This past weekend, I flew to Stuart, FL for a family visit. It had been years since I visited Florida and my visit was long overdue. Fortunately, my grandfather and Dusty agreed rather than saying, “No, no, take your time. No need to visit!”
So, yes! I bought my Delta ticket and headed down to the Sunshine State. I arrived on Saturday afternoon. My grandfather was waiting for me at the exit gate. I think it’s always nice to see someone there although I do understand the convenience of just picking someone up at the curb. We hopped in the car and drove about 45 minutes to Stuart.
I was lucky to get a family two-fer visit for the the weekend as my Uncle was there! We went to Mass in the afternoon and then headed to Jupiter Hills for dinner. The food was excellent although I have a terrible picture showing off my meal. I only took it to brag to my Mom that I had a lobster but then I didn’t even send it. Since she’s on an amazing fancypants vacation right now, I figured my meal wouldn’t be that impressive to her. But then again, it was lobster, polenta and asparagus and it was delicious!
On Sunday, I worked out, relaxed and then headed out to dinner with Grandpa and Dusty. I had an excellent sea bass (not Chilean!) with crab for a Chesapeake dish. Yes please! Grandpa was tempted to be the manners enforcer for a guy wearing a hat in the restaurant but then decided (I think) that the man was a lost cause anyway.
Monday was a lot of fun because we headed out into old Stuart. The Elliott Museum houses an amazing car collection. In addition, there is neat sequence of early bicycle innovations designed and built by Sterling Elliott, an inventor and entrepreneur. The museum was established by his son and also has some large Americana collections, most of which came from a museum in Massachusetts (thanks Wikipedia!).
We went on a docent-led tour. Dusty and I had our interest wane a little bit after 20 minutes. Grandpa decided that we were not lost causes so he told us that if we stopped talking, we might learn something (ha,ha,ha). After the tour, we looked at the cars and the National Geographic photo exhibition, which was striking. There were also some Audubon society pictures so I took a picture of a picture of a snowy plover (my favorite!).
Then it was time for lunch! We went to Old Stuart, where we ate at the Riverwalk Cafe and Oyster Bar. Dusty and I ordered oyster stew, which was delicious. I was happy to order something very Florida-y. Although I went to the gym afterwards and I would not recommend oyster stew as the ideal pre-workout snack.
Later that afternoon, I was dropped off at the airport *boo hoo.* I will definitely be back and I have a standing invitation (yay!). Next time, Dusty and I have plans to go shopping as well as hang out in old Stuart a little more.
Portmanteau Suitcase 