Tuesday we decided to take a drive down to Stuart to check things out. First we stopped along the way at Ricks Diner on Route 1  for breakfast.

Ricks is good but not great – we both prefer the Berry Fresh Cafe in Port St Lucie which we feel uses higher than average quality fresh ingrediants and has a much more creative menu including 4 different kinds of hash. Berry Fresh also has a “Big Breakfast Special” which is 2 eggs, homefries or grits (homemade-yum), toast, bacon and coffee for $5.99. Since the cost of the coffee ala carte is $2.19 that makes for a good deal and nets under $13  for two (with tax but not including tip) which is pretty good for the area.

After breakfast we headed out to Sandsprit Park (photo right) which is at the intersection of St. Lucie Inlet and Manatee Pocket. It’s a nice place for a walk along the shore and to watch the boating traffic of which there is a lot! There is also a fishing pier here and lots of Pelicans and other fishing birds. There are some nice homes along the shore in this area. Last year when we were here on a weekend, at the entrance to Manatee Pocket there was a floating hotdog stand catering to the passing boaters.

Then we drove around for a while and stumbled upon Twin River Park (photo left) which did not appear on any maps we had or in the GPS – nice views here of the surrounding waterways, paved walking trails and two fishing boardwalks.

By now we were getting hungry so we stopped at Shrimpers for a late lunch. Shrimpers is way up inside Manatee Pocket and in the midst of several boatyards. The location is great and so was the weather so we sat outside on the deck at a waterfront table.  We both had a fresh fish special of the local catch which was OK. The beer in the photo at left is a Yuengling which we can’t get back in New England and is one of my favorites.

Finally we made it to the old Stuart downtown and walked around for a while to burn off lunch. Looks like there are some good “Irish” style bars here and they were advertising what seemed to be some pretty good lunch and dinner deals. Also lots of interesting shops and the typical assortment of touristy establishments.

The old Stuart downtown is along the shore and on the river itself they have constructed a nice boardwalk (The Riverwalk) that extends from “downtown” all the way to the new Route 1 bridge. The boardwalk even extends under the bridge and about a third of the way out into the river. I believe the St. Lucie River here is part of or adjacent to the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW) and was quite busy with non-commercial boat traffic.

By now we were pretty tired so headed back “home” and had a late dinner of popcorn.