Enjoying Stuart!

Good evening everyone -

Greetings from sunny Stuart.  Paul and I continue to enjoy this great area.  We are settling in nicely and it's nice to reconnect with people we knew last year and meet many new and friendly faces.  We have been blessed with beautiful weather; it has been quite windy on occasion, but very comfortable here at the dock. 

Paul flew to Norfolk on Monday and returned yesterday with our van - so we have a vehicle here, which is convenient and opens up a lot of options!  We also purchased bikes, so we would get more exercise and not be tempted to jump in the van everytime we needed to run a quick errand.  We discovered a great bike shop here and the people were really friendly and we found two used bikes reasonably priced and in really good condition.  Paul arrived late yesterday afternoon with the van and we picked them up today.  There are several bike racks by the Marina Office - so we're keeping them there (locked up of course).

Our marina is called Sunset Bay for a good reason - the sunsets here are amazing!



This past Saturday, there was a boat parade - so in the true spirit of things, the owner of the marina's restaurant decked out his boat in Christmas lights and docked it in the heart of the marina!  We saw the parade from afar - there were probably about 15 boats with great lights and decorations - very cool.



Every Sunday afternoon, there is a free concert right in downtown area on the water - the band this particular week wasn't all that great, but it is a really cool offering to the community.  Earlier in the day on Sunday in the same area is a great Farmer's market with lots of cool things available made locally.



To get from downtown Stuart to the marina is a lovely boardwalk that runs along the river - very pretty and scenic and not terribly far - maybe a half mile - lovely!



Along the board walk, we see lots of cool wildlife - this heron perches on a rock waiting to hopefully catch a snack (aka fish!)



This particular heron found success - it's a little hard to see this, but he is perched atop an old dock piling and working to move the fish around in his beak so he can get it in the perfect position before he swallows it!  YUK.



A gecko (not selling insurance) enjoys the sun.



Sunset again - Master Plan is dead center in this photo.



Looking back at the marina at sunset.  Master Plan is one of the smaller boats here!



When we were walking along the dock this evening, we saw a ton of fish swimming near the surface - not sure what type of fish they were, but it was really kind of cool to see.

So we are still figuring out our plans for a trip over the holidays - we're pretty sure we'll go across the Ogeechobee Waterway and hang out on the West coast for a while, but it's all weather dependent.  We'll see and we'll keep you posted!

Thanks so much for your love and support - lots of love, Jen & Paul

Today's Quote:

It's your life--but only if you make it so.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt