Apr. 11
Friday found us in Fort Pierce where we have stopped for a weekend-long visit with our friend Vince, who we know from our church in NJ. He has vacationed here for several winters, and last year he purchased a place that was in foreclosure, and got a REALLY good deal. It is an over-55 community, and when the owner dies, the units often pass into the hand of their under-55 children, who legally can’t live there. Since there are fairly substantial maintenance fees for the new owner to pay each month, they are sometimes very motivated to sell. That’s where a senior with a checkbook can do very well, and Vince did. He’s got a beautiful place, right on a golf course, with two bedrooms, a porch, a carport, and everything he needs. He invited us to stay with him, but the community does not allow pets, and Logan wouldn’t be too happy to be left alone overnight. So we parked in a grassy lot that is part of the complex, slept there, and then showed up on Vince’s doorstep each morning for breakfast. His wife Marie resides in a nursing home about 20 minutes away. (He bought this place so that he could be close enough to visit frequently.) One day we took her out for a long walk on a pier that juts out into a beautiful aqua-colored harbor in Fort Pierce. Another day, we took our guitars and entertained the residents a bit at Marie’s home. (Vin and I both play with the church group in NJ that goes around to nursing homes, prisons, etc.) Vince is also involved down here with a drug and alcohol rehab place called “Faith Farm Ministries” which operates a 1600 acre facility where men can stay, at no charge, and go through a 10 month program. While there, the residents earn their keep by tending the beef cattle, or repairing vehicles, or working in various other enterprises that the place operates to pay the bills. It is a really impressive operation. Lorraine and I attended their Sunday morning service, and Logan got to spend the time with a couple of the farm dogs who welcomed him warmly.
Vinnie was quite the host, and seemed determined that we should see everything that the area has to offer in the 3 days that we were there. This clashed somewhat with my stated desire to do absolutely nothing, ever; but we managed to work it out. On Friday night we went to the Mets spring training facility that is now used by one of their minor league teams. Appropriately, the Mets farm club lost to a Cardinals farm team. We sat in the berm area behind right field, which I saw many times on TV back in Jersey when the spring training games were being televised. By great good fortune, it happened to be “bring your dog to the park night,” which is why we sat in the berm. Logan enjoyed everything except the fireworks at the end, which spooked him badly.
On Sat. night, we went to Vero Beach to see a production of “Buddy”, (the Buddy Holly story) which previously had had a run on Broadway. It was very good, except that the actor who played Buddy couldn’t play lead guitar, so they invented an additional “Cricket” (member of his backup band) to be there to play the iconic solos. The “Buddy” actor sang the songs well however, and even made it look fairly convincing when he was romancing the female actor who became Buddy’s wife. (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more.)