Bob caught up on his sleep and woke up later than usual to another warm day. It was mostly cloudy which helped to keep the sun’s heat at bay. We had a leisurely morning and left the campground around 11:00 to explore historic downtown Stuart. The short 8 mile drive into town brought us right into the heart of downtown. There were a lot of cute shops and plenty of restaurants.
We parked the truck and wandered up and down the streets doing some window shopping. We stopped occasionally to pop into an interesting shop in order to cool off in the AC. The outdoor thermometer was reading 90 degrees by now. Near the center of downtown is a beautiful fountain of a sailfish.
We walked along the Riverwalk to one of the marinas that we had stayed in a couple of years ago and then back along the waterfront past the park and other restaurants.
We spotted a small ray just hanging out at the water’s edge. By the time we passed that way again, it was gone.
Stuart is considered to be the sailfish capital of the world as evidenced by all the sportfishing boats at the marinas.
We stopped to watch one of the boats heading out towards the inlet. The winds were picking up causing some rough water, but the sportfish handled the water just fine.
Of course, we stopped to take a look at the boats in the marinas and saw a commercial fishing boat bring in 25+ amberjacks (3 footers and at least 20 pounds each). What a catch! We left there and meandered around the harbor’s edge looking for Manatee Pocket–a place where we had anchored on our boat in past years. Near there, we found Shrimper’s Restaurant where we had been to eat with friends and on our boat trips in the past.
We sat on the outside deck along the harbor and had lunch watching the boat traffic. Bob was in heaven eating his raw oysters. Yum????? We stopped for a few grocery items at the store in town before heading back to the campground. Bob worked on some Co-op business while I took a walk down to the lock to see 2 boats lock through. As the last boat was leaving the lock, there was a clap of thunder and large quarter-size raindrops began to fall. I took a quick jog back to the trailer when I saw a bolt of lightning, heard a clap of thunder, and the skies opened up. Luckily, I got back in time before I got too wet. It rained for about an hour and then the skies cleared. After the rain, Auggie, Bob, and I took a walk to watch a big 63′ boat go through the lock. After cocktail hour, we had a light dinner and watched the campground fill up for the weekend. We had a pleasant evening and took our evening walk when the sun began to set and things started cooling off. The sun set with a beautiful spray of golden light.
