Betty's RV Park Friends in Stuart - Corona

We were very busy at the beginning of the month getting together with friends. Mike and Sherri left on Friday to head to the west coast to finish up their escape from winter. Several people from Betty's RV Park were coming to Stuart the following week to explore the area. We have also been busy with condo projects that I will blog about later. Of course, like everyone else in the country, we are dealing with the issues related to the coronavirus. 

On Tuesday, our Aussie friends Brian and Karen, who we met at Betty's last year, stopped by for a visit. We went to our go to visitors lunch spot on Hutchinson Island, Shuckers. We had a great time catching up with all our goings on during the last year. 

It was a beautiful, sunny Treasure Coast day. The wind was making some pretty big Atlantic waves so we decided to drive to Jupiter Island and show them how the 1% lives.

We went to Blowing Rock Preserve but, unfortunately, the tide had gone out so the waves were not blowing through the rocks. It was a great day for a walk on the beach.

Look at the size of this Portuguese man-of war we found on the beach. I sure would not want to tangle with that thing in the water. Brian and Karen stopped over for a toddy before heading north to explore a few of our Southern states. They have decided to stay in the USA rather than, as Karen said, take an 18 hour trip in a flying petri dish to get home.

On Wednesday we got together with more Betty's friends George and Nan, former RVers who now have a place in Stuart, along with Dave and Kathy who are still full-timing. Dave and Kathy started taking big red chair pictures when they discovered that every Canadian national park has them. So, they wanted all of us in this BIG chair.

The band at Terra Fermata was the Nouveaux Honkies, a local mother lovin, country folkin, blues band that has quite a following. Terra Fermata is an outdoor wine and beer only venue so we went to Emann Asian Gourmet for take-out and had dinner as we waited for the music to start 

Seated are Nan, Alica, Kathy, Jim and Nanc; standing are George, Dave and Jim. They have all been to Betty's. Jim and Alica, who we have never met, were at Betty's in the fall and learned that we had a place in Stuart. They had our number but never gave us a call. They said they looked for us everywhere they went hoping to run into us and recognized Nanc.  So they came over and introduced themselves. Another example of Betty's web. The lady photo bombing us in the back turned out to be from Meadville, PA.  Much of the discussion that evening was about the worsening coronavirus. 

On Thursday we decided we needed to vote early, something Pennsylvania never had, so we would not have to stand in line on election day. Turns out that was a good decision. We also went shopping to stock up since everything was quickly changing. That also turned out to be a good idea.

Thursday afternoon we went to lunch downtown at the Stuart Boathouse on the St. Lucie River. After lunch we went to the House of Refuge where George is a docent and he gave us a tour. (A future post.) 

We enjoy the Florida sunshine and beach before heading back to town. 

We did the Riverwalk along the water and, as always. we saw a few birds. The tide was out so you can see the oyster beds they have started to help clean the water.

After the walk we needed a drink so we checked out the Vine and Barley. As the name implies, it is a wine and beer bar. For wine you buy a card and then can select from several different wine taps. You insert your card and pick a two ounce, four ounce or full glass pour, very neat.

They also had a great beer selection. I decided to have a flight of beer and had a Kolsch, like I had in Germany, a hefeweizen a wheat bear, a local IPA and a Yeungling Hershey's Chocolate Porter. They were all very interesting and we are looking forward to going back once things open up again. After the wine and beer we needed something to eat so we ordered pizza from Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza and went back to our place for dinner. That was our last close contact with people and on the next day we began the recommended social distancing. 

 

Unlike the pictures you may have seen of the crowded beaches in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, here in Martin County it was very easy to stay away from people and still enjoy the beach.

I even caught my first fish as a Florida resident, a beautiful pompano. Unfortunately, as the beaches further south were closed our beaches became more crowded and are now closed unless you have a house on the water. 

One advantage to staying home is sitting on the patio and watching the birds. We were rewarded with this pair of painted buntings, a bird we have been trying to add to our list since we went on the road nearly thirteen years ago.

They have been back a couple times. This is the first time we have seen a new bird and the picture I took was better than the picture in the bird book. This is another thing we love about our new home.

CORONAVIRUS

We have taken advantage of having to be home all the time. I have been making sure I get my morning walk in so I'm logging a lot more miles than I was before when it was easier to find an excuse for not exercising. Of course, as always, Nanc does much more than I do. I have been working on building a bike rack and shelf in the garage and Nanc has been spring cleaning. 

The only shopping we have done are trips for groceries and going to Home Depot for materials for my projects. It is interesting how different stores are handling people. At Home Depot I had to wait on a taped mark and they were only letting in a few people at a time. One morning we went for the senior only shopping at Publix and will not do that again. Everyone there was in the high risk category and social distancing is not really possible in the aisles. Also, even though we were near the front of the line, there were no paper products on the shelves and many other items had not been stocked. We went back to the same store later in the day and it seemed they had more items out. One day we got "dressed up" and drove to Trader Joe's in Palm Beach Gardens. They were limiting the number of people so social distancing was easier and the shelves were full, but still no TP. 

During this time we have found a great new eatery, the Shelter Inn Place. Nanc has outdone herself with tasty, healthy meals. We have had seafood pasta, Cajun shrimp salad, linguini puttanesca, shrimp etouffee and pizza along with some great salads just to name a few. Even after two weeks there has been very few repeats. 

You know we always love live music and were happy to find Dan Baker, a former student for Washington, is doing a live jazz and blues guitar show on Facebook every evening around 7:00. Dan is one of those people who lost his income as a musician when the restaurants had to close, so he has a Paypal account for donations. Join our Facebook watch party a help Dan and his family get through this crisis.

Lastly, stay healthy and WASH YOUR HANDS!!!!!!