museum in downtown Vero Beach Florida

There are a lot of hidden treasures along Florida’s Treasure Coast – mostly along or within a few miles of the Atlantic coastline and the Indian River shoreline. I’ll definitely visit the area again to explore more. So far I’ve captioned and posted about 35 photos of this road-trip over on my Flickr site. I’ve got dozens more still to post, so I’ll be doing that for at least the next month. Check my Flickr often to see the newest photos.

And now it’s time to announce my next great Florida road-trip that begins in less than 100 days. It’s all planned-out. I’ll be driving up the spine of Florida along U.S. 27 up to Florida State Road 60, and then I’ll be heading westward into the Tampa area for one night. From there I’ll be heading southward along U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail) into the Fort Myers area for one night. From there I’ll be heading southward and then eastward back into South Florida. I’ll be spending one night in Northwest Broward County before I return home on the afternoon of the 4TH day. It’ll be a nearly 650-mile road-trip from start to finish, and I’ll post all about it for many weeks after.

This concludes my 7-part series on “My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip”. Actually it was an 8-part series, as I introduced it on the June 06TH 2021 edition of “Sunday Scripture”. You can utilize the calendar feature down at the bottom of this site to click on a previous Thursday if you missed any of the parts.

#TravelThursday continues next Thursday, as I plan to blog about Reykjavik Iceland.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Blogging Driving Food History Nature Photography Travel Weather

My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

It’s Part 6 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 one of the city beaches owned and operated by Vero Beach. The city enjoys about 4 miles of beachfront property along the immediate Atlantic Ocean coastline. Indian River County extends about 22 miles along the coastline.

On my final full day of vacation I mostly stayed within the city limits of Vero Beach, but I took a few side-trips. I visited the southern extent of another Florida State Park – Sebastian Inlet – right along State Road A1A. I visited the McLarty Treasure Museum, and it was the northern-most point of my vacation at 27.83° north latitude. The museum was very educational and informative. I watched about a 45-minute video in their theatre that tells the story of the 1715 Treasure Fleet – treasure that was headed to Spain, but didn’t make it very far off the coast of the present-day museum due to a hurricane.

From there I traveled southward back through Vero Beach to the McKee Botanical Garden. It’s been open as an 18-acre Indian River County attraction for the past 20 years, but for 40 years from the early-1930s to the mid-1970s it was a much larger (80-acre) roadside attraction right alongside U.S. 1. Known as McKee Jungle Gardens back then – it was very popular during the 1950s and 1960s (pre-I-95) – boasting 100,000+ visitors annually. My favorite part of the botanical garden was actually the part where the main entrance / footprint of the original park was maintained and honored. Admission to the botanical garden is $15 for adults, and slightly less for seniors, teens, children, and military.

My next destination was the 14TH Avenue district of downtown Vero Beach for a number of stops along a walking tour. First-up was the Indian River Citrus Museum at the Heritage Center. It’s a very small museum, but it’s packed with fascinating citrus memorabilia. I walked over to the Indian River County Historical Society which houses a museum in the old railway station building. They were closed (“indefinitely”), but I got some good photos of the exterior. I would have loved to talk with someone inside the building (as I’ve done in other small towns nearby), but maybe I can do that on a future visit to the area. I enjoyed a nice late-Lunch / early Dinner (#LuDinner) at Italian Kitchen (across the street from the citrus museum). I had their “Combo Special”. It was a lot of good food !

I probably would’ve spent a little bit more time walking the streets of downtown Vero Beach (working-off my big meal), but it was really hot on that day (Friday June 04TH), the area wasn’t as pedestrian-friendly as I envisioned it to be, and I didn’t feel as safe as I wanted to be. I kind of stuck out walking around solo as perhaps the only tourist in the area. Even a cop drove by slower than normal looking over towards me to see if I was up to no good. I got back in my car, and I headed back to my hotel room. I did go out a few hours later in the afternoon to Sweet Kiss Ice Cream for some banana gelato.

Day 3 of my road-trip is now complete. I drove 40.1 miles on this day. That brings the total thus far to 291.6 miles.

Next Thursday I’ll conclude this road-trip recap with Part 7 and my birthday drive home from Vero Beach to Homestead. I’ll also reveal the destinations of my next Florida road-trip that I’ll take in a few months.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Blogging Driving Food Nature Photography Travel Weather

My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

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.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
Blogging Driving Food Nature Photography Travel Weather

My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

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 !

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries