Day7 and 8 Cocoa ( got way behind on the Blog!)

Hi there F&F ,
Well I let the blogging have a holiday! Anyway this will be a bit of a catch up.
I keep a running journal as well so good thing I can read over my notes !
Left Daytona and followed down the ICW as there were not really any inlets from the Atlantic Ocean we thought would work to our destination .As it turns out there is a big inlet where all the cruise ships coming in involving a big lock but is quite do able just before Cocoa and our Cocoa Village Marina. So another time we may look at that. The first part of our journey was quite slow with areas of no wake or minimum wake .This is the start of the Manatee zones.The big gentle creatures that are often too slow to get out of the way of fast boats.Also lots of fishermen were out to get their daily catch many of them standing up in their boats while fishing and again with our wake that could be an interesting scenario ! We occasionally saw some circular movement on the surface of the water often a sign for manatees, but we have never seen one while in the ICW even last time we did this trip.Arrived at the Marina mid afternoon and checked out the facilities .this is a popular place to stay especially for sailors and those staying a few days rather than overnighters. Later went off to wander the little town .I realized this was not Cocoa Beach but just Cocoa.I had hoped to eat at Yen Yen a great Chinese restaurant Bev Lewandoski had taken me to , but turns out it was 9 miles away in Cocoa Beach. Oh well next time we hope to see Bev and Ed and will go then. We found a fun Thai restaurant instead , popular with the locals.We also checked into the Travis Hardware Store. It was a big old building with just about everything you could possibly want in it.They are now up to 6 th generation running it and the next generation is triplets who are 6 yrs old , two boys ( one named Travis) and a girl.I am sure one of them will carry on the tradition. Its been operating since 1875! Graeme and I made a few trips to the store over the next two days and always found something we needed and they were always able to give us great advice.
Also found a nice coffee shop and a framing shop which had the very hook system we were looking for to hang our wedding anniversary gift. The next day we took the local bus ( 60 cents for those over the age of 60) to Merritt Island where there was a Publix supermarket and the bigger stores.The stop was right outside the Marina. On the second night we had dinner on board and enjoyed the lovely water view setting.
Over and Out
Erica.