Hobe Sound—Shh! Don’t Tell Anyone!

Hobe Sound MapThose of us who work and live in Hobe Sound like things just the way they were yesterday. Somehow, this sleepy town has been able to restrain growth, keeping this small piece of Martin County nostalgic of Old Florida.

The folks at Discover Martin have recently released a new video with a focus on Hobe Sound.

Unique in so many ways, Hobe Sound sits in the most environmentally sensitive area of southeastern Martin County. Here you can discover an understated elegance. With its collection of antique shops, funky eateries, art galleries, and nature parks, Hobe Sound embodies the definition of small beach town charm.

It’s a long video—over 20 minutes—so pour a cool one, lean back, and take a chair side tour of the place Floridays calls home.

Watch the video »

What’s Up in Hobe Sound

We’re a bit biased, but our new bathroom and laundry facilities at Floridays aren’t the only good news for Hobe Sound RVers this winter of 2017.

For Foodies & Furries

Feb 3rd Saturday3rd Saturday Gourmet offers unique food trucks from all over south Florida and local craft vendors in downtown Hobe Sound every 3rd Saturday from January through April from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. along Dixie Highway. Hosted by the Hobe Sound Chamber of Commerce, this fun and festive event allows you to peruse the local shops and vendors located on Mars and Apollo Streets as you struggle to decide which food truck will satisfy your hunger pangs. Pets are welcome, and the Hobe Sound Veterinarian Clinic will even have surprises for your furry friend.

For Mardi Gras Celebrators

Mardi GrasCrawdaddy’s N’awlins Cafe & Raw Bar and French Quarter is serving up a week-long festival in downtown Jensen Beach. If you love N’awlins food, live music, costumes, and purple, gold and green flags, Crawdaddy’s is the place to be from February 23 through the 28th.

For Art Enthusiasts

Stuart FL artIf you missed the Hobe Sound Art Festival in early February, you can still get your art vibe on up the road in Stuart on the weekend of February 25th and 26th for the Stuart Art Festival. During the Festival, Stuart comes alive with on Osceola Street in Stuart’s historic downtown area. From art, to sculptures, jewelers, and photography, it’s a great way to meet the artists, sample scrumptious food, and explore this amazing seaside town. Check it out!

For Nature Lovers

HSNCIf morning hikes along waterways, through swamps and wetlands, sand dunes and hammocks are your bag, check out the Hobe Sound Nature Center’s events schedule. For the less adventurous, the curious may be interested in the Thursday Lecture series. For most events, reservations are not required. There are even sedate programs offered at area libraries and some interesting volunteer opportunities to check out.

Martin County is brimming with activities for the spring season, so be sure to follow our Facebook page where we’ll post other local events and goings-on around the county and here at the park.

What To Do at Floridays

Floridays’ hometown is Hobe Sound—a truly unique small town that today IS what Old Florida WAS. With its canopies of ficus trees, one-of-a-kind shops in a quaint and quiet historic downtown, friendly people and slower pace, it offers a quality of life reminiscent of yesteryear. In Martin County, it’s the perfect place to relax and get back to nature.

Nearby Jonathan Dickinson State Park features 11,500 acres of sand pine scrub, pine flatwoods, mangroves, and river swamps—and all the wildlife to go with it. You can rent canoes or kayaks in search of the elusive manatees that frequent the river in winter or hike the trails by foot or on horseback. Mountain bikers will find both easy and challenging trails throughout the park, and it’s a birdwatcher’s paradise for those who prefer their feet firmly planted on the ground. Ospreys and bald eagles build nests in the forest and along the Loxahatchee River. It’s not uncommon to spot deer, foxes, otters, and alligators.

The park’s newest addition is Palmettos on the Loxahatchee, an outdoor food and beverage garden overlooking the river serving wine and beer and fresh food using local, sustainable or organic foods when possible.

Just across Highway 1 from the State Park is the Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge with 300 acres of hiking trails and a charming Intracoastal Waterway beach for long walks at sunset. On January 7, you can join an “EarthCache Adventure” to learn from naturalist Lis Wight about the unique features of the Hobe Sound Refuge’s ecosystem through the use of GPS coordinates. Reserve your space at (772) 546-2067.

Martin County’s Hobe Sound Public Beach is a short bike ride away, but even if you drive, parking is free. Public facilities include restrooms and a covered picnic area. Locals like to grab a sandwich “to-go” from Publix’s deli section and head to the beach just before sundown to catch the sounds and sights of the Atlantic Ocean.

For fishing aficionados, there are plentiful docks and piers throughout Martin County along the Intracoastal Waterway. Jimmy Graham Park offers a public boat ramp with restrooms and 50 parking spaces. The waters around Hobe Sound teem with every kind of saltwater fish. See the list. Check here for licensing information.

Getting to Hobe Sound

bridge roadWhen you come to Hobe Sound it just “feels different”. Everything slows down. Even motor traffic on Florida’s infamous U.S. Route 1 is less crowded. Big box stores are nowhere to be seen and folks shop local. Parking at the beach is free and main street is lined with small, independently-owned shops—many with murals painted by local artists and Jimmy Stovall, one of the original Highwaymen of Florida.

RVers coming up from the Florida Keys using U.S. Highway 1 (the scenic route) motor north through the congestion and craziness of Miami and the Palm Beaches before finding a certain quietness somewhere around Tequesta, just north of Jupiter’s historic lighthouse. Beyond County Line Road, it’s a pleasant 55 mph through the 11,000+ acre Jonathan Dickinson State Park on your left and snapshot views of the Intracoastal Waterway on your right. This is Martin County, with its beautiful beaches and more than 75 parks, and the most diverse lagoon ecosystem in the Northern hemisphere. At the crossroads of Hwy 1 and Bridge Road, you enter Hobe Sound and step back in time to the days of Old Florida and a slower pace of living.

Just a few blocks north of Hobe Sound’s only waterfront restaurant (when it rains) Harry & The Natives, you’ll find Floridays RV Park.

If you discover Hobe Sound from the north through Brevard County, US 1 wanders through the lower section of the Indian River Lagoon Scenic Highway and winds along the tree-lined streets of Sebastian before entering St. Lucie County, famous for it’s fabled 1715 Spanish treasure fleet that sank off its shores. Further south, Hwy 1 crosses over the St. Lucie River into Stuart, the largest town on the Treasure Coast and known as the Sailfish Capital of World. Arrive on a Sunday morning to check out Stuart’s quaint downtown and Sunday morning Green Market.

Coming from the west, RVer’s want to take Martin Highway (County Road 714) with it’s beautiful 12-mile Martin Grade Scenic Corridor shaded by a canopy of 100-year old oaks and surrounded by pastures, groves, swamps and woods that are the perfect prelude for the timeless nature of Hobe Sound. We’ll keep the lights on!

Learn more about Hobe Sound’s history and imagery at Florida Living Realty.

What Makes Floridays Great

There are as many reasons RV owners choose any particular RV park as there are reasons to choose the lifestyle itself. We thought we’d share a few of the reasons you might want to choose Floridays RV Park on your next trip to south Florida.
What makes an RV Park great?

  1. Location: Floridays is located along the historic Highway 1 that rambles along the eastern seacoast of south central Florida. Just like Route 66 that helped settle the west, Highway 1 brought the early snowbirds to south Florida. Nowadays, I-95 carries the traffic. Just past the congestion of the Palm Beaches, southbound RVers note how traffic thins a bit before mile marker 96. This is the Hobe Sound exit. A short drive east on State Road 708 connects to Highway 1 (locally called Federal Highway). There are no high-rises, crowded malls, or congestion here—just homey restaurants, a beautiful uncrowded beach, and thousands of acres of untouched nature preserves. Easy to find, easy to call home.
  2. Park Layout: Floridays has 84 generously-spaced sites with driver-side utility hookups, gravel interior access roads, and angle-in pads that can accommodate side rooms. Site lengths vary to accommodate different sized RVs and all have concrete patios. Our full-timers are assigned back-in sites, and overnighters or short-termers can request pull-throughs. We’re an old park under new management as of 2010, so we’re becoming a “new park,” one project at a time. We move slowly, because that’s what we do in Hobe Sound, and because we don’t want to disturb the lifestyle of our guests who choose us because we’re a quiet, safe, and friendly place to stay.
  3. Landscaping: Since 2010, hundreds of new plants have been planted and it’s beginning to make a huge difference in the park. New trees, shrubs and grasses are being used to create a park-like natural setting that closely matches Mother Nature’s ideas for this part of south Florida. Plantings give guests a sense of privacy and a measure of separation without blocking visual access between sites.
  4. Amenities: We have both 30- and 50-amp service and free Wi-Fi, and we don’t discriminate between fancy diesels and towables—love them both. The laundry and shower rooms are undergoing a major rebuild. Guests will enjoy 12 brand new sparkling washers and dryers and huge bath/shower facilities for men and women in late 2016. There are BBQs, bingo, and ping-pong tournaments. Potlucks and pizza nights. Spontaneous guitar strumming and organized open-mic nights.