Roy.eaton's travel blogs:
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Vero Beach to Stuart
Entry 35 of 44 | show all | print this entry |
Dec. 7 - Dec. 10
Vero Beach is a very seductive place. Initially we had planned on staying two days. As one beautiful day lead into the next we found ourselves staying four nights enjoying the quiet of the anchorage, the excellent shore facilities and the sights and shopping in the town.
There are 57 moorings at the marina and most of them have at least two boats rafted to the one mooring, the rest have 3 boats so it is very easy to have between 100 and 150 boats at any one time all safely secured. For the price of $8.00 they provide a dinghy dock, laundry facilities, showers (at $1.10) and access to free bus transportation. The newly constructed dinghy dock is up a small creek totally secure and protected and the floating concrete dock was always filled.
This city has free bus transportation for its citizens and one of its stops is the marina. It arrives every hour between 9 am and 4 p.m. and then drives to various shopping areas and malls. When it returns it drops off the boaters right at the dinghy dock as well as the main building for those who rented a dock. What a service! It only operates during weekdays so on Sunday we decided to walk to the beach area with Pauline and Martin.
The roads and walkways are lined with a great variety of beautiful tropical flowers such as these bougainvillea. What a pleasure to walk along this area.
The next day we took the bus to the mall for a unique shopping experience. Over the years we have donated clothing to the Salvation Army store in Sudbury and in the past two years to the Diabetics Foundation which picks up donations at our local grocery store once a month. The mall in Vero Beach has a large Goodwill store which sells donated clothing. The similarity between what we are used to in the North and this store is incredible. At first Margaret couldn't believe Pauline wanted her to go shop there but once inside they both filled shopping carts with clothes to try on. Both had a great time buying top name clothing in perfect condition for $1.98 to $3.98. Eddie Bauer, Lands End, Victoria Secret, etc., blouses, slacks, shorts, etc,. filled the area. In very affluent cities like Vero Beach and Palm Beach, a Goodwill store is an adventure in shopping.
Dec. 11 and 12
We finally left with good memories of this very hospitable area and motor-sailed to the town of Stuart about 7 miles up the Okeechobee Waterway. Stuart is another town where the residents have recently installed moorings and this spring totally renovated their marine service area. They offer a number of perks to try and tempt boaters to take a detour from the ICW and visit their community. There is only room for one boat at a time at the dock and no fuel is available but you can dock to take on supplies and obtain a free pumpout. They also have a specially constructed boat which is set up to give free pumpouts to moored boats so you dont even have to go in to the dock.
Downtown Stuart has also received a facelift. The revitalization of the city core has transformed abandoned city blocks with gift shops, art galleries and a number of restaurants with sunny outdoor patios reminiscent of our time in Europe.
On Wednesday evenings, the town arranges for two hours of entertainment for the boaters and in addition some local artists and crafts people display their work.
Dec 13
We left to meet our friends Mike and Joan Tilston who had arranged a dock for us beside their boat in Turkey Creek on the western side of Lake Okeechobee. We would stay with them until after Christmas and then head back to Stuart to join up with Dave and Judy aboard NICOU. Together we would prepare for our crossing to the Bahamas. FOREVER YOUNG would leave us for a time and head south to Miami where Pauline's son would join them for Christmas. Then they would head for the Bahamas at about the same time we left West Palm Beach but do it from Miami.
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