Bye Bye Snowbirds, Bye Bye!

I am no one to complain about snowbirds, since my sister Susan and I are only part time residents here in Stuart, Florida, but being here during the season (traditionally January through March) can be a major pain, with Exhibit A being Stuart Beach. Susan and I like to stop at Wendy's each afternoon and head to Stuart Beach for lunch. This beach used to contain a number of covered shelters where you could sit and watch the ocean, but a few years ago they put in the Seaside Cafe and eliminated all but two of those shelters to put in tables for the customers. But you can still see the ocean from the tables in those two shelters - except during the season, when the place is so crowded, even on weekdays (as seen in the photo), that if you do find a table, it is at the very back, with no view at all.

And so, when we went back to Stuart Beach yesterday afternoon, I was surprised to find that our favorite tables with the best view of the ocean were all open, and although there were people at the cafe and on the beach, it was not overwhelming. And then it occurred to me that yesterday was the last day of March, the day all those snowbirds check out of their seasonal rentals and who were probably on the road back north. What a difference. I can now understand why locals often complain about those snowbirds, although I am sure all the hotel owners, shopkeepers, and everyone else who benefits from the tourist dollars are more than happy to take their money. In any case, I am now wondering if the outdoor patio at Sailor's Return Restaurant in the Sunset Bay Marina, with the killer views of the St. Lucie River and the boats in the marina, will now actually have tables available, not to mention parking spaces, and if the valets will no longer be parking rows of cars right behind those spaces, requiring a trip to the valet stand to ask them to move the car. But miracles do happen. And no, we are NOT snowbirds. We come here three times a year, including during the heat of summer. Although locals might call us demented snowbirds.