travellust

Okay, this is a definite. My daughter and I are going to Cocoa Beach Jan. 4 - 9. We know that the water will be cold but it's her only time off. So far we are planning Kennedy Space Center, shopping Cocoa Village, Cape Canaveral Air Station museum, walking the beach, back to Orlando for one or two days at Epcot and Old downtown. Have been looking at www.visitcocoabeach.com and it's a great website.

Any ideas or help will be greatly appreciated! Thanks,
karen

DebitNM

Winter Park near Orlando is really nice. Shops, museums, gardens, restaurants.

http://www.ci.winter-park.fl.us/2005...re/index.shtml

Hope this helps...
Debi

DebitNM

This is really beautiful to see; it houses the world's most comprehensive collection of the works of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

http://www.morsemuseum.org/home.htm

Opps, how old is your daughter?? May not be too interesting if she is really young.

Debi

travellust

Winter Park and Morse sound great, will check out the websites.

Daughter is a young adult.

Ah, my maiden name was Tiffany!

wsoxrebel

I was surfing just today and found this gem. Brevard Community College has a museum with laser shows. They will only be showing holiday themed ones when I visit in December but I see that they often have laser shows to Pink Floyd, U2, etc. I would love to see those.

http://www.brevardcc.edu/~planet/

thurstonbb

Where the Morse Museum is there is a wonderful area of shops and restaurants - Park Avenue. It is like a little European street - two story buildings with flower boxes hanging...very quaint! The museum is closed Monday. Don't miss the Scenic Boat Tour either. Go to the WInter Park Chamber site - www.winterpark.org

ccolor

Ron Jons Surf Shop is a shopping experience! Also for food you might want to try Frankies Wings and Rusty's at the port. Have fun Cocoa Beach is a great place to visit!

travellust

Thanks everyone.
I am getting very excited about this trip, my first to central Florida!

retire2007

Frankies Wings on Port Canaveral is no longer in business. There is a new restaurant there now. However, think there may be a Frankies on Wickham in Melbourne.

ccolor

retire2007:
OH NO - Say it ain't so!!! Frankie's was one of our favorite places for wings. Do you know what happened? They were always so busy I figure it must not have been from a lack of customers.

RedRock

Don't forget the Merritt Island NWR and the Playalinda Beach at the Canaveral National Seashore. A little to the north of Cocoa on US-1 and to the east of Titusville. From the Beach road you can get a good view of the launch pads used for the shuttle.

Orlando_Vic

I am sure you both would enjoy an airboat ride at the Lone Cabbage Fish Camp <http://twisterairboatrides.tripod.com/>.
It is located on State Road 520 at the St. Johns River, not far from Cocoa.

We usually take foreign relatives there and they all LOVE it. Winter is a particularly good time to see migratory birds. Be sure to bring your camera!

travellust

Hello everyone,
Here's an update on our trip: Cocoa Beach Holiday Inn Oceanfront room was very nice and clean for the price but not luxury if anyone is seeking that. I enjoyed the walks on the beach and the sunrise and sunset views but the humidity "on the beach" is too much for this Midwestern girl. I like drier air for sleeping. We LOVED Kennedy Space Center and will absolutely go there again. We had dinner at a cute outdoor place by the Cruise ships one night and at Sunset Bar and Grill on the water another. The live music and people were great fun. I enjoyed the whole "Jimmy Buffet" feel. The laid back friendly people in CB are wonderful. We had a great time exploring Ron Jon Surf Shop and walking the beach and watching surfers by Cocoa Beach Pier. Many things are closed for the season but it felt like summer to us and the ice cream went down nicely. We went to Historic downtown Cocoa Beach for some upscale shopping, very nice.

We then stayed at at Summer Bay Resort's Holiday Inn Express on 192 west of Disney. VERY nice. Spent one day at Magic Kingdom and another at downtown Disney. I fulfilled a lifelong dream to ride in the teacups and see fireworks over the castle. Am not a fan of the massive crowds and people moving on such a large scale but greatly enjoyed seeing Pirates of the Carribean, It's a Small World, Hall of Presidents, Swiss Family Robinson Tree House and on and on. The funnel cake that we shared was not as overpriced as I expected and neither were many of the of the souvenirs. Overall a grand time. Buy your gas at Disney's Hess stations and NOT on Semoran Dr. where the rental cars are. It was $3.59! Thanks for all your help, I am ready to go back since it's rainy and cold here in Indiana and my daughter had a cold in Florida which I caught and am still recovering from. It slowed us down a bit but we still had a great time.

Orlando_Vic

Glad your trip was a success. Come back again, soon!

travellust

Thanks Vic,
We really wanted to fit in an airboat ride but needed more time! I did see several alligators out at Kennedy. That was quite exciting for me! We've decided to do another trip and leave Disney out next time.

RedRock

Hopefully you will be able to return and spend a little more time and really get to see some of Florida.

travellust

Thanks Redrock.
Yes, our time was limited but it was a good trip in spite of having colds etc. I have found at least ten days is needed to really "have a vacation" somewhere. Daughter is a performer and has very little time off so we are used to quick trips and trying to pack a lot into a few days.