Sun Seekers Find Cocoa Beach, Florida

No two beaches are alike even though they both be sandy.  ~Quote by Dor

Having coped with the traffic to the west coast of Florida, we decided to try the other side of the peninsula.  Cocoa Beach was only an hour away via a civilized toll road (hardly plagued by heavy traffic and easy to navigate with the help of Lola-the-GPS-lady).

This time we packed a picnic and our bathing suits and towels and planned to settle in on the sands of the Atlantic.  We even had destinations marked for changing rooms and other necessaries.

The closer we got, the more the memories of my childhood came flooding in. I remembered there used to be a deluge of shell shops for souvenirs, orange blossom cologne, salt water taffy, pecan rolls, coconut patties, shell covered boxes, and carved coconut heads.  How I yearned for the scents in those little bottles of  cologne.  “We have to stop at one of those shell shops,” I told Bill en route.

And there we were at the Cocoa Beach Pier!  It was $10 a day to park but we thought there were changing rooms.  Nope – Just slightly cramped, less than pristine lavatories.  We walked to the end of the pier and made a new friend, Pete, who invited me to take his picture.

The Pelican Brief-ing

Pete the Pelican Posing

Looking down at the beach we could see crowds – lots of crowds – and lots of surfers.  Uh Oh.  Forgot about Spring Break again.

The beach we visited at Cocoa was mobbed.  I could almost see the ocean between the clusters of college students standing in circles or browning lithe bodies in front of us. Bill did not seem in a hurry to leave.  Wonder why.

The sun was shining bright so we baked for about two hours and left with semi-sunburns.

Shell shops?  None to be seen.

At this point I became obsessed with finding a bottle of that orange blossom cologne.

I nagged Bill to stop at the first gift shop (never mind a “shell shop”).  We did, and the people there never heard of orange blossom cologne and could not even pronounce it.  “Do you suppose those Florida souvenir shops have all gone out of business? What a shame.”

Wait!  There’s one!  I see the Shell Shop Sign!  Pull in here!

Empty and closed.

I was so disappointed.

However, oh the last day of our journey we stopped at an orange domed gift shop where the lady immediately pulled out a tiny bottle of orange blossom cologne for $5.99!  And I bought that bottle and will keep it until I die.

We also got a big bag of oranges and two pecan rolls and a box of coconut patties there.  I revisit my childhood every time I look at the big bag of oranges and the candies.  And if I really want to go back down memory lane, I just need to take one whiff of the orange blossom cologne.  O.k. – so it doesn’t smell like orange blossoms anymore.  It’s the idea that counts and it’s in an orange colored bottle after all!

Had enough of all this excitement?

Stay tuned for one last episode………