JETTY PARK CRUISERS

January 13, 2014

Back on the road again, for a short while, heading down to Jetty Park with friends from home.

Since Michigan ...... We got home the beginning of October and immediately following the unpacking of the MH, headed over to the boat to put Spindrift back together.  We had an eager buyer who pursued us through the summer wanting to come to see our 36’ Catalina.  When we put Spindrift on the market the previous spring, I figured it would take at least two years to sell her and still had some plans rumbling around about where her next adventure would be.  Dave, on the other hand, seemed to have moved on and was eager to part with Spindrift. 

Surprise, surprise…..the buyer bought!  Before we knew it, Spindrift was leaving her NSB home and heading for her new home in St Petersburg.  Her new owner was happy to have her and had big travel plans for her.  Interestingly enough, he was taking her through the Okeechobee Waterway which meant the bridge tender would tie barrels to her boom and bring her over so that she could get under the bridge.  I always thought we would take her down through the Keys but the Okeechobee is a much faster way to get to the west coast.

We received calls every day as Spindrift proceeded westward.   Nothing too dramatic, just briefing the new owners on how the systems worked.  My advice to anyone selling a boat, RV, car or house …. Start out with a burner phone and then when the deal is complete turn it off!  Just kidding!

So now we are boat-less but the slip is still empty beckoning me every time I park my car in front of it.  We had such fantastic times on that boat.  Dave has moved on to restoring an old MG and I’m vacuuming up dog hair!

So, this trip to Jetty Park is a nice change to an otherwise established routine.  Originally eight couples were going down for four days and five made it.  Three couples had RV problems (sounds like boating) and were not able to come down.  So far our adventures have included eating!  Eating and socializing and just plain relaxing.

Because the "snow birds" tend to occupy (totally) our campgrounds down here in the winter, we need to plan ahead in order to garner sites at a local park.  We all called in November for our January reservations at this very popular campground.  

This campground's unique location inside Port Canaveral and proximity to Cocoa Beach as well as Cocoa Village, Space Coast and Orlando attractions, makes it an ideal spot to spend the winter.   As a bonus, the cruise ships leaving Port Canaveral pass right by the campground on their way to the Bahamas.

We were able to get a deal .... Monday - Wednesday and Thursday free!  Can't beat that.  I went into the registration office upon arrival to check in.  While waiting in line I heard a "snow bird" discussing her opinions of how the CG should be managed with the CG manager.  Jetty Park allows visitors to stay for six months and reservations can be made a year in advance.  However, according to this "snow bird", even though they made reservations last year, they could not secure a site for the reservation and they had to move during their six month stay because "some camper" had reserved the site for four nights.  Why couldn't the campground move "that camper" to another site since it was already occupied!  The manager answered that the camper probably had reserved that specific site.  Fortunately I had my sunglasses on because I was giving the "snow bird" the stink eye!  It's hard for us locals to enjoy our own natural resources.  Anyway, she couldn't see the stink eye and when I checked in I gave the ranger our name and told him we were staying four nights, probably interrupting someone's six-month stay!  He laughed and said, "You are doing nothing wrong!".  Funny! 

After getting settled in a few of us dragged our chairs over to the jetty to wait for the cruise ships to depart. 

I'M THE MAN!!! IN RELAX MODE!!!

HANDSOME (OR MOTLEY) CREW!  BETTY ANN, WARD, BEV AND JIM .. JUS RELAXIN'

In 2005 Enchantment of the Seas was cut amidship adding 73’ long additions.  Royal Caribbean had plans on enlarging other ships in their Vision class but this project was extremely expensive so decided it wasn’t worth doing to their other ships.

The Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Sea left first with the Disney Magic soon after.   

A $50M expansion is underway at Port Canaveral.  The new cruise terminal located on the south side of the harbor will be opened in November 2014 allowing passengers and  crew to walk directly to the nearby restaurants and shops. This expansion is predicted to bring 1,300 new jobs to the area.  It’s going to be quite the place in a year or two.

GOOFY PAINTING THE STERN!

JIM & BETTY ANN.. ALL READY FOR THE WEEK!

We all met for lunch at Madd Jacks Grillin Shack on A1A in Cocoa Beach and it was fantastic.  TripAdvisor had multiple reviews on the restaurant and it lived up to all of the praises. We asked about the Tri-Tip and the waitress brought samples of the tri-tip and brisket for us to try.   I ordered a sliced tri-tip steak California style and it melted in my mouth.  Stella ordered fried pickles which were very interesting.  Gotta try them.   Others had ribs and BBQ sandwiches.  No one left hungry and some with to-go boxes.

Back to the campground to regroup until dinner.  

As I walked Billy through the CG I noticed a very different looking RV.  As I got closer I saw that it was a Mercedes Benz but unlike any I’ve seen on the road or in the CGs.  The owner came out and I asked her if she had purchased the RV in the US.  She said that they had it shipped over from Germany and spent the last ten months traveling across the US.  They had three weeks to go and were going to ship it back to Germany returning home.  I had thought they used smaller RV’s over there and she confirmed that many of the roads were narrow and a larger US-styled RV wouldn’t work out.  They had camped throughout Europe, however, in their RV.  Fun!

OFF TO EAT ... AGAIN!  (Roger, Jim & Ward)

Several hours later we headed down to The Cove for dinner at The Grills Seafood Deck.  We all had another great meal of the day.  You can see where this is going!

Wednesday was bright and getting cooler.  We missed all the rain that New Smyrna and Orlando had experienced the day before, but we could feel the temperature dropping.  We went down to Cocoa Village with Betty Ann and Jim.  Betty wanted to stop by the Knit and Stitch shop for some help on a knitting project she started.  Betty Ann is a very talented weaver and now into spinning her own yarn so is knitting a cape incorporating some of the yarn she spun as well as bought.  I love spending time in knit shops, reminds me of New England, and this one in Cocoa Village has it all in a cozy place where you can hardly walk around because there is a huge table in the center for people to sit and work on projects.  Just like home!  I picked up some yarn to make a scarf that had a very pretty pattern.  We’ll see if I can get back into the knitting groove in FLA.

A stop in Cocoa wouldn't be complete without checking out the Olives & Grapes.  Although I have a least a dozen bottles of olive oils and balsamics, I use them all and could always use more!  Picked up some Walnut Oil which... I heard ... is very good for you!  Yeah for good oil!

Back to the CG, meeting up at White’s spot to decide our next big move of the day which no doubt includes eating.  

Bev & Cathy consulting the brochure on The Cove restaurants.

Cathy had checked out the hours for the Port Canaveral Visitor’s Center, a very interesting  looking building, and it fit right into our dinner plans!

Dave, Ward and Chuck await the final decisions!

The Exploration Tower is the centerpiece for the redevelopment of The Cove.  

This very interesting architectural building is seven stories above the lakefront Port site visible for miles around.  It was designed by GWWO Architects who designed the George Washington Visitor Center and Museum at Mount Vernon.   The museum opened in November 2013.

Starting at the top, seven stories up, you have a panoramic view of the Port over to the Banana River and across the island.  Each floor features information and displays showcasing the Space Coast history and present activities.  

 There is a virtual ship’s bridge which allows visitors to pilot through the Canaveral Channel.  Betty piloted right over to the submarine base to see if she’d get “kicked out” only to get “kicked off” because her 3 minutes were up. 

Chuck piloted his boat right through the cargo ship he was alongside of!  To think ... he flies planes!!!!!

HEADING INTO PORT!

Hanging above the first floor lobby were sculptures of dolphins and other sea life made from recycled plastics.  

Made from plastic bowls from The Dollar Store! 

 Plastic spoons, forks, clothes changers, etc. make up this dolphin!

Artist  Sayaka Ganza, born in Japan and raised in various countries, lives in the US and has a passion for discarded items and turns them into art.

One of the most interesting attractions in the Visitor’s Center were the sinks in the restrooms.  Everyone who used the restrooms remarked on how unusual and neat they were.  They are gravity sinks, tilting back towards the drain so it felt like you were running water on the counter top!  By the time we left, everyone made a stop to take a look and anyone with a camera had it out clicking away!  We’re easily amused!

Leaving the Visitor’s Center it was dark and the Center was lit up beautifully.  It is going to be a landmark in the midst of this redevelopment effort.

For dinner we headed over to Rusty’s for more grub!  While there, several cruise ships leaving the Port went right by the restaurant.  Dave and I split the Captain's Platter and couldn't finish it!  We may be reaching our food saturation point!   

Stella & Roger enjoying dinner.

The evening was decent enough that we sat under our awning at the CG and exchanged stories until about 10:00.  By then we were ready to turn in from our very strenuous day!

Thursday was colder and the temperatures were dropping.  Several members of our group returned to NSB and others did their own thing.  Dave was coming down, full bore, with a cold so we hung around our MH for half the day then suggested we drive over to Camping World to check out the RV's.   Spent the afternoon with a salesman who shared our passion of boating and RVing.  It was a good afternoon and we saw some interesting rigs ... all new ... but gave us ideas of what to look for in a used model.

Sun setting on this beautiful building.

Got back to the CG in time to group up and head out to dinner again.  It was really getting cold and no one wanted to linger under an awning bundled up in coats.  Tonight we ate at Fish Lips in The Cove.  I think we have probably hit all the restaurants down in the Port.  I had a great meal of sherried shrimp in cream sauce over risotto which is a perfect cold night comfort food dinner!  Others enjoyed their meals as we didn't hear any complaints.  This was our last night together so we lingered over dinner because it was just too cold to sit outside.

Friday morning everyone hooked up and headed back to NSB.  It was cold.  Temps during the night dropped into the 30's and our heat was blowing hard.  Dave was progressively getting worse so I had no regrets about heading home.

It was a great, great week with friends.  A wonderful way to kick off the New Year and get the rig out of storage!  

Happy Trails!