Ft. Pierce

Marlin, snook, grouper (plus a host of marinas, fishing charters and tournaments) make Fort Pierce an angler’s favorite. The area rates with divers, too, for reefs natural and artificial – even shipwrecks. Dry off to discover the town’s main street. More than a pretty place, its governing organization advocates historic preservation, saving the Sunrise Theatre (circa 1923) and renovating Old City Hall (circa 1925). Murals, a year ’round Saturday farmers’ market and other monthly events keep things lively, but save time for the Manatee Observation and Education Center to observe wild manatees in the Indian River Lagoon and the A.E. Backus Gallery & Museum to view the work of this landscape painter and the Florida Highwaymen Artists he mentored