StephanieKimura: Indian Riverside Park, Jensen Beach, Florida

First let me say, this is a loooong post. You may enjoy it or you might get bored. It's kind of a personal post for old friends who have moved away. I keep meaning to send them updated photos but it's been ten years since that idea started. So, since I am taking friends for a tour, it seemed like a good time to take these photos. I've been meaning to send them to Nancy D and Marie. Here it is:

I started at the north side of the Evans Crary bridge (it cost almost $31 million) at Sewall's Point where there is a plaque. The photo to the left is of the shore just before you get to the plaque and in front of Benihana.

Then I got in the car and drove about a mile to the restaurant that used to be the "The Frances Langford Outrigger Resort" where you could get a perfect Mai Tai. You can still get one and now you can get a Raspberry Martini too...yummmm. The resort was renamed "The Dolphin Bar".

This is an awesome tree in front of the restaurant.

This is where Frances Langford docked her megayacht the Chanticleer (next to the restaurant).

I walked to the street, Indian River Drive, and this is the view of the river with the restaurant at the right.

This is the very exclusive gated community across the street from the restaurant. It used to be very rustic and overgrown with foliage. Frances Langford's estate is deep inside on the water. She used to have peacocks and let them roam freely. Have you ever heard them SCREAM?...I mean the peacocks.

I am approaching one of the few "hills" we have. If you make a left turn, where that car is coming from, you can experience our hill.

Here it is....our hill. A long time ago, this hill lead to the F.I.T. dorms that used to be on the right. They demolished the building and took away that enormous trash bin and built an enormous assisted living facility.

Here is the new building and another view below.

It's big.

Across the street, back to the river front, is the new Indian Riverside Park.

This was the F.I.T. campus. Here is a link to an editorial article written by Sally Swartz for the Palm Beach Post. She writes about how the money was collected for the renovation, the history of the buildings, and land. She informs us that Mount Elizabeth is really a 4,000-year-old Ais Indian midden on the National Register of Historic Places. The mound contains fish bones, pottery, shell ornaments and other remnants of Ais life.

Here's their dolphin fountain.

I'm looking through the trees down to the main facility. This is not a great photo technique.

Here's the building I was trying to photograph and it is named in honor of Frances Langford. It has huge room for events. Nancy, we could have used this building when you were here! It's really more beautiful than it looks...and the view is spectacular.

This is the Children's Museum of the Treasure Coast. I think this building was once a Chapel.

Heading north on the path.

The Mansion at Tuchahoe

Hmm...this is a photo I took of the Mansion but it looks more like a painting. This was the former Leach Family estate. I read that it was the administrative building for F.I.T. at some time after that.

A friend who used to live in this area just emailed me and gave me this additional info about the history of this building before it was used for F.I.T. : "This was also the novitiate convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph in the 50s where girls entered to become nuns. I entered the convent in 1956. The Postulant (beginners) dorm was on the upper left side. The curved windows below was where our dining room was. Middle second floor where the balcony is was our bathroom area with shower stalls, toilet stalls, sinks. Behind that facing the back was our second floor recreation room. On the upper left was more dorm space. Chapel was below. In the circle (of the driveway) we had a statue of St. Joseph."

This is the view of the river from the Mansion.

Now, back down to the main portion of the park.

Here's the back of the building and a little beach.

And there's a pier.

On the way to the pier, behind the building, there was a wedding rehearsal. The grass died because we had some cold weather. Mine looks like that too.