Day Trip

La Nina has been living up to its prediction of gloomy, rainy weather in the south this winter. A few days ago, we did get to take a day trip north to Port Canaveral. This was another nostalgic trip for us since we used to camp at Jetty Park along the beach, port, and inlet. It was so much fun when we used to see scallop trawlers and cruise ships come in the inlet at all times of the day and night. We were hoping to relive that a bit, but unfortunately you can only go into Jetty Park now with passes acquired online in advance. However, there is a boat launch ramp right next to Jetty Park that backs up to one of the cruise ship terminals. We were shocked at the size of one of the latest Carnival ships Mardi Gras. 

It was named after the first ship they had in service. What a difference since the 1970s!

We remembered how to navigate the roads around the port looking for a restaurant to have lunch at. Most served seafood, which must be fresh with the trawlers still coming in, but that didn't help us since we don't eat it. We managed to find a nice quiet place right on the water with food we could eat and a spectacular view of the busy port, along with more behemoth cruise ships. 

Then it was time for even more nostalgia with a stop at the famous Ron Jon Surf Shop in Cocoa Beach. 

It must have been at least 20 years ago when we were there last and had brought our (then) young niece and nephew with us. We gave each of them $5 to see what they could find to buy. We certainly would have to up the stakes now because it didn't look like anything in the whole store was that cheap! Ron Jon has a racket going since you spend lots of money and they get free advertising because EVERYTHING has their name on it.

Maybe I should turn my PT Cruiser Convertible into a Woody Wagon...

We had one more stop to make on our trip and that was for the serenity of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge just south of Sebastian Inlet. This was the first designated National Refuge in the system back in 1903. 

We walked the Centennial Trail and boardwalk which shows when the different parks became part of the system. 

It ends at an overlook of Pelican Island and the Indian River. 

This last photo is for my family and they will understand why. 😉

We had another great time reminiscing on this trip and hopefully we will be able to have a few more days like this!