March 19 - 21 / Day 302 -304 / Melbourne to Cocoa Village

Monday 3/19   We left Melbourne about 10.  Its overcast and drizzling but an otherwise nice day for traveling North on the ICW.  There is very little boat traffic and all the bridge clearances are higher than our air draft.  We pulled into our destination of Cocoa Village Marina @ 12:30 and were treated by unusually cheery dock crew who helped get us settled in.  At the recommendation of the marina office Tim set out on a bike ride, following the road along the ICW north.  It was perfect with low car traffic and plenty to see. 

Coco Village Marina

Bike route

Some of the sights along the way

We were on our way into town for dinner the same time as the boat in the next slip.  Karen & Ken are Loopers from Sarasota and seasoned boaters but only a week into their Loop.  We ended up going to dinner with them and had a great time sharing stories and discovering we had mutual friends. 

Tuesday 3/20 We took a walk in town to explore a bit more.  There are some nice little, locally owned shops and restaurants.   

Quaint main street

This notched log is a bike rack

We stopped in at Travis Hardware to pick up a few things.We literally stepped back in time.  It was almost identical to the old Waters & Brown my Dad and Uncle purchased in 1969.  It had everything from sledge hammer handles to cast iron frying pans and the friendliest of clerks. 

Travis Hardware store established 1885 

There was some foul weather forecasted for the afternoon with rain, thunder and a tornado watch just north of us.  We did not experience anything too bad; we were fortunate. 

Wednesday 3/21   We were originally headed for Titusville today but the winds were predicted to be pretty high so we extended our stay a day.  We spent a bit of time trying to get our combo washer / dryer not to collect water at the end of its cycle by pouring CLR down the water supply hoses and running a couple cycles.  We also spent a few hours on our tax preparation.  Considering we are on a boat in Florida and may have got that done . . .is amazing.  We walked into town for a 'healthy meal' at Thai cuisine and then we ruined all that by picking up an apple fritter at the donut shop.