November 26, 2017. Orlando to Titusville, via Melbourne, Florida, USA.
On our way to Titusville and after more excellent Googling from Thea, we found the Drunken Monkey for a morning coffee
They had great coffee and a very interesting approach which separated them from the run-of-the-mill coffee chains.
Their positioning was funky, relaxed and very ‘hipster’ They even boasted Anzac Cookies. I wonder if any of the locals had any idea of what the acronym, ‘ANZAC’ stood for?
This bohemian café was just out of the Orlando CBD and on our way towards Titusville.
We had head of Melbourne in Florida many times. Mainly from people wondering if we came from there, when we told them where we were from.
We also hired a car in the US that came from Melbourne.
So now it was time to visit.
Both the town of Melbourne and Melbourne Beach were nothing to boast about, but at least we have been there now.
We discovered a great Brew Pub for dinner with, as we have come to expect, no stress, great food, excellent, non grovelling, Staff and exceptional beer.
As they say in their publicity: ‘On any given day, you’ll find at least 20 rotating craft beers on tap…’
This makes choosing one very difficult.
The Playalinda Brewing Company has two pubs in Titusville, the Hardware Store, in downtown and the Brix Project, which is six miles south.
We found the latter, which is their main brewery and distribution centre.
Like so many of the good craft breweries we have visited in the States the different approach isn’t confined to the beers. At the Brix Project the lighting, furniture, taps and signage is either locally sourced or repurposed from the original building, that now houses the brewery.
November 27, 2017. Titusville, Florida and the Kennedy Space Centre, USA.
The room and facilities at the Days Inn were fine but the breakfast was yet another ‘disposable affair’.
The only items that didn’t end up in the bin, were the things you ate.
And they really should have been there as well.
The main reason for being on this side of Orlando was to visit the Kennedy Space Centre.
Sputnik and the Space Race were part of my upbringing.
I still remember standing outside our home in North Balwyn in 1957, waiting for the blinking lights of the Russian satellite to pass over.
Then in July of 1969 I took a half day off University to come home with some friends to watch ‘man walk on the moon’
Since 1968 the Kennedy Space Centre has been NASA’s primary launch centre for human spaceflight.
It has been involved in or witnessed the Apollo, Skylab, the Space Shuttle, Constellation and the International Space Station projects.
Our tour of the Kennedy Space Centre took us past the launchpad for the new reusable Space X project and into the control rooms used for the Space Shuttle and the Apollo Five launch.
One of the most impressive sights was the Rocket Garden. Here there was a display of at least seven rockets, none of which had ever been launched. Which isn’t surprising, considering that in those days rockets we only used once.
The stats for the 25 year operation of the Space Shuttle Program were also interesting and impressive.
There were 33 missions flown between 1972 and 2011. There were 207 astronauts that flew 202,777,343 kilometres and spent 307 days in space.
That night dinner was at Bapa’s Bistro and Bar at the Holiday Inn. This was American dining at its most average.
We should have returned to the Playalinda Brew Pub.
November 28, 2017. Titusville to St Petersburg (St Pete Beach), Florida, USA.
This was a day of driving.
We were heading east to St Petersburg and had a detour to Tampa on the way.
Tampa, like Orlando, is a 20th Century city.
Although the history of the Tampa area dates back to 1,000 AD, the main growth of population and industry was in the later part of the 1900s. After World War II there was a major expansion of bridges, highways and tourists. The mild Florida climate was a magnet for holiday makers and retirees escaping the bitterly cold northern winters.
In the evening we found, yet another, fabulous brew pub.
The Sea Dog Brewing Co. was only about 5 kilometres from our hotel at St. Pete Beach.
We looked for an Uber but the app didn’t seem to respond. The receptionist at the hotel suggested that we use the ‘almost free’ local service.
Free Beach Ride is like an Uber but the only payment that the driver receives is tips. The drivers have to pay for their petrol, while the van is owned by a separate company. They make their money from the local advertising that’s emblazoned all over the van. As they say on one their website it, ‘Tips for trips.’
We caught it there and back.
November 29, 2017. St Petersburg (St Pete Beach) to Miami, Florida, USA.
We had breakfast at a great little café and bakery right over the road from the hotel.
Café Soleil was French and the pastries were as good as you get in Paris – light, fluffy and very fresh.
The best we have had in the US.
We had heard about the famous Don CeSar Hotel and, as it was on our route, decided to stop off and get some snaps.
Developed by Thomas Rowe and opened in 1928 it quickly became a retreat for the rich and famous. At its prime it was frequented by F Scott Fitzgerald, Al Capone and Franklin D Roosevelt. It is also known as the ‘Pink Castle’ or ‘Pink Lady’ – as soon as you get close you realise why.
It’s pink, very pink.
It has both Mediterranean and Moorish influences in the architecture, with the final building costs escalating a staggering 300% over budget.
After the death of Thomas Rowe in 1940, it had a number of different reincarnations. It was a military hospital, airforce convalescent centre and a veterans hospital. After nearly falling under the wreckers ball in 1969, it was refurbished and returned to being a hotel, reopening in 1973.
It was a 430 kilometre drive from St Pete Beach to Miami, which took us over the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Known locally as the Skyway it is over 6.7 kilometres long and spans Tampa Bay. It was named after the politician who came up with the idea of a bridge and was completed in 1987.
That night we found the Batch Gastropub in Miami. It had great food, wine and beer but unfortunately there was uncharacteristically bad service.
November 30, 2017. Miami, Florida, USA.
I worked in the morning then we caught the free aerial rail service to Downtown. This is a great transport system that ran from just near our apartment in Miami.
We were booked in for an Airboat tour of the famous Florida Everglades. The bus left from the Holiday Inn at the port and it was about a 65 kilometre trip.
The Everglades are about 1,900 square kilometres of tropical wetlands. It’s the only place in the world where there are both alligators and crocodiles.
Our Airboat trip was aboard the Bush Whacker, which was ‘piloted’ by a young girl who was determined to show us a good time. We went slowly at first then sped up, flying over the water, leaving a rooster’s tail of spray in our wake.
We managed to see lots of birds but only one alligator, or was it a crocodile?
December 1, 2017. Miami, Florida, USA.
Miami was founded by a Cleveland woman, Julia Tuttle, in 1891. She purchased 259 hectares of land on the north bank of the Miami River.
She gave away some of this property to the railroad magnate Henry Flager. This was in exchange for him bringing a rail line and development to the area.
After the railroad arrived in 1896 the township boomed and it was incorporated in the same year.
In the afternoon we took a 90-minute sightseeing cruise on Miami’s Biscayne Bay.
It was an interesting way to see Miami and get a feeling for how the rich and famous, and just the filthy rich live.
There were some pleasure boats in the marina that were worth as much as some of the waterfront properties.
After that we walk around downtown Miami and then back to our apartment.
December 2, 2017. Miami, Florida, USA to Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Today we were flying to meet the family in Jamaica.
But first we had to drop off the Hertz rental and before that we needed to fill the tank.
Using the traveller card to get petrol isn’t always that easy. That is when they require your zip code (post code) as verification.
Hampton’s, 3188 didn’t work.
Once we found a petrol station, that would take our card, the next challenge was to find the Hertz drop off point.
We found the signs directing us where to go. Then the signs ran out and we found ourselves heading out of the airport.
Eventually we asked for directions, at a staff car park, and got put on the right road.
Even checking in at the American Airlines counter had its issues.
It was all automated which resulted in long delays, as the kiosk was not that intuitive.
Again we needed help and eventually got our baggage checked in and our boarding passes.
I am very sceptical about this type of automation. It’s designed to help the airline’s bottom line, not the customer.
When we finally got airborne, our path took us over Biscayne Bay. We then got to see the boat trip we took yesterday, from the air.
