***
Alright, Im back from CA (was there for work) and promise to do a better job of posting updates! Now, on to the TR!...almost. Quick question. Am I the only one that thought there was a Hidden Mickey in the cloud on the left from the morning of Day 2? (pasted again below) Dont worry; there was an even better one in HH
***
Anywho
after freshening up, we were off to find some treasure! Not too far from the resort, we came to McLartys Treasure Museum in Sebastian (just north of Vero Beach). On the way in to the museum, we saw this crazy tree. It starts on the left of the palm tree, loops over to the right, has a hand looking part grab on to the palm to the left, and then continues. Weird, right?
The museum was filled with cool stuff from about 300 years ago. I wasnt up on my coastal Florida history, but conveniently theres a 30 minute video in a 20 person movie-theater-type area which told us all about it.
(I've wanted to use that emoticon since I first saw it!) Apparently, Spain was in trouble economically after a major war in the early 1700s. At the same time, the king planned to marry the princess of Italy. Spain was a major global power, so the king told all the colonies to send their gold, silver, jewelry, potterybasically everything they couldto Cuba, which would be condensed on 11 ships, and sent back to Spain. Unfortunately for Spain, a hurricane wiped out the entire fleet near VB, sending billions of dollars of treasure to bottom of the ocean!
A major salvage effort was undertaken by Spain, but with the limited technology of 1715, much of it was unrecoverable.
Over the years, the fleet was forgotten and Spain's empire fell apart (in large part to the lost revenue). Then, a hurricane in the 1950s kicked up some pieces of eight, and a local VB man named Kip Wagner found them on the beach. He kept finding more and more by chance, so he then focused his efforts to figure out where it was coming from. His research suggested it was this missing fleet, and over the next decade or so, he located most of the wreckage and pulled up millions in treasure! "Experts" estimate that about 80% has been recovered so far, but more is still even being found today. (The crown jewels for the new queen are among the items not yet found.) After major storms, people flock to the beach with metal detectors and even amateurs regularly get lucky and take home a doubloon! At this rate, someone in St. Lucia will likely find a lovely engagement ring sometime around 2308.
McLarty's is at the site of the original recovery effort. The museum also had a walkway out to the beach which was well covered by sea grapes. The survivors of the shipwrecks had little in the way of supplies, and had to rely heavily on the local Indians. Sea grapes were actually a major source of food for the locals, but the Spanish couldnt figure out how to eat them. I tried one, and Ive got to tell you, theres not much to them. There is a very thin grape-like flesh over a big seed. Im not sure what the local trick is, but I figure youd have to eat about 10 of them (spitting out each seed) to be the same as eating 1 regular grape. Doing the math, its not hard to see why the Spanish didnt think much of these as an actual food source!
After we had our fills of sea grapes and views of the lovely beach, we decided to drive around Sebastian. As another side-note, heres a trivia question for you. In what town is Disneys Vero Beach Resort located?
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
You get half credit if you said NOT Vero Beach, FL.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
You get full credit if you said Wabasso Beach, FL!
Vero Beach is actually about 10 miles SOUTH of the resort. Wha-thah-wha? Yup. Unfortunately, I didnt pester the CMs with that the way I did the mural and the floor designs. My best guess that Disney had a typo on their first marketing brochures for the resort and already sold some DVC contracts before they noticed
OK, sorry for the jumpy thoughts. Back on track!
Leaving the museum, we were a bit tired and thirsty, so our eyes perked up when we saw a Dunkin Donutsahh, feels like home
. This DD also had a Baskin Robbins in it, which is not uncommon, but the set-up was totally bizarre. There was one long counter with the BR on the left and the DD on the right, but the BR did not have its own register.
When we got in line on the DD side, the people that were getting ice creams on the BR side kept cutting in front of us to pay. Id have been OK with alternating, but probably 10 bikers and/or old people squeezed in front of us like we werent there. YGTBKM!
However, I wasnt about to yell at bikers or old people, so bit my lip until we could get our big-ole caffeinated icy liquids.
Quenched and refreshed, next on the agenda was to find a store. At the pool and beach, we had come up with a short list of things that would make our vacation better. Were always learning on these trips!
Suntan Lotion, cheap cups, case of 20-oz Coke Zero bottles,
case of 20-oz Gatorade Bottles, rum, a small beach bag,
and a collapsible cooler bag.
We soon found a Wal-Mart which proved to be perfect. We found everything except a good beach bag, but we figured we could probably get one back at the resort. Right next to Wal-Mart was a liquor store. Normally I drink Captain Morgan, but Ive heard good things about Sailor Jerry. Seeing as how this is vacation, I figured what better time to try it! Sailor Jerry may sound like a cheap knock-off, but it was actually a bit more expensive. Ive had Admiral Nelson which
IS a cheap knock-off, but Jerry did not disappoint!
(How many job on a boat + name rums are out there?)
Since the museum and a store were all we really had planned at that point, we headed back to the hotel. Quickly popping in the gift shop Joyce found this:
This bag is now pretty much her favorite. Its water resistant, has a zipper that fully closes the bag, is fairly neutral looking, but does have some Mickeycant beat that!
Now back in the room, we packed away our treasures and decided to make a reservation at Sonyasthe fancy restaurant at VB. With that scheduled for 7, we relaxed, had some Sailor and Cokes, and took naps, because, hey, its vacation!
We mentally overcame the tragedy after just a few hours, and now have a story that trumps all others, but I still get a knot in my stomach when I see waves breaking. 
babysitter who let her watch Jaws when she was six, she's ridiculously scared of them to the point where she wouldn't swim in the lake one summer at our cottage because of it. 
