RView From Here: Cocoa Beach Florida

March 27 to April 1, 2024

We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.

- John Steinbeck

Our youngest daughter invited us to join her family on a five-day trip to Cocoa Beach in Florida over the Easter school break. We generally prefer to camp and drive when we travel, but because of the short length of the trip, we decided to bite the bullet and fork up the money for airline tickets this time around. By the time of the trip, we were more than ready for it!

The house our daughter rented through AirBnb was perfect for our needs with plenty of room for us to spread out both indoors and out. The best part, we were right across the street from the beach, just a 2-3 minute walk away. Of course, that meant lots and lots of walks on the beach, not to mention soaking up the warm early spring sunshine!

A peek through palm trees and shubbery at the front of a house.

Our first night we went to the Cocoa Beach Pier to watch the the surfers and beach volleyball players.

The next morning we got up early to watch the first of the daily sunrises during our stay.

Couple silhouetted on a beach looking out over the ocean at sunrise.

Waiting for sunrise
Photo by A. Stilianos

Sun peeking up at the horizon over the ocean.

Sunrise

Sun just beginning to rise over the ocean.

Colorful sunrise

Every day we took long walks on the beach after sunrise, and enjoyed watching the seabirds and other creatures along the way.

A small brown bird with long legs and a long bill, walking along the edge of the surf

Dowitcher

A large white bird with long curving beak and long legs looking for something to eat at the surf's edge.

White Ibis

A multi-colored jellyfish sitting in sand along the ocean's shore.

Blue Bottle Jellyfish

Three large birds with long curved beaks and long legs looking for food at the surf's edge.

White Ibis

We could see the launching pads at Cape Canveral from the beach at the pier and at a greater distance from our section of beach near the house we were staying in.

A view from across the water of a low flat-roofed building and 3 pyramidal towers made of open framework.

Launch complex at Cape Canaveral.
Notice the lighthouse at the right of
the photo.

A view across the water of two tall pyramidal towers with a tall flat-roofed building between them and a tall rectangular open framework structure to the right of them.

Launch complex at Cape Canaveral.

As an added bonus, we were able to watch two rocket launches. The first was during the day from Kennedy Space Center, and the second we were able to watch at night from our own beach. The video our daughter took of the night launch is below, but it's much more amazing when you see it in person!

Video by A. Stilianos

Another highlight of the trip was kayaking on the Banana River where we watched an aggregation of manatees playing and two dolphins swimming by. We also found our way into a canal through the mangrove trees. Afterward we picnicked under a pavillion at the boat launch and had fun watching our granddaughter rescue a gecko from the restroom.

A couple in a tandem canoe heading into a tree-lined canal.

Photo by A. Stilianos

One evening we went for a drive in search of a place to catch the colors of the sunset - not an easy trick when you're on the east coast!

Great Blue Heron

Sunset

We had an evening flight home on our last day, so after leaving our dream beach home we played some mini-golf, had a picnic lunch in a park and explored a nature sanctuary before heading to the airport for our flight home.