Job is in Orlando but want to live by the beach (30min)

[Rabflmom]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Honestly, I want to like Cocoa because it is the nearest beach to me. However, I still haven't got an answer to what I'm missing (besides the beach). Are there any quaint streets to walk around? Any famous or special places to eat wild fresh seafood? I was taking some friends to the cruise terminal and we got there really early, so we were looking around Cocoa and it was just so depressing looking. We stopped at the mall there as well and just overall, very run down, poverty stricken, and run of the mill fast food joints.

If there are no nice areas besides the beach, then just say it lol.

No. Cocoa is not the nearest beach to you. Cocoa is a mainland small town. It has access to the beach via a causeway. It is not meant to be a tourist draw. It is the home of about 20,000 people. Residential areas do not really care if they attract people to come walk our streets. We'd probably wonder what the heck you were up to and call in a suspicious person report. :-)

Your take on the no where to go was probably a Sunday morning on the way to the ship when everything is still closed except for Walmart and the fast food places for the most part, just like in most small towns. 520 and US1 are not really the entire city.

Most of the quaint walkable streets I would say are in Cocoa Village area along the river for tourists and locals, too. You will also find more of the upscale restaurants there, but a few non chains are on the major roads too like El Charro(but then it might be becoming a chain since its owners who own El Leoncito in Titusville, our favorite restaurant and we have to drive almost 60 miles to get there from our house, is opening another restaurant in Viera.

In one post you commented on just having only chains to eat at but Cocoa Village area is the best area for upscale restaurants where you will find the tables set up with table cloths etc. Check out The Black Tulip, Cafe Marguax, and the Brazilian place . Osarios is good, too El Charro is right on US1 and it is really a favorite of ours. and sometimes we eat breakfast at the diner Country Cooking, There's also Murdocks and never been to them but a Vietnamese and Korean restaurant in Cocoa that some friends have gone to. And how can you spend time in Cocoa and not eat at a place with a name like Muddies? Then you border Rockledge, not far from Viera, and of course you have Cocoa Beach area for places to eat within 15 minutes depending on where you live.

For things to do........ Cocoa even has indoor ice skating, horseback riding, airboat riding at Lone Cabbage(might want to eat there to), and antique shopping,. It has Brevard County's History Museum. It has some good county and city parks to take the kids to or launch your boat or fish from. It has East Florida State campus that has a Planetarium that is cool to go to. It has a theater in Cocoa Village and Aida is the play for March. Usually pretty good peformances and since they remodeled the theater is awesome. There is also the Surfside theater where they are offering South Pacific this month.
You could take a river cruise or dinner cruise on the Indian River Queen. One thing that is important in Cocoa is high school football so that is the place to be on Friday nights. There is also the sports complex(old minor league stadium and old county fair site) on 520 that has various tournaments, lessons and sometimes concerts. Not sure if it will survive.
Personally, for a small town, it has quite a bit to offer. One thing they don't have right in Cocoa is a movie theater but the mall in Merritt Island is just over the causeway.

Some descent areas to live would be subdivisions like Emerald Lakes, out by Lake Poinsett in Poinsett
Shores, maybe out on Friday Road, and definitely the Canaveral Grove and Port St John areas which have Cocoa addresses and where the newer builds are happening.

One thing about living in Brevard County, you do not stay in the town where your house may be. It is nothing to drive from town to town since many share a boundary. Often you really are not sure which town something is located in and going from south Brevard to Titusville takes less time than going across town within the city limits of Orlando. I usually just say I live on the Space Coast because where my house is is mostly where I sleep. I live in the whole county and even in parts of Indian River County when it comes to how we spend our time. Shoot even when the kids were in schoo, the schools were not even located in the town we lived in.

BTW something to check out this weekend....Grant SeaFodd Festival! Welcome | Grant Seafood Festival | Mar 4 + 5 | 4580 1st St., Grant, Florida
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[bmw335xi]

This is what I was looking for you silly goose lol. I'll check out Cocoa Village next time I head out that way. I don't expect a huge area, I know it's a small town, but anything quaint with a sense of community is what I was asking for. Thanks for the thorough responses by the way.