Boating with Sunset Delight: 2023: Vero Beach Garden Centers

29 March 2023

no boat travel

I was sitting on the boat with no plans for the day when Cathy texted me to see if I would like to go to "Rock City Gardens" with her. I had no idea what I was signing up for, but I was all in. She said she would pick me up after lunch. Of course when Clark heard I had an outing planned, he asked me to go to a marine parts store and get him some things he needed.

Cathy picked me up at 1:15, and we were on our way. We took care of Clark's request first to get that out of the way then we were on to Rock City Gardens to buy something to help heal Cathy's sick tree. Rock City Gardens is a huge garden center with a lot of knowledgeable folks working there.

Retail nursery on 7 acres

Cathy at the entrance to the garden center

Besides hundreds of plants in every imaginable variety, we saw many interesting fountains on display.

For anyone wanting an urn for plants, the selections seemed to be endless.

Intermingled with lovely flowers, the garden center contained some very nice statues.

The gift shop had lovely art ...

and items with sayings on them that made me laugh out loud!

Although we had a grand time strolling around the grounds, the garden center was out of stock on the product that Cathy hoped to purchase. She said there was another garden center down the road, so we stopped there next.

This garden center had urns similar to those at Rock City, but they also had some more colorful options.

Their flower displays were not as impressive as Rock City, but their decorative art was very different and colorful.

I wanted to take a dragon home with me but very much doubted that Clark would approve.

I never guessed that a garden center, let alone two of them, could be such fun to visit. Cathy found what she needed to buy at this second garden center.

After a quick stop for me to pick up some bread at the store, Cathy dropped me off at the boat. While I had been out admiring plants, Clark worked on cleaning rust marks off the boat and then spent some time playing his guitar.

We had dinner plans with Cathy and Franklin. Cathy dropped me off around 4:00, and they came back at 5:15 to collect us for our nighttime plans. Because we like to eat outside, and because it was something out of the ordinary, Franklin suggested we eat at an historic restaurant called "Waldo's by the Sea".

Below description copied from the internet ...

Ev at entrance to Waldo's

Many bells are seen on the grounds ...

along with other interesting pieces of history.

We had only one issue with this restaurant - the wind. Yesterday, we would have roasted in the hot and humid weather. Today we had a very cool and strong breeze. I worried that it would blow our dinners off the table. I was very glad that Clark suggested we bring long-sleeved clothing as it was necessary to be warm enough to enjoy dinner.

The restaurant offered live music from 7:00 to 10:00

The restaurant was located right on the beach.

We could not believe our eyes when we saw the door shown below that appears to have come from Barrow, Alaska to be located beside the entrance to the restaurant. When he was in college, our son, Jeff, had a summer job that briefly took him to Barrow, Alaska. I couldn't help but take a picture and text it to him. He was shocked to see this!

After dinner, we walked to Kilwin's to get ice cream for dessert. On the way we got to see more of what this historic site had to offer.

more bells

carvings

Anchor and Chain

Frog eating a fly statue

We had just managed to warm up from the cold ocean breeze when we walked into the Kilwin's building that felt more like a freezer than a shop. We grabbed our goodies and ate outside where it was only slightly warmer.

Cathy and Franklin dropped us off at 8:00. Clark immediately headed into the engine room to install the parts that I picked up for him earlier in the day. Unbeknownst to me, I bought him washers and gaskets for the zincs on the engines. He had to remove the old ones and replace them with new.