Port St. Lucie is now in the rear view mirror. We experience a lot and we liked it a lot better than I thought we would. Our location was quiet but there were still a few things we could walk to. And there were a lot of other locations within a short drive.

One of the first things we did was go to Side Door Brewing and play trivia. The first night we went, we did not do too well. But we had fun and went back on Tuesday evening for the next three weeks. Our second night of Trivia at Side Door we tied for first place in both rounds, but got the bonus question wrong both times and got two second places. Our third night of trivia at Side Door we took second in the first round and tied for second in the second round. This time we got the bonus question and won another second place. Our fourth and last night of trivia at Side Door, we took first place in the first round. Finially a first place. We took third in the second round.

Also in our first week in Port St. Lucie, we took a trip to Melbourne, FL to see Tommy Stinson. We stopped at Intercoastal Brewing for a beer and poutine and then to Squid Lips for dinner. After dinner we went to Traditional Cuts Shaves & Brews. I think we were the first customers there. We got some drinks and sat in a booth near the stage. As we were sitting there, I saw a guy with a First Avenue shirt and I said nice shirt. He saw my Surly shirt and said nice shirt. It was Chris Erhard. He was one of Ted’s roommates after college. Chris joined us and we caught up. Karla texted Darren Back and convinced him to come to the show. We watched the openers Karla Rose and Diane Gentile. Tommy Stinson put on a fun show and was joined by Karla Rose for a couple songs. Darren left early and I did not get a chance to talk with him. We stayed until the end and I am glad we made the effort to see Tommy. We talked to Chris for a bit more after the show and headed back to PSL.

We also tried trivia at Sailfish Brewing in Fort Pierce. It was a busy night in Fort Pierce and busy at the brewery. It was noisy in the brewery and it was hard to hear the questions. We did ok and had fun, but did not go back to Sailfish Brewing.

We took a day trip to Fort Pierce to check out the farmer’s market. We were dissapointed and did not buy anything. We went to the Manatee Observation Center and the Backus Museum. The volunteer at the Manatee Center was very informative but it was a rainy, cloudy day and there was not much to see. At the Backus Museum there was a Highwayman exhibition that was really great. We went to Cobb’s Landing for lunch and then to Islamorada Brewing and Distilling. We got a brewery tour and picked up a lot of stuff to go. One more stop on the way back at Hop Life Brewing. We were not impressed and had one beer and went back to our rental in PSL.

One of the things we could walk to was the PSL Botanical Garden. Entry is free and they have some nice gardens including some cool orchids, interesting cacti and beautiful roses. It was raining a little and rather than walking back, we went around the block to Tacos and Beer. Karla got sangria that was good and we shared some tasty quesa birrias.

A short drive from our place was Jensen Beach. I had a day off work so we drove there. It was a little cool so we walked the beach for a bit but did not stay. Down the road is the Elliott Museum so went to check that out. It was bigger than I expected and we spent a couple hours there. They had a reproduction King Tut exhibit. The cars were more interesting than I thought they would be. Not as much Florida art as I hoped. We went quickly through the Elliott stuff and skipped most of the baseball stuff. Some interesting local stuff and an exhibit on the Ashley Gang. After the museum we went to Ocean Republic Brewing. Good food and good beer. Dolphin strips to start with a really good sauce. We tried a couple beers and got some stuff to go. From there it was a short dive to downtown Stuart. We found a place to park and walked around a bit. Headed back to the rental and got there just before the weather got bad. We had a lot of rain and wind and our street flooded a bit. We were ok inside and everything looked ok the next morning.

Bob and Lisa came to stay with us for a couple nights. The first night we went out to Stuart. We ate at the Taco Shack and then went over to Terra Fermenta and listened to The Nouveaux Honkies. Very enjoyable. The next night, after Lisa, Bob and Karla did a little exploring, we made supper and stayed in.

Another place we could walk to is the Saints Pub. We walked there one evening for happy hour but we were not impressed and that was our only visit.

 We did a day trip to Jupiter, FL. Our fist stop was the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum. It was family day but we were there early enough that it wasn’t too crowded yet. I went up the lighthouse and enjoyed the view from up top. We looked at the exhibits and toured a house that had been moved to that location and restored. Cool lighthouse and a good place to visit. After the lighthouse we went to Storm House Brewing for lunch. Good food and good beer. I got a crowler of the NE IPA to go. Not much else to do in the area so we checked out another brewery. Civil Society Brewing was a short dive away. Busy area but they had a free parking ramp. We went in and found a couple spots at the bar. Good beer and they had a lot of IPAs. On our way in Karla saw Lighthouse Cove Adventure Golf. So rather than sit at the bar, we walked over and played a round of mini golf. It was more like putting greens and did not have any tricks or gadgets. It was fun and I am glad we did some more outside stuff. We went back to Civil Society for another beer. I also got a t-shirt, a sticker, a magnet and a crowler to go. Good stuff. Back to the rental in PSL.

Another place we could walk to from our rental was a boardwalk on the St. Lucie River. It is not very long but it is new and it looks like they will add more. After the boardwalk we stopped at Lefty’s for a beer and some fish dip.

We made another trip to Stuart to visit Frazier Creek Brewing and Distilling. We tried a few beers and got some good food from the Meat in the Middle food truck.

Our last Saturday in PSL, we planned on going to the beach. We were watching the weather and it was supposed to be the best day. But when we woke on Saturday morning it was raining. So we relaxed for a while and took it easy in the morning. The rain stopped but it was still cloudy and windy. We found a spot to play mini golf. PopStroke was another place that was more like real greens on a golf course. They were all designed by Tiger Woods. We played both the easy and the difficult courses and the sun even started coming out. After golf we went back to PSL for their Seafood Festival. There were a lot of vendor booths and seafood vendors way at the back. We got some food and stood in line for drinks. We were done with our food before we even got our drinks. We wandered around and listened a little to an Aerosmith cover band. We went back to the seafood and got some conch fritters that were just ok. We bought some beef jerky from one of the vendors and that was it. 

Our last day trip was to Vero Beach. We first went to American Icon Brewery. It was very busy with vendors outside, a car show and a private party upstairs. We parked across the street. Even though it was busy we found a couple spots at the bar and had some lunch and beer. After lunch we wandered around the Vero Beach main street. It was Sunday, so not much was open, but we went through Vintage Vero an interesting furniture and vintage store. From there we went to the Vero Beach Museum of Art. They had a wonderful exhibit on Ancient Egypt & the Napoleonic Era. We made one more stop in Vero Beach at Walking Tree Brewery. They have some good beer and friendly staff.

Two days before we left we went out for a fancy dinner at Kyle G’s. We had a view of the ocean and a fantastic dinner.

Like I said at the beginning, we liked Port St. Lucie and we may be back to this area again some day.

Look for my next entry about our trip from PSL to Santa Rosa Beach.