Saturday, March 9, 2013 – Vero Beach:

            The sun came streaming in through the windows this morning while the cat patiently waited for us to get up and feed her breakfast.  The temperature appears to be warming up a little, and friends from up north told us the temperature there would get to about 60° so having visions of wearing clothes appropriate for warm weather, after breakfast I took a shower and donned shorts and a t-shirt.

            The marina gave us a map of the surrounding local area when we arrived, and we decided to get out the bikes and ride to the Village Beach Market and buy a couple of groceries to tide us over until we could get to a Publix.  What a nice, well-stocked small market with lots of interesting food stuffs to choose from.  We didn’t need any wine, but they had plenty of it.  They also had a nice deli and prepared foods section.  We bought some pastries for breakfast tomorrow (what else!), and I got some dark chocolate with chili and some dry roasted edamame.  That stuff should be interesting!

            The town has sidewalks and bike paths everywhere, and before we went to the grocery store we stopped at one of the parks that has beach access.  The news has been full of stories about migrating sharks and not to go swimming, but there was a lifeguard, and some people wading in the water, and one guy was actually trying to surf.  We walked on the beach for a ways, and looked for shells, but I didn’t see one shell!  We walked back to the bikes and resumed our trek to the store.

Surfing with the sharks?

            I really like bike riding, but the seat on these folding bikes is so painful, I’m not sure I can keep riding unless it is an emergency.  As I said in a previous blog, my seat and tail bones have been permanently rearranged, and I think some of my internal organs have been jostled as well as my brain, because if I had any sense, I wouldn’t get back on this bike!  Honestly, manufacturers shouldn’t be allowed to make something so uncomfortable!

            Anyway, we rode back to the boat with our groceries and put them away and gave our “seats” a rest before getting back on the bikes and riding back into town for lunch.  We must be gluttons for punishment!  A bit of card playing and sitting on a soft settee gave us a break before riding out again.

            Someone recommended the Ocean Grill for lunch, and it was a good recommendation.  It is right on the beach overlooking the ocean with big windows so we had a nice view even though we didn’t sit by the windows.  We decided to share a roasted beet salad and a turkey and avocado sandwich, and both were delicious.   We were stuffed, and that gave us the courage to get back on the bikes.  I wonder if pain also burns calories?

            We were also told that the Lemon Tree was a nice restaurant, and that we really should go to Pomodoro’s for dinner, so we decided to check out both places while we were on the bikes.  Both places looked enticing, and I think we will try both of them out before we leave Vero Beach.

            On the way back to the boat, I only fell off my bike once!  I was carrying an “ergonomically” correct shoulder bag, and I was trying to flip it around to my back as everytime I peddled it kept hitting my leg which was annoying.  Well, I let go of the handlebars with one hand to do the “flip” thing, and somehow my right hand turned the bike into the grass which the tires didn’t like and so the bike sort of fell over – but it was sort of into a bank, and if I had just put out my foot I wouldn’t have looked so stupid.  But not to worry – Bob was riding ahead of me, and he hollered back if I was ok, and then kept on riding.  I finally caught up to him, fortunately, none the worse for wear!

            We got back to the boat, and I thought seriously about leaving the bike out in the parking lot to see if someone would take it away, but somehow it found its way back to the boat.

            One of our neighbors is a 49’ Grand Banks, and since the owners were outside, we walked down and said hello to them.  They used to be members of the Chesapeake Bay Grand Banks Owners Association, and I asked them if they would be interested in joining again, but they said they were from California, and “not at this time.”  “Well,” I thought, “Come on, California (?), it’s only a couple of states away!”  We had a nice chat, and promised each other that we would get together before we both left.

            We hadn’t actually gotten on the boat before we said hello to our neighbors from California, and when we approached our door, we found a “boat card” left by some people we had run into a couple of times a few months ago.  They are here in the marina complex but out on a mooring, so we will try and catch up with them also!

It continues to be such a small world!

Don’t forget to turn the clocks back!

Looking out over the ocean at Vero Beach