Day 18 - West Coast to East Coast

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013

Best Western in Auburndale

We woke up this morning at about the same time, but took our time getting ready, after our showers.  Breakfast would be over by 9:00, so we went to the dining room to get something to eat.  After that, it was collect our bags, and setting off towards the east coast.

Starting to Get More Touristy

We didn't want to travel on the freeway all the way, so set GPS Jill to find a nearer town, off the freeway.  Well, she took us to the freeway anyhow, but only for a few miles, before taking us off, and then travelling on less travelled roads, although they were generally 4 lanes.

I had to get gas, so we stopped at a Race Trac station in Kissimmee.  Dawn asked about the location of a store we had been told about.  We couldn't remember the name, but it was a big orange dome where they sold local oranges.  Once we were outside the station, we couldn't figure out where we were in relation to where we wanted to go, so we asked a lady who was parked beside us.  She gave us pretty good verbal directions, and I followed them.

The Wizard

Theme Park

We seemed to go a long ways, and things didn't look like the lady had suggested, but after about half an hour, we came upon one of the roads she had mentioned.  I made the left turn as she had indicated, and we went along that road.  Again, we didn't know how far to go, and we seemed to be going a long way.  Then we started to come to a fairly busy section of town, with more and more stores, that were quite touristy.  When we saw some areas that were like theme parks, it popped into my head that we were near Disneyworld.  All the shops and themes started to make sense at that point.

Orange World

Unfortunately, we still hadn't found the orange dome.  Upon spotting a Tourist Information building, we pulled in to the parking lot.  I spoke with the woman inside, and she told us to carry on the same direction for 3 more traffic lights, and we would be there.  She was right.  We finally found it.

Oranges At The Store

In we went.  The place was called Orange World, and just before entering, a girl came out and offered us some taste samples.  She had samples of all different brands of oranges, and the one we like was call "Honeybell".  Inside, we purchased a few souvenirs, and some oranges, and then we headed off east again.  We punched Melbourne into the GPS, and made our way towards it.

Rough Waters on the Atlantic

As we drove into town, we started recognizing where we were - we had stayed here the last time we were in Florida.  I continued towards the Atlantic Ocean and the beaches we knew were there.  During the drive, the wind had come up, and it was getting quite strong as we approached the coast.  We stopped at a small park that had beach access.  Walking out onto the beach, it was interesting to see the huge waves crashing on the sandy beach, and to feel the wind, which were created by a cold front that had moved through during the day, and the temperature was quite a bit lower than it had been.  On the west coast, the temperature had been in the mid 70s.  On the east coast, the temperature was in the low to mid 60s, so it is quite a difference.

Kite Surfing in the Wind

Not ready to stop for the night, we decided to head north toward the Kennedy Space Center, before stopping at a hotel.  We found a Best Western on the beach in Cocoa Beach, but it looked like it would be very expensive.  So, we decided to go inland a bit, and find another.  GPS Jill found on about 10 miles east in a place called Cocoa, and we made our way there.  On the way, we passed a Red Lobster, so we knew where we were going to eat tonight.

We checked in, and got ourselves settled before heading off to eat.  A great dinner was in order, and we left quite full.  On returning to our room, we sat around, watched TV (hockey game, and some other documentaries), before going to bed.

We are likely off to the Space Center tomorrow, so until then, you'll have to wait for more news.

Large Alligator