Mini-vacation in Cocoa Beach FL

This was planned at the last moment, but it turned out to be very relaxing and a lot of fun for the kids. This Holiday Inn has kid suites, which means that the room has a king bed with, a partitioned buck bed, and a twin bed in the same room. It sounds cramped, but it was surprisingly well laid out. The kids even have their own TV. There is a small refrigerator and microwave as well.

At this hotel, there is an oversized kids’ pool built with two partially sunken pirates boats. Also there are palm trees that fill the coconuts with water and splash down on you unexpectedly. Water cannons also line the pool. The hotel also has two restaurants, one by the pool and one on the beach (Mambo's). The one by the pool is mainly used during breakfast for the buffet. It is also the one where the kids eat free!!! Mambo's is used primarily during the day after spending time at the beach. The hotel also has a basketball and tennis court. The Ron Jon Surf shop is just up the road. It’s not a bad place to stay for a few nights at the last minute.

This is a small and local family-owned Italian restaurant. From the entrance, you get a sense of this feel when a member of the family greets you. The menu has family photos showing you the process of how the restaurant came into being and the family’s history.

Never mind that, the food was great and well priced for the large plates of food you get.

It was a very relaxing atmosphere and the help was very attentive. I will be back to this one!!! Others have an option to eat outside in the actual courtyard that is also quaint, but at the time I went it was occupied by a wedding reception. I was able to call in a reservation for a party of four about 45 minutes in advance and was immediately seated.

This is one of the more relaxing amusement parks. There were absolutely no lines. It is a very educational park with lots to interact with and see. My two-year-old, after a week, still runs around with the flier from the park and points out the rockets. This park has a lot of movie-type attractions that recreate the time of lift-offs to the lunar landings. The astronauts also have a stag to answer questions.

I initially thought the park was awfully small and then we took the bus ride! The ride takes you to other sites on the complex that shows you actual launch pads and another building that houses one of the Apollo rockets.

We hit most of the major attractions fairly quickly and had plenty of time to go back to the hotel and relax. There are no intense rides and you can move freely around the park. There were no scheduled launches or things on the pads to see of course. This may explain the lack of large crowds. It probably will get very crowded when they launch shuttles again. Still it’s not bad for the money.