Spencer had a watchful eye on the dolphins constantly swimming behind the boat while at the marina.
We took advantage of the free shuttle and headed for the beach and breakfast at "The Lemon Tree", a well run restaurant with reasonably priced home cooked food. It passed the Admiral's first test....there was a line up of people waiting 30 minutes to get a seat...therefore must be good food!...it was ...but...I'm getting older by the minute and time flies...seemed like a half day to me! We walked the beach to the Farmer's Market which was filled with vendors selling fresh fruit, vegetables, honey and jams. After sampling the orange juice we couldn't resist and bought two bags to take back to the boat. If you haven't tasted fresh picked Valencia oranges...you should. They are the juiciest sweetest oranges I have ever tasted.
Vero BeachSince it was only a little over a mile, we walked the back streets to the marina. The foliage was unique. Oddly bent old oak trees with their thick limbs covered in ferns giving them a "fuzzy" look lined the streets. It appeared to me that probably because of the thick humidity present during the summer (thank heaven not now!) that mold covered the branches and small ferns have taken growth in the mold.( Later found out these are known as Resurrection Ferns as they wilt during the dry season and resurrect when they get rain.) This must have been what old Florida flora was like before development.
Spanish Moss
Resurrection Fern
Spencer was not impressed with the nearby dog park. It was open, clean with a large area to run but when I released his leash, he simply looked up at me as if to say....Oh! No! If you think I am going to run with these big Doberman Pinchers you are nuts...Pick me back up!....What a weenie!!
Cocktails and dinner were at the nearby Riverside Bar and Grill. A spacious bar situated on the water with small boat dockage right in front. The mussels in a white wine sauce was followed by fresh almond crusted grouper with a mango sauce and was delicious. Several cubra libras later and the in house Blues Band sounded better. We met the guitar player who knew Johnny and Edgar Winter from playing in Austin, Texas years ago. He informed us this was the only bar in Vero Beach that had live music. I informed him that he needed to turn the mike up for the singer!
Later I met the bouncer. Hee! Hee! Now I know what y'all are thinking...Oh! No! Ralphie...what did you do now! Well, not this time! This time I was innocent. He had my name, damn it and I wanted to meet him. Well I should say he had my boat's name...Doc Holiday! (I think I wanted it back!). A nice fellow who seemed quite capable of doing what he said he did....Cleaned up the brawling in this bar in 6 months time, a few years ago. The bar caters not only to the well behaved boaters but later on in the evening (since all the boaters have retired early) caters to the younger college crowd who used to get a little out of hand. Not any more and of course since Doc cleaned it up the business has blossomed.
Which one is the real Doc's Holiday.The Admiral said it was time to go back to the boat since we were planning on leaving as soon as the next storm passed through tomorrow, so we said goodby to our new friends and retired to the boat.
Given that the winds were still high we decided to stay in Vero Beach another day. Off to the art museum to view a showing of "Hyper-realism art". It was impressive. At first I thought I was looking at photographs that were enhanced, since the colours were deeper and more vibrant than even the best photos I had ever seen but the detail was the same as a photo. No,the artists painted these from scratch, one taking over a year to produce a replica of the front hood, grill and fender of a sports car. I would love to have any car that had the rich deep blue finish appearing in this painting on aluminum. You could see the reflection on the fender of people standing and admiring the car. Another piece was a bronze sculpture of a thin ballerina which detailed even the slight wrinkles around her smile, and you could not tell it was bronze as it was painted in such fine detail. Another sculpture of an elderly lady attracted Beth's attention. Holding her hand next to the statue, she said, "Look the veins and age spots on her hands look as real as my own hand!" That's the Admiral not a trace of vanity in her whole body.
When I walked Spencer in the dog park after the museum, I met Sue and her two boat dogs Jaimie and Speedy. Since she was alone I invited her to join us later for a walk to nearby "Mulligans" beach bar. As we enjoyed wine and of course cubra libras from Adirondack chairs on the beach, we learned that Sue was a recently retired paediatrician from Clearwater, Florida. Only retired a few weeks she purchased a 32 foot boat to do her dream of cruising the east coast of Florida down to the Keys. Seems a little lonely to do this solo (maybe what I unconsciously detected when I first talked with her) and she seemed content, although welcomed the opportunity to spend time sipping wine on the beach with something other than "dog talk". It was an enjoyable evening and nice to know that other physicians are able to give up there life long endeavour and commitment to enjoy their retirement. Only time will tell if I can do so.
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