Here we are in Cocoa Beach in the middle of what American’s affetionately refer to as, Spring Break. Yup, didn’t realize that when I was booking a hotel down by the beach for us and the in-laws to catch up at, for a couple of days… mind you Mr K and his Dad are totally not complaining about all the scantily clad girls in bikinis that are walking around the streets. Feels much like to Gold Coast with one noticeable difference – it’s Spring, but the weather is barely 17-22C degrees. So you need a jumper on the beach, and a windcheater in the breeze… and the water temperatures is somewhere between ‘fucking hell it’s cold’ and ‘there’s no fucking way I am getting in that!’ But the kids are all out sunbaking next to naked, and actually SWIMMING in the goddamn Atlantic!
I have no idea what is wrong with these people, other than to surmise that they are lacking that little something in your brain that tells you ‘this shit just ain’t a good idea’. So yeah, not exactly beach weather for Queenslanders. Went for a lovely walk along the boardwalk though and couldn’t believe the numbers of people with their rented chairs and rented shades hanging out down at the beach in this cold… crazy buggers.
After that we were looking for somewhere to go hang out for some lunch and I was pied pipered into heading towards a bar and grill with a big deck, playing some funky Bob Marley tunes. We found ourselves a great table over looking the beach (and coincidentally the outdoor showers where bathers were washing off the salt water), and ordered up some cold ones. Lunch swiftly followed and consisted of oysters, buffalo wings, salad and gator tail! Yup gator for lunch at the funky little reggae bar on Cocoa Beach. Life is good. We spent a few hours there shooting in the breeze (I had dug out a wrap by this point though – still too cold for me), before heading back to the hotel for a few hours.
We went out again in the afternoon, ostensibly for a booze run, but ended up at the local Walmart looking for snacks and booze, and went for a drive down the southern end of the peninsula to Melbourne Beach! Yep, come all the way to Florida only to find a place called Melbourne Beach, who’d’ve thunk. It was less populated than Cocoa Beach, and very pretty, but still too cold for this little black duck.
Several beers later and we headed to a place called the Shark Pit Grill for dinner, where we tried some of the local highly recommended burgers and pizzas and stuff – really good thin base pizza with the first cheese I have seen since we got here that wasn’t bright orange! I have a sneaking suspicion that it was actually mozzarella, but don’t tell anyone, we can’t disabuse people of the notion that the average American’s propensity for dumping horrid melted orange cheese on nearly everything, is universal!
Oh, and I HAD to share the cover of this tabloid rag I picked up at Walmart today while waiting at the checkout… OBAMA has declared WAR on Hollywood! W00t! Like he doesn’t have enough to worry about, what with Sarah Palin back in the media at the moment, sprouting her erudite thoughts on Russia: ‘The only thing that is going to stop a bad guy with a nuclear weapon is a good guy with a nuclear weapon!!’
