September 13, 2014 (3rd Day) Fort Pierce, FL

A beautiful morning, just perfect for what we are about to do today.  75˚

After a good breakfast we went back to the Manatee Center to check out two attractions that are near it.

One is a statue of a 9/11 stewardess named CeeCee Ross Lyles.  She was a stewardess on United Airlines Flight 93, the one that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11/01. She was the one who made phone calls to her husband after the plane was hijacked, explaining to him the intent by passengers on taking over the plane. Why is the statue in this town, you might ask.

She grew up in Fort Pierce and was a uniformed police officer for 6 years before switching her career to flight attendant 10 months before her life ended. 

There were flowers laid around the statue. Someone left an orange

Two: Not far from the statue was a scrap metal horse sculpture. 

We wanted to go in the Manatee Center, but it was still closed.  Instead, we went to Farmer's Market that was held at Fort Pierce Marina. It is held here every Saturday.  We love going to local events, such as farmer's markets, arts & crafts, etc.  Lots of white tents were set up on the lawn and some on the concrete by the water.  Lots of dogs and one pot-bellied pig. Produce, plants, organic goods, foods, crafts, etc.  We had a nice time walking around, checking some out. Erwin likes handmade bath soaps and he picked up some.

Statue of Marlins in the roundabout

Pot Bellied Pig out for a walk

We went to downtown Fort Pierce, parked the van, strolled down the streets.  Downtown was VERY quiet, not much activity going on, many stores were closed even though it was after 10 am.  

One interesting place to see was the Sunrise Theatre.  It was open in 1923 as a vaudeville theatre, can seat 1,200 people.  It was closed in 1983, went through renovations and is now used for Broadway style shows, music festival, etc.

Not far from the theatre we went in The Cake Lady shop to see what cupcakes they have that we might want to buy and taste. They were already out of them by mid morning!  It must be a very popular place to get cupcakes. They have very interesting displays.

After walking few blocks it started to get hot and we were sweating. We got out of downtown to go back to Manatee Center.  On our way back north we stopped at a traffic light in front of the city hall. There was a stainless steel sculpture - a very interesting composition.

Stainless Steel Sculpture of Great Blue Heron & Snake
in front of Fort Pierce City Hall Building

The Manatee Center was finally open. $2 admission fee per person.  They had interpretive displays about manatees and other species.  From November through March one could see manatees swimming by the center.  There were none when we were there.

 Right across from Manatee Center is Seven Gables House Visitor's Center.  This 1905 historic house has seven gables (one for each daughter) and was turned into information center where one can get information on Fort Pierce's attractions, beaches, museums, etc.

From there we were on way to check out Fort Pierce Inlet State Park.

Sea Oats

We went to North Hutchinson Beach to check out the beach and some parks. It was really nice to stroll along the ocean's edge. The water temperature was just right.  Not many anglers out there.  We debated on whether to go fishing here or not.

Erwin wanted to do little fishing and wanted to go back to the visitor's center that we checked out earlier because there is an easy accessible spot to fish from.  While he was fishing Edith walked around looking for something interesting to take pictures of. After she got back she wanted to find a place to sit down and rest a bit. Without checking ahead she SAT on a mound of fire ants!!!  

Did not catch anything but got lots of nibbles.

Graffiti on the bridge span

Bite from Fire Ant!

Erwin did not catch any fish that we can cook for supper.  Poor Edith, the bites were bothering her.  She had lavender oils appiled to the bites, but it did not give any relief.
Lesson learned: CHECK the area first before sitting down

Edith wanted to stop at Heathcote Botanical Gardens before we head back to the KOA campground.  Erwin did not feel like going in, so she went in by herself.  It is not a very big garden, but it had some interesting plants, reflecting pool and bonsai.

We were starting to feel tired and it was time to head back to KOA campground to rest and to fix supper.

From where we were, we were not able to see the setting sun.  It would mean driving out somewhere to view it and we were already exhausted.  Very interesting cloud formations.

Good Night Y'all!

Miles Driven: 37