Mellow in Melbourne

January 9, 2005- Sunday

This morning Bob said that the Mercedes problem was probably a tire tread separation - the tires have to be hot before the problem shows up. So he went out and changed the right rear for the spare.

I was going to go to the Canaveral National Seashore today, but I decided that since it was a nice Sunday, that everyone would be out on the beach, and I wanted deserted beach photos. Instead we went to Melbourne.

We drove down US 1 through Cocoa, stopping in Rockledge

Rockledge Orange

to take a couple of pictures of the 'historic' Marion S. Whaley citrus packing house. This is the oldest continually operating citrus packing plant in the Indian River region and has important associations to the growth of the citrus industry in the area around Cocoa, Rockledge, and Titusville during the 1930s and 1940s. The Whaley Packing House is a rare example of vernacular packing house architecture in Florida. Its utilitarian, simple, yet logical design is characteristic of a once prevalent Florida industrial building. Before World War II there was relatively little heavy industry in the state. Florida's economy was primarily based on the tourism, citrus, lumber, fishing, cattle, and mining industries. None of those industries required substantial buildings like those constructed in the northeastern states. Many of the buildings constructed to house Florida's early commercial base have been razed in favor of new development.

Rockledge

It's on the historic register, but it is physically in bad shape and is for rent, lease or sale.

Signs on the fence

Harvey's across the street looks in much better shape.

Harvey's

I wanted to go down and see one of the old houses in Rockledge, but there was also a sign pointing to the zoo which I also intended to visit. And we were in the right lane and the sign to the zoo pointed right. So we turned right.

Bob complains because I can't see the signs far enough ahead (neither can he) to tell long enough before he has to turn so he can get in the correct lane. I can do it when we are on the boat and not moving so fast, plus I have binoculars on the boat.

So we turned far sooner than we would have needed to, and went through some very fancy neighborhoods and past a lot of golf courses - sterile treeless big housing estates. We got to the zoo, and I mistakenly got a combination ticket for the admission, train ride, and bird and giraffe feeding. I didn't realize that we could get the train ride separately. They also had kayak tours

Kayaking at the zoo

but I was afraid I would not be able to get out, even if I could get in.

Brevard Zoo - Local Wildlife Area

I was primarily interested in the native Florida birds and animals - alligators,

Alligators in the sun

crocodiles,

A croc's grin

and we saw them feeding the red wolves.

Endangered red wolf

I saw a sand hill crane up close and personal so I'm sure that's what my son-in-law was seeing.

Sand Hill Crane

Duck chasing turtle

We saw a turtle swimming along with a duck chasing it and eating algae off the turtle's back kind of like the little cleaner fish that go into the bigger fish's gills to clean parasites off.

Deer

Bobcat giving us the cold shoulder

Fish in the zoo

Flamingos

Kookaburro

Macaw

Turkeys

Birds at the zoo

Scarlet macaws

Rheas

Black swan

turtles

Then we got on the train called the

Cape to Cairo Express

African section

to ride around the African area, and then went to feed the rainbow lorikeets

Lorikeet at the zoo drinking nectar

a fruity nectar from a little cup in the free flight cage.

Bob with rainbow lorikeet

They sat on our hats and on Bob's shoulder and picked at his ears.

Bob feeding lorikeet

I tried to get a picture of their black tongues lapping up the nectar, but it was not possible to hold the cup and take a picture at the same time.

We could have had lunch at the zoo

Now it was lunchtime, and it was hot but I didn't want to eat in the zoo. So we left without seeing much of the African area and we completely skipped the South American section and drove in the direction of Melbourne proper.

I had decided I wanted to eat at Conchy Joes, which is in the old Oleander's Hotel near the Eau Gallie bridge.

Old Oleander Hotel poster

We never got to eat here when we were at the SSCA (Seven Seas Cruiser's Association) meetings in October1999. The hotel where we had reservations had screwed things up and we had to stay in the next town.

Convention Center from car 2005

They are only open for lunch until 2:30 in the afternoon and Bob thought we would not make it. We overshot the Eau Gallie causeway

Bridge from Conchy Joes in 2005

and turned on 192 instead and couldn't find them there. I finally called them to find out where they were.

Welcome to Conchy Joes

We finally got there a little before 2.

Inside dining room

Drink menu

Wall at Conchy Joes

Inside Conchy Joes

Salad bar

I had the special which was a fried chicken club wrap with one side

Chicken wrap

(I picked mango glazed plantains) for $8.95, and Bob had a very unadventurous hamburger, even if it was the famous 'works' burger for $6.00.

The Works Burger

The Works Bburger

The total bill was a bit over $17.00. I could not finish my wrap (the bacon was a bit like cardboard) and wrapped it up to take home.

Afterwards, we drove around to see some historic buildings .

Historic District

We tried to go up into the Melbourne Historic District, but some of the roads were blocked with construction. We also wanted to look to see how the Melbourne Marina had fared. Seemed to be just like we remembered it.

Marina from the road 2005

Flashback - December 14-15, 2000

After we visited with friends anchored near the Eau Galle bridge, we felt we'd not make it to Ft. Pierce, so we went to Melbourne Harbor Marina at MM 918.5

I was not to impressed with this place. They require an imprint of a credit card for $30 for their restroom key. The dockmaster we talked to was an idiot who had a sort of semi-hostile jokey manner. They put us in a slip with barely 5 feet of water. He waited until we were halfway in to ask if we'd rather go to another (bigger) slip. The area smelled of sewage, there was a highway right behind us and a train trestles right behind that. Trains went through at all hours of the day and night - whistling continuously. Every time Bob turned on the depth sounder, we had less water under us in the slip.

You can get ice cheaper just up the stairs at the gas station next to the highway. Three bags at the marina is $4.50, and at the gas station 3 bags is $3.45. The price is $1.25/foot, but that includes electricity and cable. They did let me use the fax to download e-mail, but I had to balance the computer on the edge of a file drawer. Be careful crossing the street -the walk sign is only on for about 3 nanoseconds and it is a wide street with 4 or 5 lanes. You have to get across half of it before the walk goes on, or there's no hope.

The marina has a restaurant (Chart House) and we got a discount there, but it was too expensive for us. We walked up into town - there is a deli that is open for lunch that is reasonable, and we went to Bella's for dinner which is about a block down. For dinner we had lasagna for $8 each. That was one of the least expensive things. They also have a bakery and a deli. We bought some bread and cookies that are a pale imitation of Bergers with the chocolate fudge tops. I took half my lasagna back to the boat.

The scuba bottle let loose all its air suddenly last night about 9 pm. Made a terrible racket.

December 15 - We got out of the very shallow slip with me at the wheel and Bob ready to fend off, but everything went well. I was afraid that they would have to tow us out through the mud.

End Flashback

Bella's where we ate when we were at the marina in 2000 was still there.

Bella's in the afternoon

After this visit in 2000 we always anchored in the Indian River instead of going to a marina until 2002 after Bob's heart attack when we went to Intercoastal Marina. Hurricane Jeanne (2004) destroyed all docks at that marina. We saw pictures from after the hurricanes.

I wanted to see what the status of Dragon Point was, so we drove over to Merritt Island. There were many road signs that were missing, so I could not find the proper street to turn on and we did not find it. We did see a church with its steeple down next to it and blue tarps on the roof.

Church with no steeple after the hurricanes

Eventually we got to Port Canaveral, and I asked Bob to drive around in there a bit.

Port Canaveral from a car in 2005

Disney at Port Canaveral

We got home about 4:30. Bob decided to drive the Mercedes a bit to see whether it had improved, but he did not drive it far enough to get the tires hot, so he thought it had been cured. I was not really hungry, so I had the rest of my wrap for dinner and also had some ice cream. Bob had the leftover chicken.