{"id":48149,"date":"2026-03-23T13:41:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T13:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/after-visiting-florida-for-decades-id-choose-this-gorgeous-uncrowded-beach-town-over-miami-any-day\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T13:41:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T13:41:27","slug":"after-visiting-florida-for-decades-id-choose-this-gorgeous-uncrowded-beach-town-over-miami-any-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/usa\/after-visiting-florida-for-decades-id-choose-this-gorgeous-uncrowded-beach-town-over-miami-any-day\/","title":{"rendered":"After visiting Florida for decades, I&#8217;d choose this gorgeous, uncrowded beach town over Miami any day"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69b974a975bee4e0ee55d438?format=jpeg\" alt=\"The writer carrying her shoes and a bag onto a quiet beach in Fort Pierce, Florida.\"\/><figcaption>captiontk<\/p>\n<p>Michelle Polizzi<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<ul>\n<li>My grandma raised my mom in Fort Pierce, a Florida beach city known for gorgeous sunrises.<\/li>\n<li>I love visiting as often as I can, and believe this city is a true hidden gem.<\/li>\n<li>The beaches are usually uncrowded and serene, and the downtown area is historic and charming.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In 1974, my grandma bought a home in Fort Pierce, Florida, where she would raise her three kids and live for the rest of her life.<\/p>\n<p>Her house was surrounded by tall palm trees and faced the Indian River, an estuary where inland freshwater met the ocean&#039;s salty waves, welcoming manatees, pelicans, and other wildlife.<\/p>\n<p>Growing up, this house in southeast Florida was a kind of second home for my siblings and me \u2014 especially after my parents got divorced and my mom moved back in. It was a sunny, peaceful place where we were always welcome.<\/p>\n<p>When my grandma passed away a few years ago and our family had to sell the house, I was devastated. Still, I typically return to the area a few times a year.<\/p>\n<p>Whenever I do, I&#039;m reminded how special this place is. I know I already have a strong emotional connection to the area, but I still believe that Fort Pierce is a true hidden gem.<\/p>\n<p>With a population of 50,000 \u2014 compared to the millions living in the greater Orlando and Miami areas \u2014 Fort Pierce offers more solitude and natural beauty than other major Florida destinations I&#039;ve visited.<\/p>\n<h2>Being in Fort Pierce feels like stepping back in time<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69b977ce75bee4e0ee55d451?format=jpeg\" alt=\"The P.P. Cobb building and a bunch of palm trees in Fort Pierce, Florida.\"\/><figcaption>captiontk<\/p>\n<p>Michelle Polizzi<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>My mom always reminisces about growing up in &quot;old Florida,&quot; the time period in her youth when the state felt uncrowded and underdeveloped, and you could have a whole beach to yourself.<\/p>\n<p>There weren&#039;t high-rise condos clustering every inch of the shore, and the only other people on the beach were their neighbors.<\/p>\n<p>These &quot;old Florida&quot; traits are still alive on the beaches in Fort Pierce, where it&#039;s easy to step onto the sand and not see a soul, save for the occasional person walking their dog. Even cooler than the lack of crowds, though, are the signs of living history.<\/p>\n<p>Walking around downtown, you&#039;ll see the P.P. Cobb building, built in the late 1800s, and the House of Seven Gables, which was built in 1905 and is now the town visitor center.<\/p>\n<p>Standing at the waterfront in downtown Fort Pierce, you can look out at the Treasure Coast, named for the fleet of Spanish ships that sank in a hurricane in 1715, dumping their gold along the ocean floor.<\/p>\n<p>I love retracing the steps my family members did when they were younger; it makes me feel connected to both the place and to my ancestors.<\/p>\n<h2>The sunrises and beaches are the best around<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69b9780575bee4e0ee55d453?format=jpeg\" alt=\"A sunset over the water in Fort Pierce, Florida.\"\/><figcaption>captiontk<\/p>\n<p>Michelle Polizzi<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Fort Pierce&#039;s official nickname is &quot;Sunrise City&quot; because its downtown offers a clear view of the sun every morning, unobstructed by high-rise buildings, with lush palm trees and nature all around.<\/p>\n<p>There are miles of beaches to explore in Fort Pierce, too. Even if I do happen to run into a crowded parking lot, perhaps on a busy holiday weekend, I can simply keep driving to the next beach to find a beautiful, tranquil space to relax.<\/p>\n<p>Some of my favorite places to go are Hutchinson Island South, Blind Creek Beach, and Avalon State Park, though I&#039;m always discovering new corners of the area to love.<\/p>\n<h2>Convenient eateries make beach snacks easy<\/h2>\n<p>Since the beaches in this area aren&#039;t necessarily tourist hot spots, you won&#039;t find the snack shacks typical of urban boardwalks. Instead, you&#039;ll have to bring your own food if you want to stay awhile.<\/p>\n<p>Before heading to the beach in the morning, we love to grab lattes and pastries at Old Florida Coffee Co. in downtown Fort Pierce, which is just a 10-minute drive from our favorite stretch of remote beaches.<\/p>\n<p>Archie&#039;s Seabreeze is our favorite spot for lunch after a morning at the beach. We always used to eat here with my grandparents, listening to live music, talking about life, and chowing down on blackened mahi-mahi sandwiches and fries.<\/p>\n<h2>All in all, it&#039;s one of my favorite spots in Florida<\/h2>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.insider.com\/69b974d6ebc245a53a8111c6?format=jpeg\" alt=\"The author standing with her sister on a Fort Pierce beach.\"\/><figcaption>captiontk<\/p>\n<p>Michelle Polizzi<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After countless trips to Fort Pierce, I believe that the history and solitude here offer far better opportunities than what you&#039;d find at a crowded beach in Miami.<\/p>\n<p>I also know that someday, this region of Florida could become developed and busy like the rest \u2014 for now, though, I plan on soaking up as many sunrises as I can.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Correction: March 22, 2026 \u2014 An earlier version of this story misstated the location of the author&#039;s family home. The home was on Florida&#039;s east coast.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on Business Insider<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>captiontk Michelle Polizzi My grandma raised my mom in Fort Pierce, a Florida beach city known for gorgeous sunrises. I love visiting as often as I can, and believe this city is a true hidden gem. The beaches are usually uncrowded and serene, and the downtown area is historic and charming. In 1974, my grandma [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-48149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agooka.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}