I remember the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center fondly from my childhood, and it's good to see…read morethat they've expanded on their property for a nice little afternoon outing. Admission is $20 for adults, with child and military discounting. There's a lot of outdoor walking space around the main lake/lagoon where you can see the nurse sharks and sea turtles amongst the many other fish there. The weather was really nice the day we went, so we took a stroll through the nature trails. They are mostly boardwalk trails with a few covered stops with benches. The main trail is a 1 mile loop but there is also a 1/3 mile loop that is good for kids. The main trail will take you to the Indian River Lagoon for some nice storefront views! The main building has some cool artwork made of reclaimed beach litter that makes you really think about proper waste disposal. There's also a few tanks with cool fish and such to see. The entire center has a few different spaces for bathrooms that are easy to access. I'd recommend coming here for a nice day in the fresh air and sunshine to enjoy the flora and fauna of Florida!

Really nice place to understand marine life and see some. Kids would love the place. Starts off…read morewith stingray petting tank cool even if you have done it before. Then the starfish area. Each leg has something different to see and handle. Then we went inside the building and checked out the tanks and all interactive things. Walked up to 3rd for nice view of the place and back down to watch the feedings. There is talk about stingrays but no food. Next they feed the fish in the huge open air aquarium. Nurse sharks, rays, jacks, and lots more. The feeding was interesting as was the talk after about pollution and algae. Next off the green sea turtles feeding. They were having romaine lettuce. They put colored pole with a shape that each knows. They swim over bump the Pole and get fed. These had boat injuries so they would never be in the wild. Again another talk about them while they are being feed. Good for adults and great for kids. Highly recommended.

Went to brunch with friends who recently moved to Stuart, and this was such a great find for their…read morenew go-to spot. From the moment we walked in, the staff was incredibly friendly and attentive. They had our table ready quickly, and we didn't even need a reservation for our party of seven, which was a nice surprise. The menu had a wide variety of craft cocktails, along with delicious appetizers, and everyone at the table loved their meals. It was one of those brunches where everything just hits right--great food, great service, and a relaxed atmosphere.

When is La Grande not so Grande?…read more Been wanting to visit this classic restaurant in historic downtown Stuart since my move to Stuart. Tucked in the old Post Office Arcade building, its partially hidden walkway leading to the restaurant only adds to what lies ahead. As you enter you step into a world that speaks to a time of classic old world elegance. Antiques, elegant draping window coverings and a beautiful fountain at its center, this restaurant brings to mind what a dining experience was like in the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, the service and food sadly do not match the exquisite ambience. SERVICE : The service, or should I say lack of service was evident from our first step in the door. We waited for several minutes before anyone noticed we were standing there waiting. Once noticed, we explained that we had a 7 pm reservation which the hostess of course could not find. She scanned the restaurant (which was empty at the time) and told us she would see if she could find us a table. After several minutes we finally were seated. Another 15 minutes past before someone walked past and asked if we had been taken care of, which of course we had not. He assured us that he would get someone as soon as possible, which added another 10 minutes to our already extended wait. Eventually our "server" showed up. You'll note that I put the word server in quotes because this person was anything but a server. So as not to bore you with specifics, let's just say I have a problem calling someone a "server" who is totally incapable of serving! A person who doesn't understand "medium rare", who misses several ordered sides and charges us for dishes we never received clearly doesn't deserve the term "server". THE FOOD: There were three people in our party. For appetisers, we ordered the Martier Escargot which had a bitter taste because of the burned butter, the Blueberry Brie Crostini, which turned out to be the best dish of the evening was outstanding, and the potato goat cheese puffs were light and delightful. For our entree's, we ordered the Cedar Plank Salmon which was overcooked, dry and tasteless, the New Zealand Lamb Chasseur which was fine except for the missing asparagus (which our server assured us he would get back out and immediately forgot) and finally the 12 oz Prime New York Strip which was cooked well done instead of the medium rare requested. I do need to mention that the garlic risotto was fantastic, creamy and tasty. Unfortunately, we had to enjoy it at home as our server didn't bring it until we were completely done with our meals! As far as desserts go, after our 1 1/2 hour stay, we decided to forego any additional pain and accordingly skipped dessert. Finding our server throughout the night was a challenge of hide and seek and this includes getting our final bill which, as mentioned above, took three trips to get right! The Ambiance: This is an absolutely beautiful restaurant that cries for matching service and a creative efficient kitchen that produces dishes that represent their grand names. THE BOTTOM LINE: As with all my reviews, we come to what I like to call the "customer so what". Would I come back? The answer... as a walk through to see what elegant dining looked like in the 19th century... absolutely! Perhaps you could sit at the bar and enjoy a Manhattan but, to dine? The offerings, as mentioned, were a mixed bag but unless you're into the pain of some of the worst service you'll ever experience, absolutely not!

They do not answer booking requests... they answered once and kept ignoring me. I chose to…read morecompletely disregard this place and look else wear even though I liked it due to poor communication.

I gave a 2 because venue was beautiful, but that's it. So we rented the place for my son's wedding…read moreand Nora the owner was great to work with, she was a little odd but nice. My husband, myself, my son and his fiancée met up with Nora to sign contract, we did agree on a couple things that were not on the contract 1 was being able to decorate night before and to break down the morning after the wedding (always get in writing). Now this place has 3 floors so when you rent you only get 2 of the 3. So the 1st floor is for the wedding, 2nd floor is for the girls to get ready and relax. If you want the 3rd floor she charges you an EXTRA $500 for the day. We opted to rent for the extra $500 the top floor for the guys to have a place to gather, get dressed and relax. Nora was good until about a month or so before the wedding, It was like she had an evil twin. She became rude. Well during the wedding, Nora the owner decided to plop her butt down in the room they charged us and extra $500 for. So when the guys went up to change or go to the bathroom they couldn't because they felt uncomfortable with her being in there. They couldn't use the room at all. He was sitting there watching TV and drinking coffee, and btw all their stuff was in there too. She was asked to remove herself at 1 point because one of the guys wanted to go in there and she left for like 2 minutes but returned. Also at exactly 10:00 she cut off the DJ right in the middle of the song and also told us to cleanup and to go because the contract ends at 10. So we scrambled around to get everything broken down and cleaned up, which we did, but she also told us we had to take the garbage with us. We had it all bagged and setup ready for a dumpster that we were told that minute we couldn't use that we had to take it with us when we left. We did everything as she asked so not to make our kids wedding unhappy but I did contact her a week and a half later so I could tell her how I felt and how unhappy I was witht he service and that I wanted atleast a partial refund for the room we got to use only part of the time and her reaction was no and that she felt she went above and beyond for the kids. So my suggestion is BEWARE, DO NOT RENT FOR ANY EVENT...its worth a little extra money for a much better place. Oh and I forgot to mention they put trees up to block the road noise because it is right on US1 and it didn't work, you heard it all

Cannot give enough praise to the chef and the owner of Harborage Catering!…read more 5th year of excellent catering for 6 nights every January! Ben is so accommodating along with the food being amazing! We also had such great delivery and set up service every night by Sean! Thank you Ben and Sean for another great year!

Really outstanding catering services provided by Harborage for an in-home new years party 12/31/21…read more Food was great, and the staff were great to work with. at the event, the two staffers did fantastic set up, service and clean up. Cannot recommend the entire team enough.

Great place with awesome food , its to bad that its only available for members and not for the…read morepublic , but they do offer the place for weddings and special events. I would highly suggest looking in to have your next special event there.

This is a member-owned organization that, in my experience, is poorly governed and driven by…read moreinternal politics rather than fairness or professionalism. I worked as the bookkeeper at Stuart Corinthian Yacht Club for just under a year. During that time, there were significant leadership changes, including three different Commodores and four Treasurers within roughly 11 months. My direct supervisor was the Treasurer. I was terminated abruptly by the then-Commodore, after he overrode the Treasurer. I was given no prior warning, had no disciplinary actions or write-ups, and was not provided earned vacation pay. I was also excluded from the Christmas bonus. Prior to this, I had been asked to remain in my position despite earlier leadership turnover, and I did so in good faith, fully committed to the club's success. I believe my termination stemmed from reporting verbal harassment by a board member to a prior Commodore. After that report, my work environment changed noticeably. The Treasure recognized the hostility and approved a remote work relationship. Membership turnover was extremely high during my tenure, with multiple members leaving within a short period. In addition, the club was reportedly cited by the state twice in under three months, including one incident that resulted in a temporary shutdown (public record). This is a closed club, so prospective members or employees may not see these issues firsthand. Based on my experience as an employee, I would strongly caution anyone considering working here or considering membership to carefully evaluate the leadership culture and internal dynamics.

We had a great time at the botanical gardens. It's very peaceful and relaxing being surrounded by…read moresuch beautiful plants. It was free to get in so we gave a donation. It's so important for places like this to exist and get funding. It looks like you can have an event here. They also have different events and provide a lot of information about the plants they have such as where they are native to and the history. They also had a great gift shop with lots of ecofriendly useful gifts for all ages.

We stopped by at the tail end of our honeymoon while visiting family, and volunteer Rick was super…read morenice to talk to. He explained the gardens and gave us a map for us to navigate our way around. Beautiful and nicely kept botanical gardens. We came on a Tuesday and it was nice and quiet with maybe a small handful of other people also visiting. It was a pleasant walk around the grounds, talking in the Floridian sunshine and beauty of the gardens. It's not a large garden but it's still very worth a visit in my opinion!

I love Crane Club! You know if a venue is owned by Lessings, it's going to be a good one! I am a…read moreprofessional wedding photographer and when I tell you there are ENDLESS opportunities at this venue, I mean it. Highly recommend!

Gorgeous! elegant and spacious! Can't wait to host an event…read morehere! Toured last year and love all the updates they're making

Had our wedding here in February! Great location with lots of potential! Basically you're given a…read moreblank palette to make into whatever dream you desire. All vendors have to be approved through them, so I highly recommend getting a wedding planner to help navigate that process. Also everything is a la Carte, including the downstairs area, definitely pay attention to what is actually included. Gorgeous venue overall and the view is spectacular!!

Located within Indian Riverside Park in Jensen Beach, this historic mansion once belonged to a Coca…read moreCola heiress sits on top of a 4,000 year-old Indian midden named Mt. Elizabeth. The midden which is a ancient garbage dump was created by the Ais Indians. It was originally 60-feet high but now is only 40 feet high. Inside it archaeologists have found broken pottery, tools, fish bones, shell ornaments, and other refuse from their every day lives. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 14, 2002. The midden and surrounding property were purchased by explorer William Henry Racey in the late 1850's. His son, Charles Racey built a three story wood frame family home on the mound in 1891. He farmed a pineapple and citrus plantation on the land. The home burned to the ground in 1921 and the Racey family sold the property to judge Edward Seann. In 1936 Atlanta businessman Willaford Leach and his wife Anne Bates Leach, a Coca Cola heiress, purchased Mt. Elizabeth and the surrounding property. They built the Mediterranean Revival mansion that sits on top of the mound and named it Tuckahoe, a Native American word that means welcome. The estate was completed in 1939 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 30, 2005. The Leach's property was 54 acres of riverfront woodland and lawns. The couple entertained in the mansion and hosted the society in Martin County. Their parties were attended by socialites and WWII soldiers from Camp Murphy. Mrs. Leach founded the Garden Club and was a benefactor for the original building for the Bascomb Palmer Eye Institute in Miami. The University of Miami named a hospital after her. After the Leach family moved out of the mansion in 1950 it was sold to the Catholic Church who gave it to the Sisters of St. Joseph. They added a dormitory and used it as a 2 year degree religious college until 1972. The Florida Institute of Technology then purchased the property and offered 4 year degrees in marine science. The mansion was used by the college administrators. The college closed the campus in 1986 leaving the building and surrounding land vacant for the next 10 years. Martin County purchased the property in 1997 and created Indian RiverSide Park which opened to the public in 2001. Renovations on the mansion were completed in 2009 by the Friends of Mount Elizabeth. Bert Bender from Key West was chosen as the architect of the renovation. The created an Art Deco design for inside the mansion. A wedding suite and grooms room were added as well as a catering kitchen and banquet room. Today the mansion is operated by the Martin County Parks and Recreation Department. It is rented for weddings and private events. Historical tours of the mansion take place every first and third Wednesday through May at 10 and 11 a.m. On the day I visited the mansion was being used for a prom while a wedding was taking place in another part of the park. I love how Martin County preserved 4,000 years of history in a way that is still benefiting the community of Martin County today.