Cocoa Village, Fl - tourist destination and small town USA

Today, we went for a drive since we are free to travel in Florida once again. Not all the shops are open, but there was a slight stir of business “in the air” again. We went to Cocoa Village which is a very small town close to Cape Canaveral and maybe 30 minutes from Cocoa Beach and the Atlantic Ocean.

We wanted to see what the streets were like and see how the business’s were doing ...and of course take some photos along the way :-)

Our first look at the Crab Shack and we seen a place open for business, but all the outside picnic benches were “roped off” and not available to eat outside. To me, I thought eating outside would be the most acceptable thing to do but maybe they had other issues. So our first look was a “not ready” ...yet.

I have to say, the day was beautiful and we just enjoyed taking miscellaneous photos along the way.

The eating area outside the Crab Shack is right on the river which has a number of small boats anchored. Plenty of people are usually here, but for today there were not too many people around.

The pier wrapped around a park and so we walked and walked just enjoying the sunshine.

The bait shop was open but no takers.

My better half was jumping for joy with the sunshine and nobody around to worry about Covid 19....a nice fresh breeze and sunshine.

The river has dolphins and manatees that live in these waters so you have to be very careful when boating. It’s awesome to see the dolphins feeding. They actually play with the fish in the water.

The hi-light for me was the local Antique shop which was like going back in time for me. Imagine going into a store which reminded you of your childhood or products you used in the 1960’s , 1970’s , 1980’s.....you get the picture. It was a blast.

Of course the store had all the various dish ware and pottery that you would expect.

But who remembers the old Singer sewing machines going back 60-70 years? Singer was the brand in more homes than any other. This was back when people would sew their clothes. Not sure many people really know how to use a sewing machine today. My grandmother would use hers daily to make all sorts of linens and things.

OMG ...a rotary dial phone...I wonder when was the last time you seen one. These are heavy too. They were made to not break since AT&T included repairs in their cost of service so these things were tanks made by Bell Laboratories.

Ok...you guys are probably saying what is this? It’s a radio from probably close to 80 years ago and you know what....it sounds good today. Buttons and dials were used back then.

We took a break and checked out the local German Beer Garden that was open and did have people sitting outside for dining and drinking. The bar has so many German Beers and various foods for European taste buds.

The tap beer selection was incredible, was so tempted to get a quick pint. I was getting thirsty :-)

These older building in Cocoa Village are so cool. Its’ nice to see the Playhouse has a full list of plays for the year. Christmas time is very special with the various plays that come in for weeks a time.

The quaint city streets were empty. The evening crowd had not yet come in to the local restaurants or bars. Small business has been hit hard in this small town which relies on foot traffic and tourists.

It’s probably a story that can be told of most cities waiting to open. Each city has it’s hangouts or hotspots or favorite restaurants. Each city has it’s issues to deal with. I hope we can safely get back to some new type of normal, whatever that may be. I think people are anxious to be outside.