Leaving Wickham park we chose to head south on Highway 1, a more scenic drive than Interstate 95. About an hour later we pulled into Tanglewood Village in Vero Beach. Using our Escapees 20% discount we booked a week with plans to visit Sharon’s cousin John and his wife Penny.
We got together with them for dinner at the 12A Buoy restaurant in Jupiter Florida.We always have fun with John and Penny and even better this time as they picked a wonderful spot for dinner and drinks. While we definitely had a few issues with their service we overlooked that because the seafood was top notch. John ordered a “man candy” appetizer that consisted of thick bacon dipped in maple syrup and torched with flame at the table. Boy was that tasty. At the end of the meal, John ordered a chocolate peanut butter pie which was huge so he shared tastes and it was also delicious. The evening went by pretty fast as we enjoyed the food and the company.
Vero Beach is a more laid back town than many in this part of southeastern Florida which is what attracted John and Penny from Michigan to retire here. The beaches are nice and the town is quaint and not gaudy. There are extremes of wealth here like much of southeastern Florida but the people don't seem too pretentious. We enjoyed walking on the beach and taking in some of the sunsets.
One afternoon we drove over to the Oslo Riverfront Conservation Area for a nice hike. This area is typical of the Florida Hummock vegetation type with tall cabbage palms and wild coffee mixed in with ferns and saw palmetto underneath. Along the edges of the Indian River Lagoon are mangrove with their gnarled roots “jumping” from spot to spot taking over more shoreline. Where it was more wet there were lots of giant leather ferns which added a primordial feel to the hike making us wonder if we landed in Jurassic Park! We also saw a lot of birds along this 2.6 mile hike.
Suddenly to our delight it was Thanksgiving day and John and Penny had invited us to join in the Thanksgiving festivities. We had a blast watching football and socializing with their friends and Penny’s brother. Penny is a great cook so of course the food was quite tasty as well…We really appreciated celebrating the day with them.
A few more days here in Vero Beach then we start heading a bit inland as we migrate west to Bonita Springs, our winter destination…
NOTE: We are now near Fort Myers, Florida…
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