Port Canaveral, Florida (Cocoa Beach)

We left St Augustine, Florida on Wed. Nov 8 and headed south to the former hometown of both John and Pris. John was born in Long Island, NY but moved to Cocoa, Florida with his parents when he was 5 years old. He attended the local schools all twelve years of his schooling. Pris moved from Astoria, Oregon to Cocoa during the middle of her sophomore year in high school. They met in their senior English class and you’ll have to ask them about the rest of the story.

Cocoa, Cocoa Beach, Port Canaveral and surrounding areas are located on the east coast of Florida about half way between Jacksonville and Miami. This area is called the Space Coast because the Kennedy Space Center is located just north of Cocoa Beach/Port Canaveral. John spent his youth making and flying rockets in Cocoa. Perhaps that’s why the Space Center was located here. This is another story to ask him about. His Dad was a brick mason and helped to pour the first concrete pad on the Space Center. The first launch from that pad and from Cape Canaveral was a lower stage built by Von Braun’s team and an upper stage built by JPL.

Jetty Park, where we camped, is located on the south side of the inlet that runs from Port Canaveral to the Atlantic Ocean. Just across the narrow inlet is the Air Force Launch Center and the Kennedy Space Center beyond that. Our campsite was a short distance from the inlet, so we could look over and see the VAB (Vertical Assembly Building) where the space shuttle is kept, and also watch the cruise ships coming and going out of the port. It became a nightly ritual to sit by the side of the inlet with a cocktail and watch the 5:00 PM departure of the cruise ships as the sun was going down. The daytime activity was walking over to the beach to read, collect shells, and watch the abundant wildlife. This area of Florida has the largest breeding area of Loggerhead Turtles and one of the largest different species of birds anywhere in the world. Pris was in seventh heaven.

The highlight of the trip, however, was to reconnect with old high school friends. We spent a great evening with Bill W. who has lived here all of his life and shared many stories about local people and times. We met George and Lois R. for another wonderful evening and getting caught up on family and the last few years. Pris spent a lot of time with her best friend from high school Sharon F. who also happened to be visiting the area.

This area is known for its great fishing and seafood. So we had to have local crab, shrimp and oysters. They have a type of shrimp that is unique to this area that is called rock shrimp. It is smaller but tastier than regular shrimp. I had to have it twice for our son John who has scoured many seafood restaurants looking for it. We thought about you John.