When we woke up Tuesday morning there was strong wind and the water was getting choppy. We got underway heading for Fort Pierce. While the ICW is more protected than the ocean side, it did widen a bit as we went along, providing more fetch for the wind to push around. It was a little bit of a bumpy ride.

We made it to the Fort Pierce Marina though and ended up being docked right next to Sojourn. There were many Loopers here actually. Don washed the salt off the boat and I took Skia for a walk along the water. All over in Florida we’ve been seeing these little brown lizards with the curled tail, but here I found a larger multicolored one that was very interesting.

The marina had given us some coupons for the two restaurants on site so for lunch/dinner we went to Cobb’s Landing. It was a nice, fairly large, tiki bar with very good food.

Wednesday we woke up to surprise rain. We took a short walk to the Sunrise City Cafe for breakfast. They had a whole selection of specialty Eggs Benedict. As I don’t care for ham, this was perfect. I went with the Philly Benedict, shredded beef with sauteed  onions and peppers 😋. Soooo good!

From there we took a Lyft to the National Navy Seal Museum. It was very interesting and gave a whole run down of the origin of the Seals and their evolution over time. One of the original training facilities and mission departure locations was here in Fort Pierce from WWII.

They also had a lot of equipment and artifacts spanning their involvement throughout history.

When we got back the rain had let up and we walked to the local library that was having a book sale. Picked up a few new to us things to read, and then had docktails on another Looper boat, Arion.

Thursday we started out with breakfast at Importicos Bakery. They had a whole array of fresh baked breads and pastries. We both got a breakfast sandwich on a fresh croissant, they were very scrumptious. Then we walked over the bridge to one of the barrier islands where the St. Lucie County Aquarium was.

It was a small but very interesting aquarium. They focused a lot on local wildlife spawning and repopulating. We got to watch the feeding of several of the different tanks, led by a guide.

On the way back we stopped at the Manatee Observation Center and saw a mom and calf hanging out around the sea grass.

That evening we went to Dinner at the other marina restaurant, Crabby’s, with a group of Loopers. The coupon for this restaurant was for a free appetizer. They had a very delicious spinach and crab dip!

🍀 Friday we walked to Publix to pick up something for the St. Patty’s Day pot luck the Loopers were having up in the marinas boaters lounge. When we got back Razors Edge was pulling into the slip on the other side of us. We helped them tie up and let them know about the gathering that evening. They are one of the boats we met back in Michigan that are part of the New York contingent, Dan being originally from Western New York actually.

It turned out to be quiet the feast with a fairly large group. I even tried my first corned beef and cabbage.

Afterwards we went with Jack, Vickie, Dan and Deb down the street where there was a whole section blocked off in front of Sailfish Brewing. There were tents and tables set up, bounce houses and a live band. It was a very festive block party.

We stepped away for a few minutes to go watch the Space X shuttle launch that was happening from Cape Canaveral. It was really cool to see! Apparently they have them quite often so when we get up to Cocoa Beach we hope to see one closer up. It was still fun to watch from here though.

We were originally going to leave on Saturday but there was a Rib & Wing Festival happening this weekend so we decided to stay for that. Then the next few days looked quite windy and possibly rainy, and if you stay a week at the marina you get a discounted rate. So that’s how we ended up here now till Tuesday.

Vickie, Deb and I went for a walk in the morning. When we got back there was a craft show and farmers market happening in the park across from the marina. We walked through it and checked things out. I came back to get Don, there were several food tents serving cooked on the spot dishes that looked good. I got a breakfast gyro 🥙, basically a classic gyro sandwich with a fried egg on top. It was the smell of them freshly sauteing onions that got me. They were also shaving the meat directly off the roaster right there too. It was very good!

There was also a live band playing that was entertaining. We hung out a bit and enjoyed the music.

Later that afternoon we walked over the bridge to the Rib & Wing Fest. It was an eating extravaganza kinda day. There were a lot of different BBQ food trucks that all smelled delicious. Don and I ended up each choosing a different place to try. I got a “small” portion from mine which was still huge!

Sunday was cloudy and windy as predicted. We walked back to Publix for a few things we inevitably forget on our first trip there. We brought the fluff with us, so she and I waited outside trusting Don not to come out with an extra cheesecake variety pack. Always a gamble 😆. We came back and met Jack and Vickie up in the lounge to play cards.

Today Don wanted to try and clean some of the algae growth off the hull. We just haven’t been traveling fast enough to knock it off and it grows so fast down here! We walked to Ace with the fluff so he could get a stiffer bristled brush then Skia and I took an extended walk so Don could work on the boat.

When we got back I cleaned up the inside of the boat and then went back to the store, because ya know, third time’s the charm. Later we got treated to an interesting show of some workers trying to put in a new dock piling.

We picked out an anchorage for tomorrow and are headed up to the lounge to play some more games.

It’s been a surprisingly eventful week. 😄