We took our time getting ready to leave last Tuesday morning, and slowly made our way up the ICW. There were a lot of dolphins along this stretch. I was finally able to get some good videos of them swimming by our boat! 🐬

We had an anchor spot in mind for the night but it was super crowded. So we came to another spot where there was a library that had a dock. It was pretty tall however and getting Skia up out of the dinghy was a challenge. But we saw another dolphin swimming by our boat while anchored which never gets old.

Wednesday we headed to Cocoa Village. The docks here were slightly taller than we like but manageable. We got ourselves set up and I took Skia for a walk around town. That evening we went with Jack and Vickie to dinner at Villa Parma for Vickie’s Birthday. Very delicious Italian food, and enough for several meals! There was another scheduled rocket launch that night but it got delayed and past 11:30 I turn into a pumpkin, so I didn’t catch it.

Thursday morning we went with Jack and Vickie for breakfast to the French Delights Bakery. They had a large tempting selection of goodies. I got my favorite fruit tart and a vegetable quiche. Don tried their apple turnover and almond croissant, which he said was particularly good.

Later in the day Vickie and I walked the main shopping area and checked out the stores. We also stopped at a salon for pedicures, always a nice treat.

That evening we met for docktails up on the patio with Jack, Vickie and and met new Loopers, Ian and Trina on Stella Maris.

Friday morning I walked back to French Delights Bakery. I picked up another almond croissant for Don and this time I tried their mini stuffed beignets. One fruit and one chocolate, both were excellent! That afternoon there was yet another rocket launch. We were able to watch this one, and being closer to the launch site the sound was incredible!

Saturday we moved on to Titusville. The docks here are nice and low, which makes it a lot easier to get off the boat, especially for the fluff. After getting set up, I took a scooter ride to pick up a rental car for the week. While I was gone Don washed the boat which attracted a visitor. I was able to see one later that evening. You never get tired of seeing them either!

Chuck and Kerrie from Rival are out in the mooring field but the marinas dinghy dock is right across from us, so they stopped by to say hello on the way back to their boat that afternoon.

That night we went on a kayak tour in the Indian River Lagoon of the bioluminescent jelly. It was really cool! In clear kayaks you could see them light up right underneath you.

Sunday morning we celebrated Skia’s 8th Birthday! She even got a special doggo cookie cake for breakfast. 🥳

We went to Bagel 13 for breakfast, which had more than 13 varieties of bagels, all looked very good. We were informed the name refers to a baker’s dozen. From there we went to the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum. They had a lot of very cool aircraft from all different eras. There were some listed as actively flying that they asked you not to touch. Some of those were even from the 1930’s and made of a wooden frame covered in fabric. Crazy to think about them still flying.

There were many other cool artifacts in the museum, including the actual propeller that made the first flight around the world. And it’s made of wood! 😯

From there we went to Walmart to supply for Don’s brother coming down to visit. Then that evening we walked to Pier 220 Seafood & Grill for dinner with Chuck and Kerrie. It was at the end of the pier right next to the marina with great views. Chuck and Kerrie were able to come over on their dinghy right to the restaurant as they have their own small boat dock. We finally tried a Florida specialty, conch fritters. They were pretty good.

Monday we were supposed to pick Don’s brother up from the airport but he called us last night and said he wasn’t feeling well. Thought it would best he maybe change his flight to possibly Tuesday to see how he feels.

So Don and I still got up early and headed to Universal. We were advised to start at Islands of Adventure in Harry Potter world, Hogsmeade. It was incredible! You really felt like you stepped into a scene from the movies.

First up was Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure. It was a really cool coaster, including a very unique vertical drop. Not like a very steep curve, I mean literally the track drops down from under you!

We also really enjoyed the other Harry Potter and Spiderman rides, which both had really good 3D effects. Jurassic Park was a lot of fun too, all the dinosaurs were really cool.

We then took the Hogwarts Express over to the Universal Studios park via Kings Cross Station to Harry Potter world Diagon Alley. Which was sneakily hard to find, can’t be letting any muggles get in. It was equally impressive, especially the fire breathing dragon on top of Gringotts Bank.

Inside, the Escape from Gringotts ride was just as impressively detailed and the ride was really fun. We made our way to the Fast and Furious ride which was cool, another really good 3D effect ride. I went on the Revenge of the Mummy coaster and then we walked through the Simpsons Springfield USA land. I’m not a big fan of the show but it was really well done and had a lot of the landmark locations from the show.

Our last stop was the Transformers 3D experience. This type of ride seems to be a Universal go to, and while this one was also really well done with visually interesting effects, my body had had enough of being jerked around.

We had done two parks in one day and we were ready for food and to sit. We ended up at good old Moe’s at the parks entrance. Can’t go wrong with burritos! 🌯

Don’s brother was not feeling any better so he won’t be coming to hang out with us here after all which is a bummer.

For us, this morning we are off to Lakeland Florida for the Sun N’ Fun Air Show!