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TREASURE COAST REGION · THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2026 A weekend with room to choose |
Note from Derek Friday has a real cutoff: nonmembers save $5 per person on Saturday’s Treasure Fest & Worldwide Day of Play if they buy by 5 p.m. tomorrow. I’d pick one: lagoon discovery, a barbecue lunch, or early soul. — Derek |
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 Treasure Coast waterfront at sunset. Editorial image: On The Treasure Coast. |
Start Here Friday’s five o’clock decisionAt the Children’s Museum of the Treasure Coast in Jensen Beach, Treasure Fest & Worldwide Day of Play runs Saturday, 10 a.m.–1 p.m., with treasure hunts, pirate activities and indoor and outdoor play. It is included with membership or regular admission. Nonmembers save $5 per person by buying before Friday, September 25, at 5 p.m. Decide tomorrow; leave the rest of Saturday loose. |
This Weekend Across the Coast Three distinct ways to spend SaturdayNational Estuaries Day at the St. Lucie County Aquarium: Saturday in Fort Pierce: join the 9 a.m. shoreline cleanup, or arrive at 10 for feeding tours and plankton discovery. Special programs are included in admission ($5 adults, $4 children). This is my low-cost family pick. The exhibits stay dry; seining means waist-deep water, a parent alongside each child, and secure closed-toe shoes. PSL Bacon and BBQ Festival at the MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Event Center: Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. in Port St. Lucie. Admission is free; food costs extra. Go for lunch, walk the stalls before ordering, and save room for the advertised bacon desserts. Dottie Kelly & Rock The House Band at The Loop at Riverside Theatre: Saturday 5:30–8:30 p.m. in Vero Beach. Free outdoor soul, blues and Motown make this the easy date-night choice. Bring lawn chairs and a card: tables are not guaranteed, purchases are cashless, and outside food and coolers are barred. |
Worth the Drive A northbound festival or an indoor Vero hourGreen Gables Harvest Festival: Saturday, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. in Melbourne. More than 50 artists and makers, music and food trucks make a proper northbound outing. Entry is free; a house tour asks a $10 donation and the gemstone dig costs extra. Follow the organizer’s parking directions. James Prosek: At Work at the Vero Beach Museum of Art: An indoor hour with art about birds, fish and wild places, through October 25. Saturday 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Sunday 1–4 p.m.; adults $12, under-17s free. The café and sculpture parks remain closed. |
One Local Signal to Know Now The market hour that changes next weekThe Downtown Fort Pierce Farmers Market is still on its September schedule this Saturday: 8 a.m.–noon. The extra hour returns in October. For produce, seafood and a waterfront breakfast, arrive early; the nearby garage is free and a shuttle runs every 15 minutes from 8 to noon. Our Best Farmers Markets on the Treasure Coast helps compare the waterfront, beach and Sunday options; use the market’s own site for current hours.  Market scene from the regional farmers market guide. Editorial image: On The Treasure Coast. |
New & Notable Three details to keep in your pocket- PSL Fall Craft Fair runs Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., inside the air-conditioned event center. It is the weather-flexible half of the barbecue outing.
- Library Museum Pass Program gives eligible Indian River County library cardholders exhibition admission for two adults. Pick it up in person; quantities are limited and cannot be reserved. Under-17s already enter free.
- Downtown Stuart Car & Bike Show takes over the city hall and annex lots Saturday, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. For vehicle-obsessed kids, one hour of choosing favorites is plenty.
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Derek’s One Thing Take the lagoon dayI would choose National Estuaries Day in Fort Pierce. For a family with school-age kids, it makes a place many of us pass on ordinary drives feel legible: see lagoon life in the tanks, watch a feeding, then look at plankton under a microscope. The $5 adult and $4 child admission buys the special programming too, so it has more substance per dollar than most Saturday plans. My caveat is practical: the 9 a.m. cleanup starts before the aquarium opens, and the seining is genuinely wet. Choose those extras only if your crew is ready; a dry 10 a.m. visit is enough. |
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More This Weekend Friday, Sept. 25: The Peacock House Tours · 11 a.m.–noon · Fort Pierce · $6 donation; Core Fitness: Shimmy Dance Fusion · 10:30–11:30 a.m. · Stuart · registration link on city page. Saturday, Sept. 26: Downtown Fort Pierce Farmers Market · 8 a.m.–noon · Fort Pierce waterfront · free garage parking; Little Lamb Family Festival · 11 a.m.–3 p.m. · Stuart · at Memorial Park Amphitheater. Sunday, Sept. 27: Rough Cut at Rock’n Riverwalk · 1–4 p.m. · downtown Stuart · free dance-rock concert. For families: Indoor Play Atlas is a quick way to choose a nearby play backup if rain rearranges Saturday. |
Featured Family Guide  An outdoor Saturday can fall apart in an afternoon without requiring a cross-county rescue mission. Indoor Play Atlas lets parents narrow indoor playgrounds, play cafés and activity spaces by Treasure Coast town, then weigh options for toddlers or bigger kids. Keep it handy if a market, beach or lagoon plan loses the weather argument, or when a younger child simply needs a different place to roam. It is a planning shortcut, not a ticket or a guarantee of drop-in space: check your chosen venue’s current hours, age rules and booking policy before driving. Find an indoor backup |
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Practical Planning Tip Make one commitment; keep a Plan BMind the two clocks: the children’s museum discount ends Friday at 5 p.m.; the Fort Pierce market closes at noon Saturday. Choose one timed anchor and one indoor alternative. If your outdoor plan becomes a washout, the Vero galleries or indoor craft fair are already sourced above. Check the host before crossing counties. |
Community Note The Port St. Lucie festival and craft fair will have orange bins for canned and other shelf-stable donations to the Treasure Coast Food Bank. A bag in the car can give a food outing one more useful purpose. |
Your Turn What is your dependable, under-$20 local outing? Reply with the place and the one detail that makes it work; I may use your tip in a future issue. Send Derek your local pick |
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See you out there. — Derek |