This year was the 28th annual Pelican Island Wildlife Festival. The festival is held from 10:00 AM…read more- 4:00 PM in Riverview Park in Sebastian to commemorate the birthday of the refuge on March 14, 1903. Pelican National Wildlife refuge was created by one man's determination to protect the birds he loved. Paul Kroegel was a German immigrant and Sebastian resident and conservationist. He arrived in Sebastian in 1881 and homesteaded on the west bank of the Indian River across from Pelican Island. As he watched the birds on the island he fell in love with them and became increasingly disturbed by the hunters killing them. He took to protecting the birds by guarding them with his shotgun during a time when they had no lawful protection. Paul enlisted the help of the American Ornithologists Union and the Florida Audubon Society to help protect the birds. They joined together to pass legislation for protection of non-game birds. The Florida Audubon Society hired Paul Kroegel along with three other wardens to protect the birds from plume hunters and the sports hunters who would shoot at the birds while passing by on boats. During the time Paul served, two of the other wardens were murdered. Naturalist Frank Chapman and his fellow advocate, William Dutcher went to Theodore Roosevelts New York home to plead their case for the protection of the birds. In response President Roosevelt made Pelican Island the first National Wildlife Refuge in 1903. Paul Kroegel was hired as the first national wildlife refuge manager. He passed away in 1948. Since then the land was threatened in the 1960's developers attempted to buy the surrounding wetlands but local citizens stopped them. The Indian River Area Preservation League made up of local citrus growers, commercial fishermen, and sportsmen, joined with the Florida Audubon Society to convince the State to include the islands as a part of the refuge. In 1963, Pelican Island was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior. Since then the refuge has gained over 500 more acres to help protect it from encroachment by development. There is a large parking lot with free parking adjacent to the park. Entrance to the festival is free. The event has live wildlife shows, food, environmental exhibitors, arts & crafts, a rehabilitated pelican release, raffle, amateur photography contest, native plant sale, educational presentations, historical reenactments with President Theodore Rossevelt, and for a fee boat tours to Pelican Island. I specially loved seeing all of the birds brought by the Treasure Coat Wildlife Center. Sadly because of their injuries, these birds can't be released into the wild and I was happy to donate to them. President Roosevelt is the Master of Ceremonies and is portrayed by Theodore Roosevelt interpreter, Joe Wiegand. He gave a wonderful presentation that taught about the history of Pelican Island and his efforts to protect its birds as well as other events in the life of President Roosevelt. The 2020 Pelican Island Wildlife Festival celebrated the 117th anniversary of the Pelican Island National Wildlife Reserve. The event is hosted by the Pelican Island Preservation Society and the City of Sebastian. It is a fantastic way to bring awareness to the refuge. Even though the festival is only held one day a year, you can visit the refuge 365 days a year.

The Historic Hardee Oak Tree is located in the Old Town of Sebastian Historic District, East. The…read morecollection of 13 buildings is a designated U.S. Historic district. The well to do Hardee family owned a mansion in Sebastian on the east side of Main Street, west of the Indian River. The family owned the Hardees Service Station, the Eagle Co. Fish dock, and citrus groves. The place where the house once stood is marked by the Hardee Oak tree which was planted by Robert Hardee in 1891 when he was 19. Captain Robert C. Hardee became a tax assessor, post master, and a Sebastian Council member in 1926. In the 1950's his daughter Meta became the first woman to serve on the council. Legend has it that when the city put in the sidewalks in 1925, Hardee's mother Emma chained herself to the tree in order to keep it from being uprooted. The tree was further endangered by hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in 2004. The City Council voted to preserve the tree. During the revitalization of the water front, water pipes were placed underneath the tree instead of taking the easy way out by cutting it down. The tree now stands as a symbol of the history and tradition of the historic city of Sebastian.

The trails to view the island are beautiful! There are binoculars located at some stations to see…read morethe wild life from afar. I am so greatful to have found this place. There are real restrooms near the entrance not just which is great because there are a lot of trails.

A very nice hike and view inside Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge…read morePelican Island National WIldlife Refuge is located south of Sebastian inlet on the river, not ocean, side of the island. It has the distinction of being America's first National Wildlife Refuge. It may be a little island in the Indian River Lagoon but it is 5400+ acres of protected waters and lands. There is no fee. The roads to drive to the various places are hard dirt. There are several trails located within the refuge. One of the is Pete's trail. Joe's Overlook is off of that trail and is accessed by a short drive off Jungle trail and parking in the Viewing area and then hiking about 0.8 miles to the overlook. Bicycles are not allowed on Pete's trail but the hike is level and flat and typical Florida grass path through the mangroves until you come to the overlook. It is a very nice walk but I would suggest bringing a hat, water and possible bug spray depending on the time of year. Joe's overlook is a wooden walkway to a shaded viewing platform overlooking a pretty wetland area. It is a very pleasant trail, walk and view that I would recommend for the nature lovers in the crowd.

Great place to people watch!! folks are in and out of this bar, all along while the band beats out…read moregreat tunes!!!

This is a party bar with live music. There are motorcycles to 4x4 vehicles. Music is good and…read moredrinks are ok. Service is friendly. Food is bar food. The bar slice pizza is thin and floppy but only $3.50 + .75 for a topping. We got the Stromboli that was big and pretty good.

This trail was suggested as a place to ride a bike or walk from the Disney Vero Beach property. I…read morewas staying there with friends and decided to rent a bike for an afternoon and get some riding in. The rental window gave me a map and directed me to the Jungle Trail. It was easy to get to and to find from the hotel property. Lovely flora, lovely fauna along the way. And it takes you to the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, for more nature and exploring. I wish I hadn't waited until my last day in the area to explore the trail and the refuge, because I would have gone back another time....or more times! It was a lovely nature escape among golf courses and developed neighborhoods. Definitely worth a ride or a drive through if you are close by!

I don't know who maintains this pathway, but they should post signs that the road is impassable a…read moregood portion of the year. I was coming back from lunch, in Melbourne, and decided to finally take the Trail. I almost turned around as the roadway was starting to look bad, but I noticed a car ahead. They were stuck, with a handicapped woman as passenger, who couldn't get out of the car. I was told he had called towing companies, but none would respond. I turned around and then my car disappeared in the mud, too. No one will tow my or his car out. The FD Rescue responded, but said they couldn't help, either. Now my nice car is completely ruined(it's a hybrid), and I have no way to recover the car--it's still stuck. Nor do I have the money for a new or used one since I am on SSI and just above the poverty level. Well, that was a nice afternoon drive. Did I mention: I'm partially handicapped, too, and had to walk out on my own, too?

The Sebastian Millennium Clock Tower was erected to celebrate Sebastian, Florida's 75th anniversary…read moreback in December of 2001. It sits on the edge of a parking lot and across the street from Riverview Park. Well this might not be a tourist attraction worthy of flocks of people coming from all over the world to witness, it is an interesting part of sebastian, Florida and something that would trigger a happy memory for many of the people who have called here home at one point or another. Communities need these little mementos of memories for those who call that community home. I am glad that I stumbled across this.

I love a stormwater park. They help the environment by capturing and retaining stormwater runoff…read morepreventing flooding in the surrounding areas. The pond plants removes pollutants from the water leaving it clean. This particular Stormwater Treatment Area removes an estimated 80% of the total nitrogen and 56% of total phosphorous, along with 79% of sediments and suspended solids. Left untreated stormwater leads to algal blooms, muck deposits, fish kills, and other environmental problems. This retention area protects the Indian River Lagoon. These ponds also attract a variety of wildlife including Florida's beautiful wading birds. There are two parking areas on the south side of Englar Drive, located between Barber Street and Schumann Drive. The first parking lot has a path through the woods before emerging at the stormwater retention ponds. If you choose to go through the woods you will go through oak hammocks, pine flatwoods, scrub and herbaceous wetlands. This area of the park is a refuge to three threatened species. In this area of the park I encountered the largest pileated woodpecker I have ever seen taking out huge pieces of a tree. The other parking lot leads right to the pond for those who would prefer not to go through the woods. Here you will find a natural earth trail that goes over a bridge and winds around the retention ponds. Expect to see herons, egrets, and ibis. This is a very beautiful place to walk around. I saw a lot of people enjoying the trails with their leashed dogs. This was such a wonderful discovery. Shout out to my friend Jim B. who is an amazing photographer and who added it to Yelp so I could find it.

Interesting park in Sebastian…read more The nature trails have many different types of habitats. Look for water birds in the wetlands. Saw several egrets and a few cranes. The park also has oak trees and pines as well. Great an unexpected find in Sebastian.

The best haunted house in Indian River County Florida. Every year it impresses us. Keep up the good…read morework!!

it was scary FUUUN its amazing plus your workers are so nice, when my little got so scared she…read morecried and instead of moving on one of your workers help settle her down and said sorry for scaring her so bad

The Wabasso Bridge has historically been an important crossing point over the Indian River for…read morelocal residents and visitors to this part of the Treasure Coast. The original bridge in Wabasso sat on what was known as Two Dollar Bluff, a navigational aid for ships on the Indian River since 1887. It was located on property of pioneer and citrus grower A.B. Michael who made Indian River citrus world famous. The bluff was an Ais Indian midden, a kind of ancient garbage dump for the original inhabitants of this area. In 1927 the midden yielded shells, pottery shards, and bones that were used for road material. At different times this area was part of Brevard, St. Lucie, and Indian River counties. The bluff became the Michael family dock. Eventually it was replaced in 1927 with a narrow, wooden bridge with a metal swing span that crossed to the community of Orchid. This bridge allowed travel between the Orchid Island groves and the railroad for transport of citrus. It also opened up the northern part of Indian River County to tourism and land development. During World War II the bridge tender would only allow island residents to cross to prevent German spies from infiltrating the island and signaling to U Boats offshore. On October 5, 1964, a 400-foot section of the old wooden Wabasso Bridge caught on fire. Before it was scrapped the old swing bridge was purchased by Walt Disney World and refurbished for use in the Main Street Railroad. In 1970, a modern, high-arch bridge causeway was constructed over the main channel. For years it was the known as the A.B. Mitchell Wabasso Bridge. In 2020, it was renamed the A.B. Michael Bridge to correct a typo made over 50 years ago. Today the bridge properly honors A.B. Michael who brought Indian River Citrus to the world. The Wabasso Bridge takes travelers to the beaches of the Treasure Coast which got its names from Spanish Treasure Fleet that sunk off the coast in a hurricane in 1715. During storms it still yields its treasure to the shore. On the island side of the bridge is Sebastian Inlet State Park and the McLarty Treasure Museum. You can get a great view of the underside of the bridge from Wabasso Causeway Park which is a popular fishing spot.

It's seem that today's bridges don't get the press that the bridges they replaced may have gotten…read more This can be attributed to the fact that bridges today in most cases are replacement bridges and not the original bridge built to span the river, bay, etc., so they are basically taken for granted, in today's world since we expect there to be one in every location for our convenience. As time passes fewer of us ever think about or remember how challenging or inconvenient it must have been to get to the other-side. I'm sure when this bridge was opened in 1970 it was thought of as quite the accomplishment by those that drove across the former rickety wooden structure that preceded this concrete monster and even more so by those that had to rely on a ferry, a boat or a canoe to cross this span of water. The former bridge built in 1927 must have had a far greater impact on those living in the area than any of us realize, for the first time they could travel at will and only had to deal with the bridge tender's obligation to open the old draw bridge to river traffic or a fire which temporarily closed the bridge in 1961. This old bridge remains operable today even though it no longer links the shores at it original location. The antique steel beams and girders were so nostalgic it was re-purposed by Disney prior to the opening of Disney World in 1971. The names of hundreds of boats that were scratched into the tired old bridge trusses by the pen knives of lonely bridge tenders over the many years the bridge stood sentinel over the river remains intact after being purchased by Disney, redesigned and reassembled over the canal on the route of the "Main Street Railroad" where millions of happy tourists from every corner of the world have ridden since the opening. It is unlikely many of them are aware of the history of the old bridge. The Imagineers may have been more interested in saving an old bridge than in saving money, it seems this old bridge will join Mickey Mouse in immortality...

What a TREASURE to find this place! Haha…read more I wasn't expecting to find this site and my found it when looking for things to do in the area near Disney's Vero Beach Resort. We came due to a windy day that made it near impossible to go to the beach, or the pool - or for doing most outside activity with younger kids. So off we went to the museum. I had seen some documentary type films about Mel Fisher's work and heard about his background - but it was very impressive to watch the informative video of the man, his wife and family and the origins talks their treasure finding lives! The history was quite exciting and the museum has wonderful pieces that proved colorful details and fantastic artifacts, as well as excellent guides and exhibits to demonstrate the history and stories shared through the museums many artifacts and their display. Thanks for a job well done and for sharing the TREASURE we found while visiting the museum to learn more about the history of the finds and the family and others that made it all possible. We had a family of 4 - two adults and our 7&9 year old children. Everyone enjoyed it and they offered scavenger hunt type map with information and learning to be used through the visit with special surprises at the end after completing the museum!

It was cool seeing Spanish treasure and learning about the shipwrecks that Mel fisher found.read more