Wendy and I began heading south on January 27. Our final destination is Melbourne, Florida. We made a weekend stop at Glen Saint Mary, Florida on the way down. We stayed at Island Oaks RV resort which we would highly recommend especially if you have a young family! It was a newer park with many amenities and games of all types to keep the kiddos entertained!
We made it to Melbourne, FL on Monday the 29th. Melbourne is on the south central eastern coast and as is it turns out is somewhat of a hidden gem to us. It is an area that is beginning to update their infrastructure while still having lots to offer. We stayed at Land Yacht Harbor. It’s an older but well kept 55 and older park. It’s unique in that it began as an Airstream only park. FYI pets are not allowed.
There are many things to do in this area and because of the location there are many daytrip opportunities we were able to take advantage of. One of which was the Brevard County Zoo which was well worth the admission fee. This zoo had many different types of animals with a setting as if you were walking through most of the animals natural habitat. The giraffe in the picture below was this friendly because you can buy lettuce to feed them if you would like to. It was neat to see some of the children hold out the lettuce and the giraffe stick out its long tongue to grasp the food.
Turkey Creek Sanctuary Park in nearby Palm Bay was fun and interesting. There was a nice boardwalk for most the trail which made for easy hiking. The plant life was very diverse as evidenced by many of the pictures below. The creek had many turtles to enjoy hence the name. We encountered a large number of people kayaking the creek as there was a launch point within the sanctuary. We enjoyed our picnic lunch there and were thankful a covered picnic area was provided.
Another park we visited was Icon Park in Orlando. It is the home of the 400-ft Ferris wheel. The ride takes about 20 minutes and is fully enclosed for a cost of $29.99. The park also offers other attractions including a Max “extreme virtual reality” theater, sea aquarium, carousel rides, etc. A variety of shops and restaurants were available as well!
Lake Okeechobee is the largest lake in the southeast with a 110-mile fully paved bike/walking trail. the trail even has a cool name, LOST, which stands for Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail. Wendy and I took advantage the trail and enjoyed the beautiful views of the lake… not for the entire length, but enough to be very tired. There are many older RV parks for fisherman along the shore as well as a few somewhat nicer ones. And, of course, we enjoyed a salad and a spectacular view for our picnic lunch.
Airboat rides are fun and we were able to take one with a business called “Swamp Donkey”. The Captain/Owner, Charlie was great! He was very informative on the function of an airboat. The hour long tour included seeing alligators up to 13 ft in length as well as many different species of birds and wildlife.
We enjoyed the 2024 Strawberry Festival in nearby Palm Bay. We were able to enjoy live music, “World Famous Frisbee Dogs”, fresh strawberries and kettle corn. There were lots of vendor booths with arts and crafts and food to enjoy as well.
As we have said in the past we love the “golden hour” before sunset. So we headed over to Melbourne Beach Pier to swing it in! Just beautiful!
Being from Alabama I guess we could be considered “southern snowbirds” with our visit. We definitely enjoyed the temperatures in Melbourne. Most day time highs were in the 70’s with overnight temperatures in the 50’s.
See you soon! Happy Trails!!!