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Fort Pierce, FLApr 7, 2009
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Fort Pierce Riverfront
Indian River
Long Beaches
We left Palm Harbor at about 11:00 on April 1 for the relatively short drive across the state to the Treasure Coast RV Resort just west of Fort Pierce. Treasure Cove is a very nice campground with paved streets and concrete sites complete with full-hookup 50-amp service and cable TV. Only about a third of the sites were occupied during our week-long stay.
The weather was mixed with several days that were windy and some occasional rain. We did find a few days where we had the opportunity to visit Fort Pierce and it's neighbor to the south, Port St. Lucie. Fort Pierce is the much older and less affluent community of the two. Where there were several abandoned shopping centers in Fort Pierce, things were thriving to the south.
Our first visit was to the waterfront on the Indian River at Fort Pierce. The river is part of the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway that is used by many smaller yachts. The riverfront was replete with palm trees and we spent Thursday afternoon walking around, seeing many pelicans and having a gelato at Uncle Carlo's. On Friday evening we returned for the first Friday of the month riverfront party. There was a surprisingly large turnout for the musical entertainment and food stands along the riverfront.
We also had an opportunity to spend some time on the other side of the river. The barrier island on the east side of the Indian River stretches for about twenty miles from just north of Fort Pierce to Jensen Beach, south of Port St. Lucie. Unfortunately, no dogs were allowed on any of the beaches. While we were in Port St. Lucie we took advantage of the opportunity to catch a flick - "Adventureland".
On Monday we took Arnie to a place where he could do some hiking. On the barrier island, just north of the north causeway from Fort Pierce, is the Jack Island Preserve. The Island is surrounded by a man-made dike built for mosquito abatement. The road atop the dike provides a 4-mile long path for hiking. We enjoyed our walk around Jack Island.
After the hike we stopped at Mangrove Mattie's for lunch. Mangrove Mattie's overlooks the inlet that provides entry from the ocean to the river. It was a pleasant lunch and a nice view.
Tomorrow it will be time to drift north. We have a reservation at the New Smyrna Beach RV Park.
