Ft Pierce to Daytona Beach

Ft Pierce turned out to be a nice little town, especially when the population swells   during the winter months (all those snow birds fly south).  But during the summer off-season, and especially on Mondays, they roll up the sidewalks of the town.  We did, however, see that the historic theater downtown was hosting the Ft Pierce Jazz & Blues Society, which turned in to a nice 3 hours of really good jazz.

At the SEAL museum, they had the actual survival capsule
from the Maersk Alabama, the star of the movie
"Captain Phillips"

The other venue we found was the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum.  Yes, I asked several folks why the heck it was located here on Hutchison Island, in the middle of nowhere!  Well, it seems that since way back in 1838, when the town itself got its first fort (built by Col Benjamin Pierce, who was the brother of President Franklin Pierce – but y’all probably already knew that), it has entertained a military presence.  During WWII the Navy was looking for a remote location to train some crazy guys called Frogmen, to clear the German mines and obstacles from the Normandy beaches prior to the D-Day landings.  So guess where they started training?

As the movie depicted, the Somali pirates were "dispatched"
by Navy SEAL sharpshooters from a nearby ship.  Inside the capsule,
the tan color just below the steering wheel are the bullet holes
for the pirate who was in the driving seat.

Farther north, we stopped at Titusville Marina, right across from Kennedy Space Center, where we had stayed exactly 3 years ago when we came through here.  We met some boaters who were planning to do the Loop (Looper wanna-bes), so we shared some of our sea stories (some of which we actually true!).  As we traveled farther north into Mosquito Lagoon, we met a large number of dolphins and manatees.  Several times, we had to shift into neutral as we passed right over the spot where a manatee had just surfaced (they are air-breathing mammals that surface every couple minutes for air, then go back to the bottom to feed).  On one occasion, a manatee surfaced not more than 10 feet off our port bow & we had to slam the shifters into neutral.

Along the ICW - Indian River, there were lots of sand bars
which the locals enjoyed

Anchored along the ICW,  There's a story
here, somewhere.

Hot travel days - 97 degrees in the shade on the helm.

Approaching Daytona Beach, a mobile Tiki Hut with a
big sign that says "Rent Me"

We’re now in Daytona Beach, hoping to visit one of our US Power Squadrons friends, who previously lived in New Orleans.  He & his wife still live on their boat, and were taking care of her elderly mother, the last we heard (sound familiar?).  In another day or so, we’ll continue north to Marineland FL, home of the original dolphin exhibit (I remember visiting that place when I was about 10 years old – that’s almost pre-historic!).  Our wonderful, super, perfect granddaughter is coming from New Orleans to swim with the dolphins – something she’s wanted to do for several years.  We might even head over to Orlando to act like a tourist & spend some of our hard-earned Yankee greenbacks.