David, the manager was really friendly and welcomed everyone waiiting in line inside promptly upon…read moreopening the doors. Instructions were given in a friendly and clear manner and i was in and out of there with my appointment within 20 minutes

Early is the key word here. Get there early. I was first in line at 7 am. By 9 am when doors opened…read morethere were 12-15 more people. By 9:30 when I walked out those first people were largely in the building while another 12 - 15 people stood outside, some in the sun. Once in, the person who helped me was kind, helpful and efficient. Everything I hoped to accomplish was done plus a little above and beyond. Masks are required. As aforementioned they do not let everyone in the building even if there is room as some Covid protocols are still in place. Calling social security was a whole different ball game :/ Walk in and be helped :) You can trust me, I took this advice straight from an employee once I finally got one who didn't transfer me to a voice mail ;D

What a gem this museum is honoring Bean Backus and his teach young black aspiring artists in a time…read morewhen segregation ruled the south.

This house is stop #8 on the Zora Neal Hurston Dust Tracks Heritage Trail. AE (Bean) Backus was a…read morefriend of author Zora Neal Hurston. He was a self trained artist who painted Florida landscapes. He launched the movement of the Highwaymen who were a group of artists around the Fort Pierce area who quickly created Florida folk art featuring landscapes from oil paints on Uppson board used as roof sheeting. From 1950-1980 they would anonymously sell the art out of the trunks of their cars on A1A and US 1 from Daytona to Miami. After Backus became established as an artist he was able to purchase the Platt House built by Dr. Platts in 1896 at 122 Avenue C to use as a new art studio. It was close to his former studio so he would not lose clients from the move. He continued creating art here from 1960 until his death from a heart attack in 1990. Today the original Platts-Backus House has been restored as the headquarters of Main Street Fort Pierce. The street in front of the house was renamed A.E. Backus Avenue in honor of Fort Pierce's famous artist. The house is now used as an art gallery and to host art exhibitions.

House of Seven Gables is a historic home turned visitors center in Ft. Pierce. It was built in…read more1905. In 1943 it was a house of prostitution frequented by servicemen during WWII. In 1987 it was sold at auction and used as a taxidermy studio. In 1997 the house was donated to the city of Fort Pierce and moved to its present location on June 31, 1998. In 2000 the St. Lucie Chamber of Commerce opened the house as a visitor's center providing information about things to do in the area and places to stay and eat at. The volunteers who work here answer visitors questions and also give free tours of the house. If you are in the area it is worth a stop especially since the A. E. Backus Museum and Gallery and Manatee Observation and Education Center are located on either side of the House of Seven Gables.

The ladies who helped us here were so sweet and nice, and they really had great information on the…read moresurrounding area. We never could get the WiFi to work, however, and the limited days and hours can make it hard to reach them, but it's a beautiful building for the Fort Pierce Visitor Center.

I like this library its associated with the Indian River State College. There is plenty of seating…read morewith work stations. During the school year seating may be tight, but during the summer theirs plenty of seating. There are plenty of public computers. I would have given the location a 5 but during school workstations are not a commodity.

Located between Orlando and Miami, the Civic Center provides an amazing indoor and outdoor event…read moreexperience. The Civic Center, now renamed MIDFLORIDA Event Center, is perfect for an array of events. From business to birthday, this elegant space can accommodate up to 600 people. There is ample parking and the exterior is just stunning. My family and I love visiting during the holidays and enjoy the music, array of lights, and Christmas decorations. I frequently visit the September 11th monument just outside of the center and think it is a beautiful way to honor the victims and families who lost their loved ones.

The St. Patrick's Day festival is being held today at the Civic Center in Port Saint Lucie. My…read moreelderly mother is visiting from Norfolk, saw the Farris Wheel and wanted to go. So off we went. How disappointing! For two, it cost $10.00. The wheel never went in a loop without stopping multiple times. Extremely disappointing. Won't waste my time or money there again.

Stuart was first settled in 1870. It was recognized as a town in Palm Beach County in 1914. In…read more1925, it was designated a city in the newly created Martin County. Stuart is known as the Sailfish Capital of the World because of the large number of sailfish in the ocean waters off the coast of Stuart. The Stuart Riverwalk located in the historic downtown has cute shops, art galleries, restaurants, and spectacular views of the St. Lucie River and the Roosevelt Bridge. The riverwalk runs along the edge of town on the banks of the St. Lucie River. Take in the boats, fish, birds, and the river. There is a health trail you can follow if you are looking for exercise. At the waters edge on Sundays the city offers the free Rock 'n Riverwalk concert series and the Green Market. You can pick up the $10 Tiki Taxi Cruises behind Mulligan's Restaurant where they pick every hour on the hour Thursday through Sunday. If you visit Stuart, this is an area you will definitely want to check out.

If you find yourself in Stuart, FL, this is a good point of reference spot. It's a nice spot to see…read morethe River view. It's most picturesque to me at night. It can be very windy on those super windy days. It is also a hop skip away from the quaint downtown area with shops to browse. On the weekend, you can find a farmers market on a Saturday morning!

Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 - January 28, 1960) was an African-American Harlem Renaissance…read moreauthor, folklorist, anthropologist, story teller, dramatist, and filmmaker. She sought to portray the experience and prejudice faced by African Americans in the early 20th century American South. Her most famous novel is Their Eyes Were Watching God which was published in 1937. She also wrote more than 50 short stories, plays, and essays. Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama, grew up in Eatonville, Florida, and spent the last two years of her life in Fort Pierce. She passed away in a St. Lucie welfare home after suffering a stroke. She is buried in the Garden of Heavenly Rest. She was largely unrecognized during her lifetime and came to prominence in the 1970's. The Zora Neal Hurston Branch Library was named for the author and is the first stop on the the Zora Neale Hurston Dust Tracks Heritage Trail, a series of 8 stops that were important in the life of Zora Neal Hurston during her time in Fort Pierce. Dust Tracks on a Road is the name of Zora Neal Hurston's autobiography. There is a large kiosk about Hurston outside of the front of the library. The library has a large resource of audio and visual material related to Zora Neal Hurston. On the walls of the library hang Ade Rossman's "Zora Art Series," a series of paintings that were commissioned in 2006 by the St. Lucie County Cultural Affairs Department. The library hosts lectures about topics relating to Hurston. The library also has other materials not related to Hurston that one would expect to find at a public library.

The Stuart Welcome Arch was commissioned in 1925 by the Stuart Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the…read morecreation of Martin County, with Stuart as the county seat. At the time Stuart envisioned themselves becoming even bigger than Miami. The arch was designed by Nat C. Hogdon of Pfeiffer and O'Reilly Architects, in the ornate Mediterranean Revival style that was typical during Florida's land boom years. The arch was built by A. L. Doenges and completed on February 20, 1926 at a site donated by the development of Stuart Shores. The arch was placed where Stuart's boundary on A1A met the southern limit of Jensen Beach. Businesses and individuals from both towns donated to a campaign that paid for the arch. It was conceived as a way to welcome the many motorists coming to winter in Florida on the main route to Miami. On the Stuart side the arch reads "Atlantic Gateway to the Gulf of Mexico" on the crossbeam which commemorated the 1923 opening of the cross-state Stuart to Ft. Myers canal. Great fishing on the St. Lucie River that was supposed to lure people was ruined when the state started used the canal to flush polluted overflow from Lake Okeechobee out to sea. "Jensen" appears on the south side of the arch's crossbeam. The chamber had originally planned to build gateways at both the northern and southern boundaries of Stuart but the bust of the land boom caused by hurricanes and the Great Depression prevented additional construction. During the Great Depression, the town of Jensen went bankrupt and was dissolved, while Stuart lost most of it's land north of the St. Lucie River resulting in the arch now being located in an unincorporated area of Martin County called Rio. After construction the arch was vandalized in the 1940's during WWII when the brass was stolen. A 1949 hurricane toppled the crossbeam, and a car accident destroyed the east tower in 1976. In 1977 the east tower was rebuilt and in 1994 it was painted hot pink. In 1998 the arch was again struck by a vehicle, this time a garbage truck that took out the replaced crossbeam. The arch was repaired with a new beam featuring "Welcome to Rio" on the south side and "Welcome to Jensen Beach" on the north side. On September 15, 2004 the arch was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. Stuart never lived up to the it's 1920's hype and the arch saw less travelers with the building of Route 1 and Interstate 95. Even so, in 2006 Martin County paid an architectural firm in Key West $235,000 to restore the beloved landmark to the way it originally looked. A dedication plaque was installed during this time. Although arches were popular with the advent of motor travel this is one of the last few to still remain. Drive under it and remember when it was the main artery for snowbirds flocking to South Florida for the winter.