Phipps Park Nature Walk near Stuart FL…

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…

McKee Botanical Gardens & Pelican Island NWR…

One place we love to visit in Vero Beach Florida is the McKee Botanical Garden. For its size this is one of the best botanical gardens in the country. This 80-acre tropical hammock reserve was originally known as the McKee Jungle Gardens with the focus being on assembling a collection of waterlilies and orchids. Even today the collection of waterlilies and orchids is impressive. I always enjoy looking for the flowering orchids hiding in the garden’s vegetation.

Currently a children’s garden is under construction set to open next year.We could see it will be quite the draw for kids to the gardens. We spent our time leisurely strolling the grounds trying not to miss any plaques which name the plants. Of course the Plant Biologist in me always enjoys trying to guess before we see the name on the plaque. Afterward we stopped by to visit with Penny (who works in the office) before leaving the gardens.

I briefly mentioned in the last blog that we spent Thanksgiving day with John and Penny. They  invited us to join in the Thanksgiving festivities with Penny’s brother and their friends. The pre-Thanksgiving time was spent watching football and socializing. When the dinner bell rang we didn’t hesitate to find our chairs at the table. The food was passed around as everyone loaded up their plates and by the end of the meal everyone seemed quite content. The food was fabulous and as mentioned before we certainly enjoyed celebrating the day with all of them.

We did sneak in one last hike over to the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. The short 2 plus mile hike through the mangroves was quite enjoyable. There were lots of burrows along the path where the land crabs were hiding out for the day. I only briefly spotted one tucking itself back into its home. There were quite a few birds in area as we saw many species of waders and lots of the larger species of pelican, the White Pelican.

Our week went by pretty fast in Vero Beach and next up for us will be the Corp of Engineer Park, South St Lucie as we begin our trek west across Florida…

NOTE: We are now near Fort Myers, Florida…