Saw lots of these monster cruise ships right from our front door!
Spent December on the beach at Jetty Park in Port Canaveral, FL. The campground is in a great location, our site was only a 5 min walk to the beach or to the fishing pier. And, as you can see by the pic above, we were really close to all the cruise ships that depart and arrive from this port.
So once again, we didn’t get the nice warm weather that Florida is supposedly known for but we did get a lot of sun which made the colder days easier to take. And boy did it get cold, lots of hard freezes overnight in the area, record breaking actually and on one very cold, windy day, we found ice ( I have proof in a pic) Yay, ice in Florida, just what I came south for :-(
On the other hand, it rarely rained which meant we could still get out and do stuff despite the cold. I know, I know, we are Canadian but that still doesn’t mean that I have to like the cold does it?
Well, what did we do? Walked the beach and did lots and lots and lots of fishing. The jetty at the park has great Sheepshead fishing and we caught quite a few. They like to eat the barnacles that form on the jetty legs so to catch them, you lean over the railings and fish close the legs. If the fish are there and you have the right rig and bait...fiddler crabs or sand fleas seem to work best, you’ll catch them. Because they eat crustaceans, clams etc, their white meat is really tasty.
Since we fished just about every other day, we got to know some of the locals who fish regularly. Some were really helpful and we ended up learning some great fishing tips. Others were grouchy, some times drunk and full of #$%@ and “fish tales”, entertaining none the less. Plus it was pretty social...lots of people just walk up and down the pier and jetty and they always want to know what you caught, where you’re from etc.
Actually the best thing we caught while fishing was a hot tub! Seriously! Let me explain.
One afternoon, I talked to a couple from James Island, near Charleston, SC for about 15 minutes. Found out they were staying over at the Ron Jon Cape Surf club (next door to the campground we were at), never even thought to mention it to Dave. The next day we were fishing again and they were back walking on the pier. The woman came over and she and I started chatting again. Dave was looking at me like who the heck is that? She and I seemed to really hit it off and after we talked again for about 5 minutes, she and her husband, invited Dave and I over for a tour of their condo and the resort (we’d never been there before) and to enjoy the hot tub. Hard to believe complete strangers would do that but they seemed quite nice, we got their names (Missy and Dave), number and called them later to figure out plans. No way were going to turn down an opportunity to soak in a hot tub when it was windy and cold out!
They invited us over later that night for some food and drinks so we walked over and spent a couple of hours talking and getting to know each other. Besides being close in age, the 4 of us seem to have a lot in common, shared a lot of laughs. Got a tour of the resort, it’s a time share so the outside pool/hot tub area was big and really nice. Soaking in the hot tub on that cold night (40F ish) was an unexpected and much appreciated treat. Been a long time since we’ve enjoyed relaxing in one. It was really nice to meet you Missy and Dave and I hope we run into you again in the future!
So you just never know who you might meet...as they said, strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet!
Christmas and New Years Eve on the beach was quiet and relaxing. Treated ourselves to some things we don’t normally eat and drink.....special crackers & cheese, smoked oysters and chocolate (in the form of M&Ms and Godiva Chocolate liqueur) mmmmmm, mmmmmm, good!
Visit the ALBUM.
Oh yeah, we were here last year as well so if you’re interested in seeing more pics of the area, check that ALBUM