Good Times in Stuart with Friends

On Friday, January 31st we returned home to Stuart. On Sunday our friend Georgie flew in from WashPA for a week of sunshine and warm weather. We had a few things we wanted to share with her in our part of Florida, the Treasure Coast. 

Georgie and Nanc at Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Ft. Pierce. We had been there for the evening Christmas display with Richard and Valerie in 2018 and wanted to return to see the bonsai gallery during the day. Notice Nanc is wearing glasses as she is getting ready for cataract surgery on the 20th. 

The James J. Smith Bonsai Gallery at Heathcote was a gift from Jim in 2009. It is the largest collection of bonsai in the country. The day we were there the volunteer caretakers were working on the trees and they were very happy to stop and answer any questions and explain the whole process.

The bonsai come in many different shapes and sizes. This one, a dwarf jade, is called the logo tree as it is the symbol of the garden. 

A flowering bougainvillea is a great example of a cascading tree. Each plant has a watering system. On the right is a smaller tree with a big trunk. The features of each tree are made by wrapping the branches with wire to guide how it grows. 

This is a forest tree with multiple trunks from one plant making it look like a small forest. You can see the small cabin in the woods.

Another forest tree, but this one is in a shallow bowl tree. There is very little soil to hold the tree in place.

All the plants are displayed on pedestals for easy viewing. They are left outdoors year round and the only precaution they take is to put them on the ground if a hurricane is heading their way.

This tree had broken out of its pot,  which rarely happens. Usually every five years the tree is removed from the pot and most of the roots are cut off and then it goes back into the same pot.

The slanted trunk is another common way they are developed. This one also had a very unique pot. Another unique feature of this gallery is that many of the plants are native to the area. This is a wonderful collection of beautiful bonsai and well worth a visit to Ft. Pierce.

For me the bonsai gallery was the main reason to visit the botanical garden but the grounds do have a great collection of regular sized native plants. Several were blooming as it is already spring here on the Treasure Coast.

A bit of whimsical garden art made out of old rakes, hoes and shovels.

This is a different looking sable palm with its triple crown. Heathcote is well worth a visit and the drive north along the Indian River is beautiful.

Another day we went to the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge on the north end of Jupiter Island. Georgie and Nanc walking on the beach looking for shells. I did find a couple more small sharks teeth.

One reason I did not venture in to the water. I sure would not want to get stung by one of these. It is also shark season in Florida with many right near the shore. I read that a local fisherman caught 12 in one day surf fishing and a 20 foot Great White was seen by divers just off shore in Palm Beach. 

While walking on the beach we witnessed one of the most phenomenal things we have ever seen, a fish feeding frenzy right on the shore. There were thousands of croakers being chased and eaten by hundreds of blue fish with a couple sharks in very shallow water just beyond the first breaker.

Surprisingly, there were very few birds picking at the remains even though there were many croakers with one bite taken out of them in the water.

We watched for a half hour and the frenzy was still going on when we got tired and left. A local guy who was standing with us said he had never seen anything like it and asked me to send him a picture. He later contacted me for more pictures to give to the local bait shop.

Here are a few more pictures and a link to a short You Tube video 

Look closely and you can see a blue fish on the left side of this picture. In all the years of being on the beach we have never seen anything like this. 

Another day we drove to Hutchinson Island to check out the beach there. It was a bit windy so there were very few people on the beach, but the water was beautiful.

Look who showed up in Stuart, John and Patrice. They were escaping the cold up north with a visit to South Florida and came by to see our new place. We all went to Shucker's for lunch overlooking the Atlantic. It was a fun afternoon showing them around our new hometown and getting caught up with what we have all been doing.

On Saturday, Georgie, Nanc and I went to ArtsFest in Memorial Park near downtown Stuart. It was a very good show with nearly 100 artisans selling many different kinds of work. See, you can have a rainbow without any rain.(-:

A local group had several raptures on display. I felt like this owl was staring right through me.

On Georgie's last evening she picked the Fresh Catch for dinner. We had a great meal and the music with Dave Goodman was wonderful. It sure was a fun week showing our friends around the area. It seems like people up north like coming south in the winter and we are already looking forward to more visitors.

On our way back home after dropping Georgie at the airport we got stopped on the draw bridge in Jupiter. At least we had a great view of the Jupiter Lighthouse.

Sunday evening was a full moon party at the Pelican Cafe downtown on the St. Lucie River. We met George and Nan for dinner to watch the moon rise and listen to some music. Hate to complain but it was way to windy and chilly to sit outdoors, but it was great seeing them for the first time in 2020.  

Since that week we did an overnight road trip and have more visitors to write about in the next post. We are getting more comfortable and loving our new home.