The Sporking
Life
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| Photo courtesy of http://www.cocoabeach.com/cocoa-beach-history/ |
Blog #1: Cocoa Beach, Florida
A
few decades ago, National Geographic (NatGeo) made a shift in the way they
selected places to cover in their monthly magazine. Whereas they once focused on exotic, unusual,
and faraway places, NatGeo began to shift their spotlight to places that are
more likely to be close to home. I
respect NatGeo and their robust brand of curiosity and exploration.
Many
of my readers hale from Michigan, so I tried to emulate NatGeo in my writings,
authoring reviews of nearby attractions:
Greenfield Village, Dearborn, Michigan; Detroit Institute of Arts,
Detroit, Michigan; and Detroit History Museum, Detroit, Michigan. Like NatGeo, I attempted to focus on the
unique and exceptional experience close to home. Analytics showed me that these were my least
read blogs. How could NatGeo be so wrong? I believe it’s because my blog readers are
more imaginative and purposeful. Nat Geo
plants a mental image, leaving one to say, “I’d like to visit there one
day.” “Meet Me in the Gift Shop” hopes
to imbed some of that same longing while simultaneously thinking, “I’d like to
see <that> the next time I visit Florida.
That’s pragmatism, stating “when” instead of “if.”
With
this in mind, we tooled around Central Florida this past year visiting museum,
public gardens, and the like in an effort to highlight what to visit and how to
make the most of allotted time. While I
still believe in this approach, I’ll be widening my focus to include festivals,
parades, and communities. I call this
blog: “The Sporking Life.”
The
name “The Sporking Life” came about during last year’s holiday season. We were chatting up Jim Leonard, my artist
cousin (http://www.brooklynartscouncil.org/artists/28284), when someone said the
word “spork.” A Spork is a utensil used
in many fast food places, and is a combination of a spoon and a fork. We all laughed at this quirky word, which led
one of us to exclaim, “We are all living a Sporking life.” Hmm…
Catchy name for a blog. This
started rotating the wheels in my mind, and I decided to explore that
concept. The Sporking Life should deal
with broader concepts, as opposed to the specific content of Meet Me in the
Gift Shop which cherry-picks individual places to visit. The Sporking Life will be published at odd
intervals during the summer, having no set agenda. I believe summer should be like that: spontaneous, carefree and fun.
I
thought of the expression “can’t see the forest for the trees” while visiting
Cocoa Beach and declared myself guilty as charged. Tourists, I claimed, see what they came to
see while travelers aspire to see what’s really there. I realized that I’ve been a tourist,
especially as it concerns Cocoa Beach.
We’d travel the 15 miles to the north of our home base and visit
specific places: Surf Museum, Ron Jon’s,
and Museum of Dinosaurs and Ancient Cultures.
We’d poke around, visit gift shops, and then head out for lunch after
which we’d return home. In writing about
the specific, I neglected to step back to absorb the overall vibe of the
place. Shame on me.
The
Sporking Life, my occasional summer blog, digs deeper. It uncovers the brand / personality of the
local community as opposed to the vibe of a single business. I invite you to travel with me this summer,
as we uncover more of Florida’s many quirks.
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| Photo courtesy of https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beachwave_Beachwear,_Cocoa_Beach.JPG |
Cocoa
Beach was hosting “Uncorked,” a wine / good food festival that weekend, and the
17th Waterman Challenge (https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2016/05/31/watermans-challenge-part-cocoa-beach-history/85188898/ 2016 write-up)
was happening just offshore, in the Atlantic Ocean. The only parking we could find was a few
blocks away, in front of a store that sells sunglasses and hats. We parked the car at Beachwave Beach Wear,
which turned out to be a good move since I forgot to bring sunglasses or a hat
on this sunny day. I’ve visited a
similar type of shop before, and was put off by all of the cheap and shoddy
merchandise. I entered Beachwave Beach
Wear and received a pleasant surprise.
Sure, they had inexpensive towels and cheesy children’s sunglasses, but
they also had oodles of good stuff. I
would have been content to spend the day here, but this was not the day for
that.
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Happy
with my new pink hat, we meandered toward the wine festival, being held on the
beach by the Atlantic Ocean. It was too
crowded for my tastes, and we stood there deciding what else we could do. That’s when we caught sight of the surfers
offshore. The Waterman Challenge had set
up shop about 100 yards from Uncorked.
| Photo courtesy of https://www.surfguru.com/surf-news/9th-annual-watermans-challenge-cocoa-beach-fl |
Surfing
competitions sound like they’d be fun, spirited, and action-packed. They’re not.
I’d rather watch paint dry then watch a live surfing competition. Here’s why: once the surfer paddles out far
enough out, the clock starts ticking. In
professional competition, each surfer has 30 minutes to catch a wave. I assumed the same time limit was in effect
here, so all the crowd sees are surfers bobbing up and down in the water
waiting for the best wave. To make
matters worse, the ocean was calm that day with waves no higher than a foot or
two. We looked at each other and simply
said, “no,” then ambled off the beach.
Ron
Jon Surf Shop has a strong presence in terms of billboard advertising on
Florida’s highways. It’s not unusual to
pass two or three of their billboards, regardless of the direction headed. I think they’re slick, with that whole “original”
surf shop thing. I spotted another surf
shop’s billboard on a recent trip, but paid it no mind. If you have Ron Jon’s, you don’t need
anything else. Besides, this billboard
belongs to Cocoa Beach Surf Company (CBSC), and their logo was a weird and squiggly
line drawing of a person running with a surfboard.
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| Photo courtesy of https://myspace.com/cocoabeachsurf |
As
we left the beach behind, we could see part of the Ron Jon building two blocks
away. I wanted to go in and browse, but
that’s not much fun if the present company isn’t into shopping. Inwardly sighing, we walked back to the
car. There was no way of knowing this at
the time, but this turned into my lucky day.
Guess what was across the side street from Ron Jon. That’s right, the CBSC. My feet headed toward the door and, really,
all I could do was follow along. In my
mind, I thought that I could shop the store in less than ten minutes, based on
my interpretation of their squiggly logo.
That time frame vanished once I stepped inside. There was loads of good stuff here which
nudged me to change my opinion. CBSC
predominately sells apparel, and unisex t-shirts, footwear and men’s apparel is
displayed on the first floor with women’s clothing and accessories are on the
second. That seemed like a good place to
start, and I approached the stairs with grit and determination. No elevator for me! I eyed the distance wearily, because it’s a
long set of stairs, but my luck returned.
The CBSC replaced the stairs with an escalator, enabling shoppers to
“shop on” in comfort. I saw bathing
suits, beach cover-ups, shorts, sundresses, sweatshirts and so much more that. At the top of the escalator, I had to stand
there for a moment with my mouth hanging open.
This wasn’t what I expected.
Although CBSC has a children’s department, Ron Jon’s has a better
one. The one here has a few racks of
t-shirts and other generic beach clothing displayed with just a handful of
beach toys. In general, the merchandise
at CBSC is targeted toward an older demographic than Ron Jon’s. There’s no need to decide which of the two
stores to visit. I recommend visiting
CBSC first, then heading across Marion Lane to visit Ron Jon’s. You can’t go wrong with either of these
shops.
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| Photo courtesy of http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Ron_Jon_Surf_Shop |
In
the past, I considered Cocoa Beach as a place choked with tourists and gaudy
t-shirt / souvenir shops. What I saw
last weekend, however, were festivals and competitions mainly geared toward the
local population. All in all, Cocoa
Beach changed my mind so much that I’m considering taking a vacation in Cocoa
Beach. There are so many shops,
restaurants, and things to do and it’s all within walking distance.
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| Photo courtesy of https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cocoa_Beach_Pier_(Cocoa_Beach,_Florida)_012.jpg |
We
considered visiting the famous Cocoa Beach Pier, since we caught sight of it
from our spot on the beach. Those that
weren’t at Uncorked, Waterman’s Challenge, Ron Jon’s or CBSC where at the
pier. SpaceX (those rocket people) had a
satellite launch scheduled for early evening.
Cape Canaveral is a 5-minute drive to the north of Cocoa Beach, making
the pier an excellent spot to watch launches from. The influxes of space fans made parking
impossible anywhere near the pier.
All
in all, I feel humbled that Cocoa Beach gave me another chance.
Here’s
to summer!
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