Off to sunny Florida!

After years of visiting family for vacation, we decided to do something fun for a change. Actually, we were going to go to the beach two years ago then Kallie got sick and we couldn’t go on vacation at all. Last year we went to Texas and this year I said “I’m going to the beach!”. Heath and Katy wanted to get their yearly rocket fix in so I though Cocoa Beach would be nice as it’s close to Kennedy Space Center. I found a cute little resort from the early ’50s that was rental housing for NASA employees right after Kennedy Space Center (well, it was called something else then) opened. Werner von Braun, the founder of Space Camp, even stayed there once. The main attractions, though, were that it was cheap and on the beach!

Our vacation officially started on Sunday Heath didn’t want to wake up early, drive all day and get there late and still have to find a grocery store, so we spent the night about halfway through and got to Cocoa Beach around 1 or so.

Heath’s sister Lee, her husband, Chip, and two of the grandkids — Ethan and Evan — met us up there. We wanted to have all the Wisconsin family come (Lee and Chip and their three daughters, two sons in law and seven grandkids) but it was too hard to get that all together with everyone having to get off work.

So we rolled into Florida late Saturday afternoon and stopped at the visitors center for brochures and fresh-squeezed orange juice. Georgia could take a lesson!

They didn't have much of a welcome sign this time. — They didn’t have much of a welcome sign this time.

Sunday morning we got up, ate breakfast, hit the road again and got to Cocoa Beach.

This is the front of our resort.

The living room area of the apartment. This was actually taken on Friday so we'd settled in. — The living room area of the apartment. This was actually taken on Friday so we’d settled in.

And turning around to look at the kitchen.

I didn't get a picture of the front door but when you stepped out and turned right, this is what you saw. It was a one minute walk to the beach. — I didn’t get a picture of the front door but when you stepped out and turned right, this is what you saw. It was a one minute walk to the beach.

Closer photo. The pool is behind the white fence.

There are all these little brown rabbits on the property that are not at all afraid of humans. This isn’t a very good shot but the rabbit took a grape out of my fingers. He was munching down on some kind of flowering weed so he calmly finished that then took two grapes out of my hand. The manager said they like grapes and we happened to have some.