COCOA, FL

Wednesday, March 18th to Thursday, March 19th, 2015

Day 226-227
Miles Traveled: 0
Total Miles Traveled: 2870


  Wednesday morning we had a beautiful sunrise.  We also helped Dave and Diane on "Opus V" cast off their lines to continue their travels further north.  We hope to cross their path again when we begin moving further north as well. 

Sunrise over "Seahorse" at Cocoa Village Marina

  After lunch, we walked around historic downtown Cocoa Village.  There are lots of shops and restaurants along the two main streets that make up this historic downtown district.  One interesting shop is the S.F. Travis Hardware Store.  In 1885, Colonel S.F. Travis used a sailboat to transport goods up and down the rivers from Jacksonville to Fort Pierce.  In 1892 he purchased a building to be used as a warehouse. Later his business grew into a retail store while still providing delivery of the goods.  For over 125 years the S.F. Travis Company has been serving the Cocoa, FL area.  The store provides parts to NASA and Boeing to name a few.  It is two stories and has an extensive inventory of hardware items.  To see more about S.F. Travis Hardware click on:http://travishardware.net/#

S.F. Travis Hardware Store - it is this entire building (which looks like 2 buildings)

Dan doing some shopping  - notice the old ladders for looking at higher shelves

  We came across another interesting building called the Porcher House. This ten bedroom home was built in 1916 by Edward Postell Porcher, who was a pioneer in the citrus industry and credited with being the first to wash, grade, and inspect fruit.  The city of Cocoa obtained the building in the 1950's and turned it into the City Hall.  This building is much more interesting than the current day City Hall.  Right now, the Porcher House is rented out for special occasions.

Porcher House

Cocoa City Hall - current

  Another find was the Historic Derby Street Chapel.  Built in 1924 by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, it has changed denominations a couple of times.  In 1996 is was scheduled for demolition, but local citizens helped to save it.  Restoration was done by volunteer labor.  Currently owned by the First Baptist Church, it is now a venue for small events.

Historic Derby Church

  We came back to the marina and grilled some dinner and relaxed the rest of the evening. 



  Thursday we went to Muddies Diner for a great " home cookin' " breakfast - eggs, bacon/sausage, french toast (Angie) and pancakes (Dan), biscuits & gravy, and grits.  It was absolutely delicious.  The place had a down home atmosphere with only 7 tables and "regular" patrons coffee mugs hanging on the wall. 

Muddies Diner

  To burn off all the calories from breakfast, we took a walk along the river.  Unlike yesterdays walk with its commercial businesses, this walk took us by residential homes.  That afternoon Angie did some trip planning and Dan cleaned the outside of the boat.  Some excitement occurred later in the afternoon, when the captain of the boat to our port (left) noticed that the vessel on his port had hundreds of bees swarming around the bimini top and radar.  They were not there that morning and showed up sometime during the day.  They were definitely busy making a palatial home for their queen.

swarm of bees making a hive on this boat's radar and bimini top

  That evening we went to a local sports bar called "The Oasis" and watched OSU basketball team play while eating wings.  OSU was victorious making the wings taste that much better.