Jupiter & The Jupiter Lighthouse

We woke up on Wednesday morning, and got out the door before the lighthouse opened, so we went to Jupiter Beach. It was soft sand with shells all the way along the tide line.

The pier out into the ocean was beautiful.

I turned around after looking for shells, and saw my footprints about to be washed away, and had to snap a picture.

Les was in heaven in the water. He all of a sudden was in turbo speed and got VERY loud.
But it was the sound of complete happiness.
I loved watching the kids.

This was an odd site....
A lady, her kid, and her dog paddling along on a surf board....odd.

and then we went to the lighthouse.

It really was breathtaking.
It all of a sudden just appeared from behind the trees.

Brian, Amber and Les at the top of the lighthouse.

It had 105 stairs.

Zak was not tall enough to be allowed to climb the stairs, so I stayed down at the bottom with him while the others climbed to the top.

The Jupiter lighthouse is at a point where the Indian River (freshwater) and the Atlantic Ocean meet. They call this mix of fresh and salt water brackish. Manatees are seen a lot in this area, because they tolerate all 3 types of water (fresh, salty, and brackish).
We were pretty bummed that we didn't see any manatees today.

The island that sits between the Atlantic ocean and the Indian River is called Jupiter Island.
The guide at the lighthouse said that it is the wealthiest area per capita in the U.S.

This is the light and the lens at the lighthouse. The lens is still the original one from when the lighthouse was built 110 years ago.

Brian and the kids at the base of the lighthouse.
Most of the lighthouses in this area are metal frames because they withstand hurricanes better.
The Jupiter lighthouse was designed to withstand the strong winds
while still having a solid base.

The lighthouse sits up on a natural hill which made this the perfect spot for it.

After leaving the lighthouse, we decided to drive the A1A up Jupiter Island to see all of the fancy homes.
We stopped at a little park for lunch,and this was the beach on the other side of the park.

One direction, it had a sandy beach....

And the other direction was a rocky beach.
There were several people out snorkeling near the rocks.
We wished we had some snorkeling gear with us.