Surfs Up at Cocoa Beach, Florida

This year we decided to spend our post-Thanksgiving taking a well-deserved trip. The plan was to make it a celebration of our 35th Anniversary, so a number that big needs a significant itinerary. We chose to start it with a couple of days in the Cocoa Beach area. Our hopes were that some beach time would help us slow our pace from the everyday rushing that seems to permeate our lives. It always seems that the holidays add extra expectation to the already busy schedules. We found that the surfs up, in this part of the beach, year-round.

Surfs Up

The salt air and sand did their job, and soon we could feel the rushing sensation settle its pace. The sounds of the crashing waves were soothing and became a backbeat to our newfound saunter. Of course, not all of our time was spent on the beach. We enjoyed many fine meals while in Cocoa Beach, with a very memorable one at Sage Bistro. The service was top-notch, and the food was gourmet all the way. It was the kind of dinner that requires a long walk down the beach afterward. Of course, there were many other memorable meals, but this one stands out for exceptional quality.

Getting a Lay of the Land

Shopping is another one of our favorite pastimes, and we found many places to wander through. Close by we found the Dinosaur Store, where you can find all sorts of fun and educational items. Of course, we made the obligatory stop for our beachwear products. There seem to be a hundred different beach shops, but Ron Jon Surf Shop is definitely the “King of the Beach”.

Short Excursion

A short bus ride from our lodging, and we were in historic Cocoa Village, which is a resurrected 1950’s shopping area filled with boutiques and quirky shops. It is located along the waterfront of the Indian River, so the views were phenomenal.

Traveling so late in the season meant that the sunset was rather early. Fortunately, there were plenty of activities to fill the evening hours. A visit to Golf n Gator provided plenty of cheesy entertainment. We both enjoy a round of mini-golf, and the bonus of feeding live gators just added another layer to the stop.

New Friends

Our lodging choice was The Inn of Cocoa Beach, which is located oceanfront and offers great views of the beach. The morning sunrises greeted us and created a desire to take our coffee down to the beach to watch the waves crash. This certainly helped set the slower pace for our days. At the Inn, we ran across the resident welcome staff, who remained quiet until you started to leave them. At that point, they would squawk and talk.

After a couple of days of readjusting our pace, we were ready to start the next phase of our trip, which was our first ever cruise. We were hoping that the experience would live up to all of the hype. Cocoa Beach certainly proved to be a great place to relax. What is your favorite beach town?