Busy Time in Vero Beach

Starting a new pine needle basket.

Our time in Vero Beach has been quite busy with doing a variety of things. I have taken a lesson once again on doing a pine needle basket from Prue on the boat Exhuberant. I had learned how to do one two years ago but have not done one since.
I needed some reinforcement on how to get started but have not had much down time to work on it because of the many social commitments we have had. One other educational opportunity I had was to go to a yoga class. I have done yoga on the beach in Georgetown, Bahamas but never here in the states. I found out about muscles I did not know I had!

The entry to Chef Lins Chinese Seafood Buffet

We have had lots of get-togethers with friends mostly centered around eating. (Isn't that always the way!) Thirty-one cruisers went to Chef Lins Chinese Buffet for a great buffet lunch.


We also have had a great Happy Hour at the marina catching up with past cruising friends and meeting new ones. They even had a jam session making for a fun time.

Jamming at the marina happy hour.

 Another night we had Happy Hour with our friends, Tom and Cathy on Zin, formerly Perserverance II. They went to the dark side with a tug/trawler.

Over the weekend we rented a car from Enterprise. I had reserved a weekend special for $9.99 a day. It was $40.38 for Friday to Monday. We were suppose to get a small compact car but they offered us a Chrysler Town and Country Minivan with 80 miles on it. What a deal!

Mckee Botanical Gardens

Maryann from Cavu and I took advantage of the car and drove to McKee Botanical Gardens in Vero Beach.

It is eighteen acres of native and exotic botanicals with streams,

One of the many beautiful water lilies.

waterfalls and ponds throughout.

 We spent a very enjoyable afternoon seeing unfamiliar flowers and watching the butterflies enjoy them as well.

An unknown to me and there was no identity tag.

Monarchs flew all around us.

Another butterfly enjoying the nectar.

Saturday we traveled to Ft. Lauderdale to see Al's Aunt Betty Jane and cousin Leslie and her husband, Thomas. We had a very enjoyable day catching up on our families and an enjoyable lunch out. The time sped by quickly before it was time to leave.

Al's Aunt BJ and cousin and her husband.

Besides the Happy Hours and the Chinese Buffet, we met our friends, Skip and Harriet for dinner at Bone Fish Grill. They used to be cruisers and decided to buy a home in Vero Beach and give up boating. Another night we met the Wismers, Bill and Sandy for dinner. They live in Jensen Beach and got to know them through mutual friends on one of our river boat cruises. We also got invited to the Thorsens, another CLOD (that stands for, “cruiser living on dirt.”)  We had a great time catching up with what they had been up to all summer long.

Good bye dinner for Cavu

Another night we had Ron and Maryann over for dinner because they were heading home for the holidays. We won't be seeing them any time soon. We plan to move on before they come back, and they are staying in Florida for the winter. So it was sort of a good-by dinner. We hope to meet up again in the spring.

The Veteran's Memorial Park

With all this eating we have tried to get off the boat and walk daily. Vero Beach is great for walking because it has lovely shady neighborhoods or Riverside park to do so.
Over in Riverside they have a small island dedicated to Veterans. It is quite pretty and a great memorial to all who served our country.

All the armed services are recognized.

I prepared for our cruiser's Thanksgiving by baking an apple and pumpkin pie. The boat was a mess while doing it but the results looked pretty good.

They tasted pretty good too!

We shared Thanksgiving with about 200 cruisers at a community center that the town of Vero Beach loans us. It is close to the marina which makes it convenient.  The CLODs bring the cooked turkeys and hams, and the cruisers bring all the rest.  You can see there was quite a variety and that was only one of the six tables of food!

This was just the salad/vegetable section.!

There was plenty for all with even desserts left over!
Some get fancy with their table settings, while others bring paper plates. No matter what we all have a good time!

How about this one with a silver wine bucket!

After dinner the musicians brought out their instruments and the singing began.

It seems strange sitting outside on Thanksgiving day enjoying the entertainment.

The few youngsters in the group provided us with some entertainment as well!

These young girls did a dance to the music.

This little guy showed his moves too!

The day ended and Kathy from Five and Dime who was in charge of the dinner, finally enjoyed her glass of wine or two,
 

Our fearless leader finally relaxing.

While Al and Corbett from Cookie Monster enjoyed their cigars.

Hope everyone else had a grand Thanksgiving.  We did!