With Vero Beach in our rear view mirror we moved on down the road over to the Corps of Engineer Park, South St Lucie. We have only two nights booked which we were happy to have as this park has fewer than 10 sites. I had been watching for a cancelation for a long time before finally finding these two days open.
South St Lucie campground is right on the St Lucie Canal that leads from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Okeechobee. There is a boat lock here so it is always fun watching the million dollar yachts and sailboats make their way back and forth the channel. Also nearby is Phipps Park a great place to hike and do a little birdwatching.
The walk over to Phipps from our park is about 1/3 of a mile. Inside the park are nature trails and boardwalks. This 55 acre conservation also has a campground and is reasonably priced so if one can’t get a site at the COE park this is a great alternative. The sites are spacious and many are right on the canal overlooking the water. Like the COE campground they are water and electric only, no sewer. Since our last visit the city has made a few landscaping improvements and added a nice walkway along the river.
We noticed a lot of wading birds out and about in the park this year. We spotted several Great Blue Herons and its smaller cousin the Green heron. While crossing a bridge an Anhinga was sitting on the rail contorting its neck in many directions trying to get a good look at us while also searching for its next meal. It was rather comical to watch…
Crossing that same bridge we saw our first Alligator, a five to six footer who was laying on a rocky berm getting warmed up by the sunshine. We discussed that alligator’s teeth can only be seen protruding from its upper jaw whereas the crocodile with a longer pointier snout has teeth visibly protruding from both jaws. A few ducks were dabbling for food and we watched a Little Blue Heron spearing small fish too. On the way out a we spotted a large lizard posing on a rock. I haven’t been able to ID it yet but will continue to research it.
Before leaving this area we drove over to Jupiter Florida to meet up with long time RV friends Jim and Nanc. Jim told us about a Jazz Jam being held at a local tavern so we met up for some dinner and drinks. The music was great and it was awesome to see Jim and Nanc again. Amazingly we have run into them into Jim and Nanc several times all over the USA ever since we first met at Betty’s RV Park. We will forever be grateful for all the great friends we have met at Betty’s and are glad she continues to invite great people to stay at her park. We look forward to a month long stay there again next year after we leave Florida…
NOTE: We are now near at our winter site for the season at Bonita Springs, Florida…
Always great seeing you two. See you at Betty's in the spring.
ReplyDelete