Our Last Day on the Beach

Today is Saturday and our last full day here at Ocean Landings on Cocoa Beach. It's been a really great week. With the exception of a little rain when we first arrived the weather has been perfect. Nice sunny days to enjoy the water and very pleasant evenings with a nice breeze coming in off the ocean.

We made a quick trip over to Merrit Island again today to run a few errands. On the way back it was not yet noon, so we stopped at the Sunrise Diner for breakfast. Rich changed from his regular bacon and eggs to the Belgian Waffle with strawberries and whip cream.

When I was on the internet the other night I found this place called the Manatee Sanctuary. It's a little off the beaten path so tourists to the area don't often find it. I had written down the directions, so we headed north on A1A to see if we could find it.

And we did. It's a very small park nestled along the Banana River. There's a nice big pavillion that you can reserve for large groups or parties. There was a pretty big group there today seeming to have a good time, and they had one of those huge water slides set up for the kids.

We headed out toward the water and the board walk that runs along the water's edge.

It's really not as long as it looks - goes just a short distance in each direction.

The view out over the water was beautiful. Initially we were unsure as to whether this was the Intercoastal Waterway or the River. It is the river and it is Huge!

Another view from the walkway. If you click on the picture you will see one of the Disney Cruise ships docked at Port Canavaral.

Thought this was just a great picture of the river. Again, if you click on the picture, you can almost see the manatee swimming.

We walked south along the boardwalk until it came to an end, follow the road and then cut across to to the sandy area along the River's edge. There was a small cove where they were so many manatee swimming . We stood and watched for quite a while, just enjoying the sight. There were a couple of people out on the River in small canoes or kyaks and you could see the manatee swimming right close to them.

This is when you wish you had a really good camera. I think I took more pictures of the sky than anything else trying to get some pictures of the manatee. But if you click to enlarge this picture you'll have a pretty good idea of what we were watching. There was one manatee out there that had to be 10 foot long - but I just couldn't get a good picture. They are amazing animals and so beautiful to watch. They must find this little cove along the River a safe place to swim and sun themselves.

We spent the rest of the afternnon at the pool. Saturday and Sunday are the main days when owners arrive and leave at the Resort, so those two days are the best for not having a crowd of people or kids in the pools.

We stayed for several hours, got a couple of Frozen Dacquari's from the pool bar, did some puzzels and did a little swimming. I finally remembered to take the camera to the pool.................and caught Rich doing a little foot therepy!

Really hate to see the week come to an end. I think we'll definately come back again next year. Tomorrow morning we'll pack up and be on our way before noon.