On The Meandering Road: December 10, 2016 - Viera & Melbourne Beach, FL

It was already 9 am when Erwin woke Edith up and first thing she asked him was "how is the weather". "Fair", he signed back to her. She peeked out the window and saw that the clouds were all over. Not a great day for photoshooting, she thought to herself.

Edith was in mood to have beef stew for supper. She decided to use slow cooker, so the beef stew will be ready when we get back from our day's outing. She loaded cut up carrots and potatoes in the bottom of the pot, topped them with beef stew and cut up onions. Sauce was added on the top. Ok, ready to start the crock pot, but wait a minute. WHERE is the lid? Edith swore she had it on the countertop, but it was not there. She asked Erwin to help look for it. Nothing!!! Then it dawned on Edith that the lid may be still at Keri's house in Montana. When we were there we used our crockpot to warm the corn relish dip for Thanksgiving, so the lid may have been misplaced after the wash. So, what did Edith do to replace the lid? A piece of aluminum foil did the trick!

We left Sebastain Inlet State Park around 10:30 am to go sightseeing and exploring for the day. Our first stop was to visit Barrier Island Sanctuary that is within the Archie Carr Refuge. We visited it last year, but wanted to stop by there again just to see what else is new out there. The admission is free. The 34-acre sanctuary has exhibits, educational movies, gift shop and outdoor activities. It has a nice boardwalk that leads you to the beach, but the ramp to get on it was closed due to damages from the recent hurricane. There is an outdoor observation deck that overlooks the beach.

Tia the Turtle. It is made of fiberglass and latex to replicate an
endangered green turtle

East Coast Diamondback Terrapin
They live in shallow mangrove swamps and salt marsh

The exhibit

Atlantic Ocean

Here comes the wave! Wave back at it!

Sea Grapes

Sea Grape Plants

Pelicans in flight on way south

The ramp to get on the beach was damaged by Hurricane Matthew

Bird watcher scanning for shore birds

After leaving Barrier Island Sanctuary we got on A1A north on our way to Melbourne Beach town center when we were slowed down. There was a large group of cyclists riding along the shoulder of the highway.

We drove through the town center of Melbourne Beach, stopped at few places to allow Edith to get some pictures.

Community Chapel of Melbourne Beach (non-denominational)
It was built in 1892

Christmas display that was across the street from the church

Do you see something weird inside this tree?

In Melbourne Erwin wanted to stop at Haverty's Furniture store to see about recliners. It had few wall hugging recliners, but none was comfortable. We stopped at Lazy Boy again to drop off the fabric swatch.

Peek-a-boo

The sales guy taking measurements while Erwin rested!

We got on I-95 N from Hwy 192 to go to Ritch Grissom Wetlands in Viera, FL. There are two separate wetlands and the one on the right was closed and gated. No trespassing/closed signs were posted. This was where we saw a lot of American White Pelicans and Spoonbills the last time we visited.

The Rich Grissom Memorial Wetlands is a popular place for birders, photographers and eco-tourists. It was named after a long term employee who worked at the water treatment plant that was near the wetlands. It is a home to numerous mammals, butterflies, reptiles, shorebirds, birds of prey, etc..

Snowy Egret with the yellow feet

Great Blue Heron

Tree trunk resting under a Gator!

Great Blue Heron nesting site on top of a palm tree

Pied-billed Grebe

Ring-necked Duck

Cattle Egret

Little Blue Heron

Cattail Seeds

Green Heron

Juvenile Osprey

Waiting for the Mate's Return

After leaving the wetlands we went to the Avenue at Viera Town Center to do little shopping. We did not find what we were looking for at Bed Bath & Beyond and The World Market.

After getting back to Sebastian Inlet State Park Edith wasted no time in driving to the end of the park for sunset photoshooting.

Driving across the inlet - the park/campground is at the right

The view of the inlet and the sunset as we were on the bridge

Great Blue Heron patrolling to make sure boaters did not make waves

The state park had an event tonight - Night of Sounds. It was held at a recreational park near the boat ramp. Visitors brought chairs, coolers, blankets, etc. There was a table selling coffee and hot chocolate. It was little chilly and we got coffee to warm up ourselves. The band group, Treez, gave performance for 2 hours.