On the way over, we saw a large flock of birds hanging out on the side of the road and as get got closer we realized there was a dead gator on the side of the road and the birds were feasting on it. Yuch… By the size of the gator's back, he was a big one too. I'd hate to be the one who ran into him. My little car would surely be totalled.
By the time we drove into town, the front of our car and our windshield were pasted with bugs. We stopped at the first gas station in town, I went in and bought some glass cleaner and a roll of paper towels and we went to work removing them from the windshield and the front of the car. Yuch.
About 20 minutes later, we were done and back on our way. We pulled into the La Quinta adjacent to the Cocoa Beach Pier and went in to see if a room was ready. It was around 10:20am and she did have a room for us, which was a two queen ocean view facing south toward the pier and the beach, or she said she would upgrade me to a king ocean front, but I’d have to wait until around noon.
I said what the heck and took the upgrade. I figured she might want the two queens for a family and since there were only two of us, she was just doing a little occupancy control. We got back into the car and drove up a couple of blocks to Dunkin Donuts and got a breakfast sandwich. It was food, but neither of us was impressed with it.
Afterwards, we went back to La Quinta, parked the car in my favorite spot at the hotel and then walked next door to the pier. I've stayed there before and really like the location of this place.
The pier wasn’t real busy which was nice. We sat down at the outdoor bar on the pier overlooking the ocean and ordered a drink. There were the love bugs again. Not many of them since it was nice and breezy, but they were there in very small numbers.
After a couple of drinks, we walked over to one of the beach stores and wandered through it. My wife wanted a Cocoa Beach t-shirt since she’s never bought one before. We ended up walking out empty handed, which isn’t a bad thing and walked back to the hotel.
Our room was ready once we got there so we went upstairs and got our swim suits on and went outside. One the way, I stopped at the pool bar and picked up a couple of beers to have out on the beach.
The beach was busy with people. We grabbed two chairs and an umbrella from the rental guy for $15 and went over to hang out and relax. First, we had to chase away a number of love bugs who were lounging in our spot. Yuch again. They are attracted to petroleum products, heat and lighter colors, all of which were present since the lounge chairs were made of plastic.
After an annoying few minutes, we were rid of enough of them to put our towels down on the chairs and sit. I opened a beer and leaned back to relax and watch the people in the water.
After a walk down the beach and back and a brief nap, we decided we’d had enough and went up to the room. As we turned around, we saw some big dark clouds and we knew it was truly time to head in. Rarely has it ever rained when we’ve been at the beach, but we didn’t seem to care at all this time. It was more about getting away and spending some quiet time rather than sunning and partying.
We went up, showered and changed and then left to drive over to Port Canaveral to have an early dinner. The restaurants there can be very crowded at dinner time and we wanted to beat the crowds. If it was going to rain, there would probably be other people with the same idea as us.
There are a number of restaurants in a row right there along the port waterway; Milliken’s Reef, Rusty’s, Fishlips and Grills are the ones I’ve been to in the past. This time we chose Rusty’s, which seems to be the one I lean toward the most for dinner.
Their outdoor dock and patio area is under renovation right now and it looks like it will be nice once it’s complete. We sat inside with a view of the waterway. From our table we could see the Carnival Dream and what I believe to be the Disney Magic. Both of which were busy taking on the last few passengers for the week and getting ready to set sail for 7 nights.
As I was looking over the menu I noticed the phrase, “world famous chicken wings” and I thought what??? Really? Right here in Port Canaveral, right next to all these charter fishing boats, Rusty’s has world famous chicken wings? I somehow doubt it.
My wife had fish and chips and I had a sirloin, which was completely out of character for me. I usually get the blackened grouper, and in hindsight, I should have. So we both had a couple of drinks and soon we were finished with dinner and ready to move on.
Right next door was a place called Baja Tavern and Eats, which I’ve never really noticed before. We decided to walk in and check it out. We walked through the inside and out to and outdoor patio area with a nice large bar and a band playing Jimmy Buffet style music. The place was nothing fancy, but there were two spots at the bar and the band was pretty good.
We both had a couple of drinks and just relaxed mixing with the locals and enjoying the music. While we sat there, the Carnival Dream was setting sail. As she came alongside where we were, most of the people on land started waving to the people on the ship and wishing them a good trip. The people on the ship waved good bye back and there seemed to be some good will going on. I thought to myself, isn’t this the way people should always be?
I also thought to myself, "lucky bastards…"
At some point the bartender said it was the end of her shift and she was leaving, so we decided to cash out and then head back to the hotel. Even though from the vantage at the bar, it looked decent outside, once we walked out the front and looked south, it was still a little gloomy outside. We just made our way back and stayed in the room the rest of the evening watching television and relaxing some more.
The next morning we awoke as the sun was coming up and I snapped a couple of photos out our window. We dressed and went downstairs to the free breakfast which consisted of waffles, eggs (the fake kind) and bacon (the soggy kind). A wiser choice would probably have been some cereal and yogurt and maybe a Danish. Maybe next time…
By the time we were done with breakfast and stepped outside, it was clear blue sky and sunshine. At 71 degrees it was a bit cool yet, but I wasn’t going to complain.
We went up, showered and packed and checked out. Afterwards, we drove down a number of local roads to learn what else was there. I found a sports bar that I’ll visit on a future trip. I don’t remember the name right now, but I’m sure I’ll be back over to Cocoa in a month or so and I’ll check it out then.
We stopped in Ron Jon’s beach shop so my wife could continue looking for a shirt. In comparison to the normal beach store, this is a really nice place and they have some pretty nice stuff. She found a shirt she liked, even though it didn’t say Cocoa Beach on it, and we left. We continued exploring a bit as we headed out of town. Oddly enough, as we're driving through the neighborhoods exploring, we see a full grown Peacock walking across the street. I've only seen these in a zoo so it was strange to see one wandering around a residential street.
Not 5 minutes out of town the windshield was getting plastered again, so we stopped to top off the gas tank and clean the windshield. This was a mistake because as I stated earlier, love bugs are attracted to petroleum, heat and engine exhaust and lighter colors. By the time I had finished putting gas in the car, my car was swarmed and they were all over. Seriously, it was like an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
We jumped in the car and got the heck out of there. I truly love the Cocoa Beach area, but I just have to remember to stay away during the month of May. Despite the bugs, it was still a nice weekend. I've always enjoyed Cocoa and I look forward to returning this summer.
Um yea, when the bugs are gone….
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