Things for DH to do in Cocoa Beach while I'm in conference
 

Driving to Cocoa Beach June 12 -14 for a conference. The assn is paying for our room for one night at the Inn at Cocoa Beach. As I will be in conference all day on Friday (June 14) would like suggestions to keep DH occupied and not bored. He doesn't golf or play tennis. He does like to walk around and see new things.

The first and most obvious thing that comes to mind is go to the beach! It's a nice beach and you are right there.

Also, pay a visit to Ron Jon's Surf Shop at the corner of SR 520 and A1A. Even if you don't buy anything, it's definitely worth a look.

Drive out (SR 520 west to the St. Johns River) to the Lone Cabbage Fish Camp <http://twisterairboatrides.tripod.com/cabbage.htm> for an airboat ride. While you are there, have lunch or just a slice of key lime pie and soak up the atmosphere. It's all real...nothing plastic here.

Lastly, there is Kennedy Space Center <http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/sh...xperience/>.

Thanks Orlando Vic. Those are great suggestions.

Orlando Vic: There is a state park about 30 miles NW from Cocoa that has a stream and manatee population (at least in the winter). I am away from my computer and can't look up the name. Can you advise Gracie?

He could drive to the Canaveral National Seashore and spend the day.

http://www.nps.gov/cana/

The nude beach area is just to the north of parking lot #13..:D..

stumpworks73-

I'm afraid that I must admit my ignorance about that specific state park to which you are referring.

I am more familiar with Blue Spring State Park (about 25 miles north of Orlando) as a good place to see manatee, but primarily during the winter months only. Maybe 321go will know the answer?

stumpworks/Vic, I'm also thinking of Blue Spring State Park. We often see manatees in the canals of Cocoa Beach and in the Thousand Islands area, but I haven't seen any in about a month - too warm.

I'd also recommend Kennedy Space Center, and if he is interested in animals, the Brevard Zoo or Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge (bring bug spray). www.brevardzoo.org http://www.fws.gov/merrittisland/ The refuge can be combined with a visit to the space center or Canaveral seashore (gotta keep your clothes on at the refuge, though :D)

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Since we live near a beach in Northwest Florida, it is nice to see some suggestions that don't involve only sun bathing. (He can do that here at home, but chooses not to.)

Jack Baker's Lobster Shanty is a great place to go eat.

My husband liked the Kennedy Space Center.

I wonder if stumpworks is thinking of Haulover Canal. It's about 30 miles north of Cocoa, but actually more NNW than NW. It crosses under S.R. 3 on the north end of the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, past Black Point Drive. It's not a state park, but well known in the area for manatee watching.

Gracie, does your husband like to fish? There are deep sea charter boats that go out of Port Canaveral. He could buy a ticket to go out for the day.

If fishing isn't his thing, but he likes being on the water, he could sign up for a kayak tour around the Cocoa Beach thousand islands area. Or take a surfing lesson from one of the surf schools in the area.

There are also gambling boats that sail out of Port Canaveral. It's not my preference (prefer beach and wildlife refuge), but something different from the ideas already mentioned. Most of the boats sail around 10:00 am and come back late in the afternoon, then go out with a new group in the evening.

Hope you both have a good time!

Thank you for all your suggestions. her is our trip report. We arrived in Cocoa Beach Thursday (6/12)evening about two hours before sunset. After checking into the Inn at Cocoa Beach, we set out to find a place to get a bite to eat. We happened upon Coconuts, an oceanside, open air restaurant/bar. This laid back bar seems to cater to all types -- families, middle aged folk, and even some 20 somethings. A small band played older tunes and a few folks danced. The service was slow, but I don't think folks really go there for the food, although it was fine. I ordered crab cakes and DH had a spicy Chicken Fontina. We enjoyed the people-watching, especially a 47 year old woman dancing through several songs with a hyped up 19 year old. Trip, the guy, was just dancing by himself, and the band was trying to get anyone to join him. The woman got up and danced several dances with him. We know their ages because she loudly announced that she was doing well at 47 to keep up with a 19 year old. We also notice a group at a nearby table. Three pretty young ladies were being wooed by two slightly old men. These guys were trying to convince the girls to join them at some other location for additional libation. You could tell that one of the girls was somewhat interested, but her companions were not at all. Finally, the girls said goodbye and headed to the restroom. We could hear the guys expressing their disappointment to themselves. Then, the girls took a round about way to exit and tried to avoid any eye contact with he guys.
The next day, Attended my conference while DH had our car serviced. You may wonder why he chose this time to get the car serviced. We have a Lexus, and there was a Lexus service center a few miles away in Melbourne. We live in Northwest Florida, where the nearest Lexus dealer is 4 hours away.
Our conference was held on the 5th floor of the Inn, where we enjoyed awesome views of the beach. It was hard to concentrate!! As soon as the conference ended at 4:00, I put on my swimsuit and dashed to the beach. The water was a beautiful green, much like it is back home, but the sand is much darker and more coarse. I enjoyed a dip in the ocean and sat on the beach enjoying the breeze for about an hour. Then, I headed back to the lobby for the complementary wine and cheese with some folks from the conference.
DH and I went to dinner that night in Merritt Island at El Toucan, a Mexican restaurant recommend to us by a friend who use to live int he area. It is a very popular place, but we arrived around 9:30 so the crowds had dispersed. We had a good meal - garlic chicken and a meaty stew thing.
We checked out the next day, which was Saturday, and headed north to the Kennedy Space Center. We at the visitor's center when the space shuttle landed at 11:15 am. We took a tour of the Space Center, and saw the van bringing the astronauts from the shuttle to the building where they are checked out. I have to admit that I have never been that interested in our Space Program, but it was thrilling to be there when a shuttle landed and I have a new appreciation for the astronauts and the support staff.
We headed home after the Space Center tour. But before I close, let me tell you about the Inn at Cocoa Beach. There are two buildings -- a two story and a five story. The grounds are lush and well kept. The staff were amazingly friendly and accommodating. A complimentary breakfast with homemade muffins and fresh fruit is included. Two dogs, Murphy and Tucker, and two macaws live on site. I would definitely return to this lovely Inn.

We used to go to Coconuts years ago, and then went again when we were in CB just over a year ago. So I can just picture all that you described, lol!

On our last visit, we were there for the shuttle launch, so again understand how it is much more interesting when you see that stuff up close, etc.

Glad the trip was good, and the hotel sounds nice:)

Thanks for the trip report, gracie. I am heading down to Melbourne on Wednesday to visit family. I might just take my daughter for an airboat ride so Orlando Vic's info is helpful.

gracie-
Thanks for the great trip report! You did extremely well, particularly with the shuttle landing, etc. Who could have timed that any better?

Suki-
If you time your airboat ride for dusk, you stand a better chance of seeing our official "state reptile" in his natural habitat. Have fun!

gracie, your description of Coconuts fit it to a T! :D I knew mms would chime in on that, too!

Thanks for the trip report, and especially for reporting on the Inn.

Suki, you're going to be in town?

Thank you -- I am glad you all enjoyed the trip report. It is the first trip I have taken in along time. DH and I had plans to go to NOLA last December, but my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer around that time and we were busy taking her for additional tests and second opinions out of state. This short trip to Cocoa Beach was very relaxing and has re-energized me to deal with my elderly parents and their health problems.

gracie:
It was a wonderful report and gave me many smiles thinking about great times DH and I had in the past at Cocoa Beach. Now I want to go back!

I hope everything works out so you can see New Orleans sometime. That's our all time favorite city to visit (we were there in May and already have plans for returning in September - and that will be about the 12-13th time in that amount of years!) and I can hardly wait to hear about it from another person's eyes. Please just post any questions you may have about the city and I'm sure we'll all jump in to help you!

Good luck to you with your parents - it sure seems like getting older should have more dignity with it, doesn't it?

Does he like to kayak?

You have a kayaking suggestion, starrs? That might be fun (but hot!)

Yes, 321, should we try to have lunch one day? Or a mid-afternoon libation and snack? Right now, I think Monday afternoon would be good for me but I could probably arrange another time. Let me know if you are available.