Today we drove the A1A that traverses the barrier islands along the coast. Two bridges cross the Indian River inlet, one going north and the other south. The northern side is much newer with lovely homes and resorts while the southern side was developed earlier and a little on the funky side. Both have nice parks so everyone can enjoy the beaches. It is so much less congested than the Fort Lauderdale area. We liked it much better. We enjoyed walking on the beach. The water temperature about 69 degrees and felt pretty warm. With a little less wind and a little warmer sun, Chris and I would be in the water. I do have my limitations. We had a late lunch at “the original Tiki Bar,” a fun place sitting on the water and delicious food. The fish tacos were fabulous. Mom would be loven the raw oysters. Big plates are served everywhere we go.
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| Small Dunes, Salt Grass and Aqua Marine Water! Great combination! |
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| A Little Windy! |
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| Mexican Train in the Manor |
Today was tour day with a tour of a citrus packing plant, the Manatee Center and the Navy Seal Museum. Big Al’s Family Farm tour was a nice surprise. We all usually like tours of plants and businesses so we gave it a try. It’s a family run small packing plant that put on a good show. We came away learning a little bit about the citrus industry here in Florida. 70% of our citrus comes from Florida and of that 90% is used for juice. The oranges grown along the Indian River have 30% more juice. With a taste test, we could see that indeed they are fabulous! We had to buy some fresh squeezed juice! We were impressed that the owner was on hand to answer questions. He walked through the lunch area and talked to people along the way, very personable. They had lunch, best hand made tamales I ever had, and the tour for $10.00. 40 people joined us on our tour! Next stop was the Manatee Center at the harbor along Moore Creek that feeds into the Indian River. We didn’t have any luck seeing any today but they have groups of 100 at times. That must but a sight to see. They provide a nice information center. Last on our list was the Navy Seal Museum. Again we were impressed with the information, displays and films. Fort Pierce is the birthplace of the U.S. Navy “Frogman.” From 1943 to 1946 Navy volunteers were trained as members of the Underwater Demolition Team. Today they are now the Navy Seals and train in San Diego on Coronado Island and San Clemente Island. They said it was the most demanding and arduous of any training in the armed services. Hell Week sounded unreal with five days of training and maybe a total of four hours of sleep during the entire time. Only a third of the class graduates. They are sent all over the world and have been in every war since WWII. We were thinking of the elite training our dad had in WWII in the 10th Mountain Division. Interesting day.
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| Al's Farms Citrus Tour |
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| Manatees do actually rest on their backs underwater. |
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| Navy Seal Museum |
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| Me sitting in one of the boats on display. |
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