Taking a drive along Highway A1A

On Friday afternoon we decided to get out and do a little exploring, so we took a drive north on Highway 1, and at our first opportunity we crossed over the inter-coastal waterway and got out on Highway A1A.

Our first stop was Melbourne Beach, where the wind had recently picked up and driven everybody off the beach!  No wonder we found a parking space so easily, with 2-1/2 hours left on the meter!

The wind was blowing so hard, our legs were getting sand-blasted!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The waves were huge, too!

Bryce said that the water felt pretty warm . . . maybe it was just warm relative to the wind!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The birds didn’t seem to mind the wind . . . you can’t tell from this picture, but this was the biggest seagull I have ever seen!

 

I spent some time watching this little guy play in the water, too.

From Melbourne Beach, we continued north on A1A, past Patrick Air Force Base, until we reached Cocoa Beach. 

We reached the Ron Jon Surf Shop. and stopped in to take a look around.

There were surfboards everywhere we looked!

Even the bike rack!

We wondered through the giant store – T-shirts, bathing suits (Bryce saw several he liked, but for $50 – $60, I don’t think so!), and a HUGE shoe department . . . I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many flip flops in one place!!

There was even an “Old Guys Rule” department, complete with these!

Bryce got a new muscle shirt, and we headed out to check out the beach.

There were several tattoo shops around the surf shop . . . Tom wondered if he should get one . . . Not!

There were some spring breakers in the area here, so the beach was a little more populated . . . although most were hiding behind the rental canopies!

Far off in the distance we could see the launch pad at Cape Canaveral – there was a rocket launch scheduled for Friday night, but with the wind, we weren’t sure it was going to go off (It turned out that the wind did die down later, and they had a successful launch).

Bryce wanted a snack, so on the way back up from the beach we found a little yogurt shop – I Dream of Yogurt.

It was a really cute shop --  they had jeannie lamps all around the store, framed pictured from the show, and even a TV continuously playing “I Dream of Jeannie”.

From Cocoa Beach, we tuned around and headed back south towards Melbourne, with one more beach stop – Satellite Beach.

This one was almost completely deserted as the tide came in and the sand was still blasting across the beach.

The birds were still there, though, standing in formation, staring out to sea . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tried to get Bryce to pose with them, as their leader, but he wouldn’t do it!

Tom tried chasing them away!

Bryce was tempting the waves to get him . . .

 

He had to run away a few times, and he almost lost his flip flops to a rouge wave!

Tom almost got caught by one too, even though he thought he was safe up on the ridge!

 

It was starting to cool off as it got closer to sunset, and we still had to stop at the grocery store on the way home, so we said good-bye to the beach . . .

 

and the birds!