Way back in May (of this year, at least), The Colonel and I had to renew my military I.D. We decided to go to Patrick Air Force Base which is on the east coast of Florida, near Cocoa Beach instead of the closer, MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa. Patrick is a more laid back, less congested base than MacDill.
It had been several years since we had been to Patrick and we were looking forward to an overnight vacation tied to the I.D. renewal.
We stayed at the La Quinta Inn in Cocoa Beach. That hotel at one time was co-owned by and home to the original seven astronauts (and their families) during their training while in the Cocoa Beach area .
The lobby of the hotel was sprinkled with historical photos and mementos of the Mercury Seven.
Mercury 7 - Back Row: Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper. Front Row: Wally Schirra, Deke Slayton, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter.
Across and down the street from our hotel was a park and to get to the park's beach we had to walk along I Dream of Jeannie Lane.
An informational board at the base of the street sign stated that I Dream of Jeannie was part of Cocoa Beach when a television sitcom ran from 1965-1970 starring Barbara Eden as a 2000 year old female genie and Larry Hagman as an astronaut. The television series was set in and around Cocoa Beach. Barbara Eden visited Cocoa Beach in 1996 when the "I Dream of Jeannie" street sign was placed at Lori Wilson Park.
Here are a few photographs of Lori Wilson Park.
The Colonel and I visited The Dinosaur Store in Cocoa Beach. What a terrific place! A must see! The store has two floors of exhibits on dinosaurs and ancient human cultures. The gift shop was amazing as well.
We had our dinner at our favorite place in Cocoa Beach called Florida's Seafood Bar & Grill. The shrimp there are very delicious!
The next morning we stopped at the Cocoa Beach Pier. It has several shops and a couple of restaurants on it. Rikki Tikki Tavern is at the end of the pier. I was closed at the time we were on the pier. I bought a couple of t-shirts and two coffee mugs (one or two items had a mermaid on them of course).
Cocoa Beach is famous for surfing. It is the birthplace of Kelly Slater. He won eleven world championships for surfing. He was born in 1972 and is a pro surfer, author, actor and model. He is regarded as the greatest professional surfer of all time. There is a bronze statue of him on his surfboard as you come into Cocoa Beach. (We shopped at Ron Jon's Surf Shop while in Cocoa Beach...I think you have to before they let you leave town).
As The Colonel and I were standing on the Cocoa Beach Pier, we watched a man (we thought he was around 65 years old) and a young woman (maybe in her mid to late 20's) catching some waves along the beach.
As we stood on the pier, we could see NASA's launch areas in the distance.
It was a quick, overnight vacation but we sure made the best of that limited time.
Cocoa Beach and the hotel are now on my "to see" list. Thanks for the e-tour. Jenn
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