Day 194, Vero Beach

Vero Beach at the Atlantic Ocean, having breakfast











Aft deck of Noah Genda before dinner at the Vero Beach Yacht Club







Vero Beach Municipal Marina from the vehicular bridge








"Food For Thought" dispay at Art Museum







Art Museum









Diann at breakfast at Mulligans on the Atlantic Ocean








Vero Beach residential area.









It was still a light rain and cloudy when we left Ft Pierce Monday morning heading for Vero Beach where we were able to get the last available slip. It appeared the area where we docked was a new addition to the Vero Beach municipal Marina since there was a yacht club between us and the rest of the City Marina. When I say new it doesn’t mean newly built, the docks were sturdy but not enough water faucets and no cable TV and unable to receive WIFI; other than that it was fine. There are many mooring balls but you are still expected to share a ball if necessary.

These communities along the eastern coast of Florida just seem to keep getting better and better. Tuesday we rode our bicycles over to Mulligan's located about a mile east of Vero Beach Municipal Marina. Mulligan's is on the Atlantic Coast with outside patio dining overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. It was a spectacular view and the breakfast was great. Next we rode to the Vero Beach Art Museum for a viewing of some well displayed works of art. The museum is free except for one exhibit called “Ships and Shorelines”. “Food for Thought” is a series of huge outdoor bronze sculptures in the form of giant food items. See above images

We spent the rest of the day, Monday, finding our way around town on the County provided mass transit authorities free shuttle bus service. It will take you to just about any retail venue you could possibly need. West Marine, Publix, Indian River Mall with a 24 screen theater, Wal-Mart, Fresh Market, Target are just a few of the front door drop-off locations. After you complete your errands, return to the bus pick up station and the same bus will pick you up on its continuous loop. At the transfer station you jump on a bus back to the marina. This marina has a reputation for guests booking a one night stay and end up staying a week. I can see why. Also you can find tons of dining establishments. After returning to our boat we chilled out, watching dolphins around our boat as they were circling the mullet fish for a feeding frenzy. We never tire of watching dolphins.

Tuesday evening we made reservations at the Vero Beach Yacht Club for dinner. This may be our best dining to date. It is a 650 membership club, very private, very high end, very professional with superb service and food. Nice way to cap off our last night here in Vero Beach. They have a casual dining area which only requires a collared shirt; no shorts or jeans and that is where Tom made reservations. When we arrived the only seating available was in the main dining room that required a sport jacket. Tom balked but said okay when they told us he would have to borrow a jacket from their well stocked closet, At first he wasn’t too happy, but found a jacket to fit and actually all worked out well.

Today, Wednesday, we cruised up the ICW to an anchorage at MM 918.2 near Melbourne, FL or about 20 miles south of Cape Canaveral. We also had the pleasure of playful dolphins surfing our trailing wake. The winds are modest out of the east. This is a very quiet, protected, remote anchorage just a ½ mile off the ICW. Looks like a very nice night to have some solitude, fire up the grille and just enjoy a night by ourselves anchored in the quite cove. Over the air TV is limited but we have DVD’s, strong air card signal, XM radio. Diann has started a jig-saw puzzle to occupy the night away. The sunset is spectacular, life is good and we feel very fortunate to experience this journey.