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Catch A Glimpse Of Stuart And You'll Be Hooked

Tribune photo by KAREN HAYMON LONG

Houses along a beach in Hutchinson Island look out over a rough Atlantic Ocean.

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By KAREN HAYMON LONG / Tampa Tribune

Published: November 10, 2007

STUART - Why cross the state to visit a coastal town few in the Tampa Bay area can even find on a map?

We found plenty of reasons during our recent two-day stay in Stuart, a friendly city that bills itself as "The Sailfish Capital of the World."

Sailfish are to Stuart what cigars are to Tampa. Images of the arched, silvery beauties are everywhere: on downtown banners and billboards, on T-shirts and ball caps, in restaurants and in bars. One marina sells mouse pads emblazoned with sailfish and the slogan, "Sportfishing Is All Work and All Play."

You don't have to venture as far out into the Atlantic to catch sailfish as you do in the Gulf of Mexico. Some hang around just beyond St. Lucie Inlet, and they tend to congregate as close as eight miles out.

Why is Stuart the spot for sailfish?

"Sailfish are a migratory species," says guide Jake Farley, who takes anglers out for sailfish from the Finest Kind Marina. "They swim from north to south in the winter. Sails basically don't like the cold fronts to the north of us, so they move south, just like people do."

Stuart, he says, is on the northern edge of the Gulf Stream and has lots of natural and artificial reefs offshore, perfect for the ballyhoo, sardines and greenies that sailfish eat.

Stuart anglers are so crazy about sailfish they have a Sailfish Club dating to 1941 and at least 14 marinas, a little more than one for every 1,000 residents.

"Not a lot of tourists come here. Except to fish," says one local, sounding not at all unhappy about that fact.

Fishing is reason enough. Besides world-class sailfish, anglers here catch whopper snook, trout, redfish, mangrove and mutton snapper, sheepshead and jacks in record numbers in the St. Lucie Inlet, the Intracoastal Waterway, under the Roosevelt Bridge and below docks in waterfront neighborhoods.

In the spring and early summer, they catch tarpon.

Stuart fishing guide Scott Cormier says it's not unusual for the anglers he takes out on his 22-foot Pathfinder to catch 25 to 30 snook in one day during the summer.

"Sometimes, their arms get so tired, they just quit," says Cormier, who owns a fly and light tackle shop called Southern Angler.

Snook here grow huge - up to 46 inches long and 40 pounds. Worth a picture, for sure.

With fishermen come pricey boats - Pathfinders, Sheerwaters and Rangers - and for the really wealthy, sleek yachts made by Jim Smith, Whiticar, Carver and Viking.

They don't call this part of Florida The Treasure Coast for nothing.

With the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Indian and St. Lucie rivers running through it, the city is surrounded by water. It makes up 2.2 square miles of Stuart's 8.5 miles.

In fact, you can walk along the sandy beach of the Atlantic Ocean and peek over sand dunes topped by sea oats to see the Indian River.

Beaches here are different from those on Florida's west coast. On Hutchinson Island, a barrier island just off Stuart's mainland, chocolate brown jetties form a line between the wave-tossing Atlantic and brown, gritty sand.

Huge waves shoot up through the rocks like erupting Hawaiian volcanoes tossing salty spray toward the sky.

On weekdays, at least off-season, the beach can be practically deserted, except for a few fishermen casting from shore.

Unlike so many other places in Florida, just a few houses here line Hutchinson Island beaches. Instead, rolling sand dunes stretch out for miles.

Sailor's Sanctuary Still Stands

In their midst sits a tower overlooking the ocean next to an old frame house. This is the House of Refuge at Gilbert's Bar, built in 1876 and the only one of 10 sailors' sanctuariesstill standing along Florida's southeast coast. When cargo ships from South America, Portugal and other places crashed onto rows of reefs offshore, their crews showed up on the beaches looking for food and a place to sleep.

Keepers living in these "lifesaving stations" - built every 26 miles from Miami to Daytona Beach - gave them shelter.

Today, this one is a museum, with old photos and Indian artifacts downstairs and rooms upstairs decorated as if the refuge keeper and his family have just stepped away.

Their view was spectacular and still is. The Atlantic roars right outside the back windows. The Indian River calmly flows across the street out front.

The Coast Guard took over the houses of refuge in 1915 from the U.S. Lifesaving Service. Then the Navy took over during World War II, when German submarines blew up some ships off the coast of Stuart and nearby Jupiter.

The tower overlooking the beach was built for spotting German airplanes and subs, says Linda Geary, the current keeper. Naval forces also patrolled the beach on horseback.

In 1952, Martin County bought the house, tower and 16 acres along the water for just $10 an acre. It has been a museum since 1956 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geary says legend has it that a pirate named Don Pedro Gilbert lived on the land in the 1820s and '30s, stealing booty from sailors, then killing them and burning their ships. He kept up the practice in New England and was hung for it in Boston in 1836.

Geary's dad's people settled in Tampa in the 1800s. Her great-grandmother rolled cigars at Hav-A-Tampa Cigar Co. Her mother's family moved to Stuart in 1914.

Local Eateries Thrive

Like so many locals, she says she likes the fact that Stuart hasn't grown as large as West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale or Miami to the south. There are many advantages to that. Not big enough to attract some big chain restaurants, this area thrives with locally owned eateries serving up fresh, locally caught fish.

Residents welcome visitors and seem happy to recommend good places to eat and see.

One store clerk took the time to draw us a map and marked it with seafood restaurants we should try. We followed her directions to Finz Waterfront Grille on the Intracoastal Waterway next to Pirate's Cove Marina.

As we indulged in boiled fresh shrimp and tasty fish spread, we watched fishing boats heading back into the marina. Gulls flew overhead against a baby-blue sky. A breeze blew softly. And this was Thursday.

At the marina, dozens of boats big and small line the docks. Upstairs, at an open-air bar at Pirates Loft Restaurant, two local men talk about why they like Stuart over other parts of Florida.

Both mention the lack of heavy traffic, the gorgeous water everywhere you look. They praise the fact that Martin County hasn't allowed the high-rise condo complexes so common in St. Lucie County to the north.

Housing prices aren't as high as they are in Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton and other places south, they agree.

But they enjoy many amenities. Stuart's small downtown - infamous for one intersection with roundabouts dubbed Confusion Corner and Malfunction Junction - has some very good restaurants and nice shops selling everything from Tommy Bahama clothes to high-end decor and stylish bikinis.

Duffy's Sports Grill, anchoring one corner, draws everyone from Hummer-driving housewives and teenagers fresh from school to men straight from work loosening their ties.

Locals also rave about The Flagler Grill and Black Marlin, on the same street as Duffy's; and Carmela's Brickoven Pizza and Wine Bar, East Ocean Bistro and Brick Wall Grille on Southeast Ocean Boulevard on the way out to Hutchinson Island.

Lynda Smith of Tampa, who lived near Stuart for three years before moving here, says people from Port St. Lucie, where she worked as a reporter, would go to Stuart for more upscale dining.

She still goes back occasionally for visits.

"To me, it's a short trip to a different type of Florida," she says. "You can find deserted beaches. You can find crowded beaches. You can find beaches with rocks that remind you of the California coast. For me, living on the west coast, it's just nice to go and find that small-town feel, which is hard to find these days."

Here are some things to consider before heading east to the coastal fishing haven of Stuart.

HOW TO GET THERE:

We flew to West Palm Beach from Tampa on Southwest Airlines, and then drove to Stuart, less than an hour away. One-way airfares vary but can be as low as $59.

Some prefer to drive. The trip is about 170 miles and takes about three hours.

WHERE TO STAY:

We stayed at the Hutchinson Island Marriott Beach Resort & Marina, 555 N.E. Ocean Blvd. The complex is within an easy drive to any place in Stuart and about a 10-minute walk to the Atlantic Ocean via golf cart paths.

The attractive complex has a huge swimming pool with a poolside bar; a restaurant, where we had two delicious breakfast buffets; and a large marina.

Our room, with a AAA discount, was $140 a night, which included the complimentary breakfast buffet.

WHERE TO EAT:

We enjoyed an outdoor waterfront lunch at Finz Waterfront Grille, 4290 S.E. Salerno Road. Finz is known for fresh seafood; a huge, friendly bar; and good views of the Intracoastal Waterway. For more, call (772) 283-1929, or go to www.finzwaterfrontgrille.com.

We also recommend Duffy's Sports Grill in downtown Stuart at 6431 S.E. Federal Highway. We found it on our own, but heard later that it is the place to go for drinks, casual meals and TV sports. We had a good time sitting outside people- and dog-watching.

For more, call (772) 781-1388, or go to www.duffyssportsgrill.com.

For dinner one night, we had tasty stuffed red snapper and a good side salad at The Prawnbroker Grill, a casual, friendly place between the bridges on Sewall's Point and just a few minutes from our resort. We headed there after a local man praised it as his favorite Stuart restaurant. For more, call (772) 288-1222, or go to www.prawnbroker.com/.

WHAT TO SEE:

Be sure to go to area beaches. That's a given. We also recommend stopping by the Gilbert's Bar House of Refuge Museum on the ocean on Hutchinson Island. We walked there from our resort. It's at 301 S.E. MacArthur Blvd. For more, call (772) 225-1875, or go to http://elliottmuseumfl.org/houseofrefuge/index.html.

FISHING:

Take your own boat if you have one, or hire a fishing guide. To find one, ask around at area marinas, or search for one online by typing Fishing Guide Stuart into a search engine such as Google.

FOR NFORMATION:

On lodging, dining, sightseeing and fishing in Stuart, go to the city's chamber of commerce's Web site at www.goodnature.org/, or call (772) 287-1088.

Karen Haymon Long

Travel editor Karen Haymon Long can be reached at (813) 259-7618 or klong@tampatrib.com.

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