Sebastian Inlet Wrap Up

Our stay here at Sebastian Inlet State Park has come to an end.  Some of the best things about Sebastian Inlet is the fishing and the beautiful view of the inlet and the ocean, pristine beaches with very few people on them. But best of all were the friends we made.   As with all things we are sad to leave all the friends we’ve made and yet excited about our new adventure.  We are headed over to Marianna, FL to volunteer at the Florida Caverns for the month of February.  There we will hook up with a some friends from our volunteer time at Kartchner Caverns in Arizona last year.  

Here’s a recap of the places we saw, things we did and places we dined.  Just in case you happen to be in the area and want to take in some of these places.

The fishing was awesome!  I had a great time meeting fisherman and learning how to make my own rigs and how to fish for the types of fish in this area.  I caught, Blues, Spanish Mackerel and Flounder.  How exciting for me.  I'm going to miss the fishing.  For the rest of the year my fishing will be fresh water fishing.  A different world all together.

I had the opportunity to work at McLarty Treasure Museum, a National Historic Landmark, and share the excitement of the Treasure Coast with guests.  

The story is in 1715, a storm sank a Spanish fleet (12 vessels in all) on the shoals between Sebastian and Fort Pierce.  Some 1500 survivors trudged to shore.  The gleaming cargo of gold and sliver and jewels lay on the ocean floor.  

Over the next four years, official Spanish salvors, Indian divers, English pirates and privateers and river pirates of various nationalities flocked to the area to retrieve - or steal from each other - as much treasure as they could.

But less than half the material originally listed on the ships’ manifest reached the Spanish treasury.

Not until 1928 was a wreck from the 1715 fleet rediscovered, the Urca de Lima, off Fort Pierce.  The next clues appeared on the land, not in the water.  In the early 1940’s Spanish colonial artifacts were uncovered at a site south of Sebastian Inlet.

In the mid-1950’s a hurricane completely changed the face of the shore.  Kip Wagner discovered a second archeological spot located where the McLarty Museum now stands.  It was the site of a Spanish salvor’s encampment, indicating the treasure ships had gone down nearby. . . By the mid 1960’s he had brought up silver pieces of eight, gold doubloons, bars and plates of both metals, pearls, jewelry, rare Chinese porcelains, and countless examples of everyday items used by seamen and passengers traveling in 1715. . .

Major new discoveries are still being made along the Treasure Coast.  As recently as this past September a diver discovered $350,000 worth of treasure off the coast.  People come here with their metal detectors hoping to find treasure and many do.  The museum keeps a book of newspaper articles listing the finds that people make.  Very interesting and definitely worth a look see.

Places we dined.  Wow! I didn’t think we’d eaten out all that much.  I guess if you stay in a place 3 months, this averages to about once a week.  Not too bad.

Las Palmas Cuban Restaurant, Sebastian- if you like Cuban food, or just want to try it.  We would recommend this place.  

Maria’s Organic Fountain, Vero Beach - this was my favorite place.  All food is organic and prepared when you order it. Because they only used organically grown food their menu varies according to the season. Many vegan and vegetarian items on the menu as well as poultry, pork and beef. But the best part was the atmosphere.  It just felt warm and inviting. We met the owner, Clifford and his wife and discovered the story about how the restaurant came to be.

Tea and Chi, Vero Beach- great place to meet friends and chat.  It’s a tea room.  The varieties of teas are amazing.

Ay Jalisco, Sebastian - Great Mexican food!  Many vegetarian dishes. My favorite was the zucchini burrito with feta cheese.

Sake Japanese & Thai  restaurant Vero Beach.  Awesome food and great service!  Great sushi too.

Country Ham & Egg, Sebastian-  You can guess who loved this place.

Capt. Butcher’s, Sebastian-  good food, lousy service and pricey.

Orchid Island Pizzeria, Vero Beach - Excellent Pizza.

Vic’s Pizza Italian Restaurant, Sebastian- good food and reasonably priced.

Wasabi Thai Sushi, Sebastian- good but not the best I’ve ever had.

Penny Hill Beach Emporium,Vero Beach - Good for a quick salad or sandwich.

New England Eatery & Pub, Melbourne Beach- We had fish & chips.  Okay.

Skewers Mediterranean Grill, Melbourne-  Good. Not the best I've ever had.

Friends we’ve made.  There were five volunteer couples and we all got together from time to time to sit about a fire, enjoy good wine and snacks.  This photo is our going away gathering. From left to right, Sandy, Jeff, Largo,Kathy,Allen,Glo, Mark, Char,T, Dave & Karen.

Sebastian Friends

December trip to Phoenix and Christmas at Sebastian

The first week in December I took a quick trip to Phoenix to go to Marianne's annual Christmas brunch. When I arrived and was walking down to baggage claim looking out the window a warm feeling came over me as it has every time I've returned to Phoenix.  I thought, "This is where I am suppose to be!"

Cleo picked me up and and it was like we hadn't been apart. She is such a dear friend and I always feel like I am part of the family.  It isn't only Cleo who makes me feel that way.  Richard is a sweetheart and Amy and the kids came over, as well as Tina and they genuinely were happy to see me.  I thank God I have them in my life.

In the four days I was there I was able to see many of my friends.

What fun it was to see everyone doing so well.  I crammed a lot into a weekend, by popping in on a dinner the AFFAN group was having.  There were more than fifteen people at that gathering.  Of course seeing the brunch club together, well and happy was wonderful.  I also got to see a couple of my old neighbors.  I even spent a night with Heather.

BRUNCH CLUB -Kris,Jan,Marianne,Roberta,Cleo, Marcia and me.

Our humble Christmas Tree

T in his new socks holding Coleman Lantern

Christmas turned out much better than I thought it would. I expected to be sad, but I wasn't. T and I got up, had coffee and I put the orange cinnamon rolls in the oven. [For those of you who don't know.  Orange Cinnamon rolls have been our Christmas morning tradition for as long as I can remember.]  We opened a few gifts then took Molly for a walk, came back and opened a few more. T really surprised me. He started by giving me a gift wrapped box of hot tamales.  Again for those of you who don't know, I love hot cinnamon candies! T then gave me a jean jacket like I wanted and a riding shirt in pink and black. Perfect. But the best gift was a check for  half the cost of my trike. He said he just kept crumbling about it to throw me off and really surprise me and he did. I took Molly on my bike and rode for about an hour. It was a beautiful day. 

We have changed our mind about going south from here.  We want to go where it's a little cooler.  Call us crazy.  We will be leaving Sebastian Inlet the end of January and heading over to Marianna, FL on the panhandle.  We'll volunteer at Florida Caverns State Park for a month before heading west.  We are excited because we'll be meeting up with some of the folks who we volunteered with at Kartchner Caverns last winter.