On The Meandering Road: December 12, 2016 - Sebastain, Vero Beach & Melbourne Beach, FL

Oh wonderful! The weather was better than yesterday. Now we can go out for the day.

Places to visit/do today: Mel Fisher's Treasure Museum, lunch in Sebastian, McKee Botanical Garden, Sebastian and Vero Beach town centers.

The last time we visited Sebastian, FL we did not check out Mel Fisher's Treasure Museum because we knew we would be back here and wanted to save it for today. The museum is on US Highway 1 in Sebastian, FL. There is a gift shop before you go inside the museum. There is a big guy sitting at a desk watching the monitor for security reasons, since the museum is loaded with valuable golds, stuff, etc.

Mel Fisher grew up in Hobart, Indiana, decided that he wanted to explore the underwater world after reading books by Robert Louis Stevenson and Jules Verne. In 1980 he discovered more than 20 million dollars worth of gold and other stuff recovered from the ship, Santa Margarita. It was in 1990 that Mel decided to set up a museum to display artifacts from the shipwrecks.

All artifacts were displayed in glass cases that are wired for security reasons. There are hands-on exhibits, such as knot tying.

Inside the gift shop

Knot-tying

It made us wonder if there was anybody willing to shell out that much $ for these coins

Bust of Mel Fisher

9' long, 3 thousand pound cannon was one of
10 recovered from the Atocha ship in 1975

Close-up shot of the cannon

Mo-Bay Grill was a stone's throw from the museum, so we decided to have lunch there. After parking the Jeep Edith walked away from the restaurant to get a picture of it while Erwin was getting ready to open the door. What?! The door is locked. Oh, it is closed on Mondays. Back to Tripadvisior app to find another dining place. Whoa! Most restaurants in this area are closed on Mondays, also. We finally found one that was not too far from Mo-Bay. Salty's Bar & Grill is on Indian River Drive in Sebastian. It is right on the water and has a great view. We chose to dine in outdoor patio area. Erwin had Ray Ray's chicken and waffles and Edith had Field Green Berry and Blue salad. The service was fantastic! The atmosphere was very pleasant, so we really enjoyed our lunch there. Oh yes, Erwin managed to finish his plate!

The view of the Indian River lagoon from the patio

Ray Rays Chicken & Waffles

Field Green Berry and Blue Salad

Not too far from Salty's were art works at one of the docks. There was no information or display around to explain about the sculptures.

We drove south to visit Vero Beach, FL because Edith wanted to visit McKee Botanical Garden. However, the gate to the garden was closed! It does not open on Mondays. Why do most establishments close on Mondays??? We will come back here sometimes this week.

We had enough time to do shopping/browsing before going back to the campground. We stopped at Badcock Furniture store in Melbourne to check out recliners. We did not see any that we liked.

Melbourne and Melbourne Beach towns have several murals, but Edith found only one. Erwin did not want to walk around Vero Beach downtown because of his aching heel, so Edith went out by herself.

Mural of the Indian and the gator on the side of a building

Bronze sculpture of three dolphins jumping out of the water

Old Theatre in Vero Beach, FL

Turtle Sculpture at Heritage Center in Vero Beach

Even though the botanical garden was closed we still had a pleasant day sightseeing, dining out, cruising around.

The sunset was beautiful. There were some shorebirds in the water. There were no anglers fishing near the recreation park, so it was very quiet when Edith was busy taking pictures.