GLORY DAYS ON THE GREAT LOOP: STUART, 5 DAYS REST, EASTER SUNDAY AND FRIENDS

DAY 261 WED. APRIL 4, to DAY 266, MON. APRIL 9, 2012

DEP. LAKE WORTH (mm1014) 08:40, ARR. STUART/SUNSET BAY MARINA (mm995*) 1:50

D. 36.9 sm / 3961.3

We made plans with Aunt Jane and Karen to pick them up at the N. Palm Marina at 09:00. They were there waiting for us when we got there and we made a quick departure for Stuart. The trip took us by some very expensive estates, by the Jupiter Inlet, through Hobe Sound, and the St. Lucie Inlet where we turned west into the St Lucie River. Stuart is about 7 miles west from the 995 mile marker and we arrived at the Sunset Bay Marina at 1:50. This marina is really first class (read $$$). There is a restaurant, Sailors Return ($$$). floating concrete docks, excellent security, a shuttle bus, and best of all, walking distance to downtown Stuart. We spent 5 days here, 3 in a slip, and the last 2 on a mooring. As nice as this marina is, “D” dock is very rocky from wind, wakes, and current. We went to dinner with Aunt Jane, Uncle Ralph, and Karen at the Bonefish, on Wed, at Conchy Joe’s on Fri, and we had dinner at their house on Thurs. and Easter Sunday. Thank you Aunt Jane & Uncle Ralph for your wonderful hospitality.
We stopped by to see Pat's mother's old neighbor, Meredith Russell. He just celebrated his 90th birthday and still runs 5K marathons.
On Sat night friends from Cape Cod, Marge & Bert Mc Connell invited us to their beautiful condo on Hutchinson Island for dinner. Not only did they serv a delicious dinner, they picked us up and delivered us too. THANKS MARGE & BERT.

Another of the interesting things we did here was to visit the Stuart Museum. Many of the towns have made an effort to preserve their past and Stuart did a very god job of it. Of course, their past is very recent when compared to that of Cape Cod, but it is always interesting to see how the towns began.