Island Life

The Sunday Merritt Park Farmers Market on Merritt Island offers a tasty island vibe

Doubles are street food in Trinidad consisting of two bara, a type of seasoned flatbread, topped with curried chickpeas, culantro chutney, tamarind sauce, pickled cucumber, and Scotch Bonnet pepper sauce.

Our last northern visitor of the season was Jeanne Murphy, who drove over from her West Coast abode in Estero to see what Cocoa Beach was all about. We impressed her immediately by taking her to The Fat Snook, where we shared our favorite half-priced apps at Happy Hour, and she treated us. A great start to the visit.

Jeanne peruses appetizers at The Fat Snook, including mussels, the storied deviled egg masterpiece, scallops on banana polenta, and a crab cake on potato puree.

The next day, we explored the town, visiting Retro Reef, which is a treasure trove of 60s and 70s memorabilia. We went to Seafood Atlantic to pick up sheepshead , an underappreciated but delicious local fish that sold for $8.95 per pound, for dinner and served it alongside baked orzo with feta, spinach, and cherry tomatoes. While the orzo baked, we enjoyed a glass of wine in the tiki bar before dinner.

Fashion at the Retro Reef in Cocoa Beach is eclectic.

Orzo baked with feta, spinach, and cherry tomatoes served with Sheepshead. And time for a glass of wine in the tiki bar before dinner.

In the morning, we left for some dedicated sightseeing. We drove up to the Sams House at Pine Island Conservation Area and enjoyed the displays in the old cabin, as well as the interactive natural displays outdoors near the environmental center, featuring some of the fossils found on the grounds. We especially enjoyed seeing many gopher tortoises come and go, cleaning house.

The tortoise crossed right where he was supposed to.

We hiked through the jungle trails and spied one of the old orange trees that had been planted by the Sams family back in the day when they maintained an orange grove and citrus packing facility in the 1880’s.

Afterward, we drove into Titusville to visit the American Space Museum and were fortunate to have Eric, a docent who retired after 30 years at the Kennedy Center, lead us through the exhibits. Seeing the map of the launch pads helped make sense of the many rockets we have seen launch into space since we arrived on the Space Coast. There are a lot of them.

Our guided tour at the American Space Museum was most informative thanks to Docent Eric.

On the way home, we drove through Port Canaveral to see the cruise ships lining up for departure. The floating hotels are massive, and the people on the balconies were tiny specks waving back at us.

Port Canaveral launches cruise ships bound for island tours.

We stopped at Poke Fin in Cocoa Beach to pick up dinner. The little shop is next to the Ron Jon’s complex, and we ordered a couple of bowls to share as well as one Hawaiian Spam Musubi-- sushi rice, seaweed, and a slice of spam. Interesting, but I think it is an acquired taste.

The NASA Bowl is one of their signature dishes, with two kinds of raw salmon served on brown rice with krab, edamame, onion, cucumber, and seaweed salad. The Spam Musubi is only available on Fridays.

The next day, Jeanne left, but we stopped at Surfinista in Cocoa Beach first. This iconic surf shop/coffee shop is filled with surfing memorabilia, surfing-inspired art, plus surfboards and clothing. It is not to be missed if you visit Cocoa Beach. And their hot beverages are delicious.

A Chai and a Latte before Jeanne hits the road.

On Valentine’s Day, John and I spent a quiet evening at home, enjoying a fondue, some shrimp scampi, and salad—and my favorite wine variety, Pouilly Fuisse. We didn’t miss the crowds.

Valentine’s Dinner at home. Missing parsley for the scampi, but still delicious.

Sunday morning, I headed out for a yoga class and then moseyed over to the local Farmers Market on Merritt Island. My sister Mary had gone the week before and brought several dips for us to enjoy during the Super Bowl. I was already craving them. The market was fun, shady, and full of vendors selling art and crafts. When I was done perusing, I decided to sample some of the food from TriniJam, and that was a good choice.

The American Dips vendor table was loaded with delicious products. And the local mushroom grower, Florungus, offered exotic mushrooms. There was only one vegetable vendor this week, Luigi. Cash only!

I had heard of “doubles” before, from the Redlands market south of Miami, but didn’t really know the dish. The busy woman at the booth explained that they are a specialty of her country, Trinidad, and the most common type of street food. The base is a flatbread called “bara,” topped with curried chickpeas, culantro chutney, tamarind sauce, pickled cucumber, and Scotch bonnet sauce. It was spicy—but so delicious! I’ll be back next Sunday for more study on this dish—and to learn the pleasant woman’s name. She also sold large, flat patties, and I took one home to John that had a jerk chicken filling. Another reason to return.

TriniJam sold Doubles, Patties, and fresh squeezed juices. I'll be back there on Sunday.

Our time in Cocoa Beach is winding down to the last few weeks. We have learned a great deal, but there is still much more to discover about this intriguing, booming (literally) area. John has been inspired by the beautiful shells on the beach to create “shellscapes” in the yard that have a celestial focus. He’s come out as an artist and enriched the landscape with his designs. Who knew?

Every morning John goes to the beach to check the surf and watch the sunrise. He can't help but bring back a big sack of shells that he sorts and uses for his art. It's a beautiful, evolving thing!