When you think of the Kennedy Space Center you may think of that bump on a Florida map that extends out into the Atlantic ocean, but did you know that only half of that area is home to the Space Center? The other half is known as the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and it offers a visitors center, beautiful beaches, a wildlife drive, boating, hiking trails, fishing and a bioluminescent kayak tour.

Visiting the refuge is a great day trip for Melbourne and Palm Bay residents as it takes only about 45 minutes to get there from the intersection of I-95 and 192 and you can spend a few hours there or most of the day. Then it’s just a short return trip home. Jean and I like to visit the beaches as one of our favorite things to do there. When you drive up through Titusville on Highway 406 and then switch to 402, then onto the Refuge property, that will bring you to Playalinda Beach. When you cross over the railroad tracks, it then become a state park and you do have to pay a $3 per person access fee ($10 max per vehicle) to get to the beaches.

What we love best about the beaches is that they are pristine and you see zero buildings no matter how far you look in both directions. If you are in the right spot you can see the shuttle launch complexes, but when you travel down to beach a ways, you won’t even notice them. There are 13 parking lots and beach access areas as you travel north away from the Space Center so there is lots of room to find a nice spot on the beach for you and your family. We like to bring our beach chairs, a few snacks in the cooler and the beach umbrella and we’re set for several hours just reading and relaxing on unspoiled white sandy Florida beaches.

Our next favorite thing to do in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is take the Black Point Wildlife Drive through the usually swampy areas (it has been very dry this spring and early summer of 2011) and see what kind of wildlife we can spot. We’ve seen alligators, a multitude of different kids of birds, crabs scurrying about along the shore, turtles and more along the 6 to 7 mile drive. Depending on how much you stop to check out the wildlife, it can take you anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours to complete the loop.

Dry Conditions Along The Black Point Wildlife Drive. The sandy area in the picture should have 2 feet of water in it.

The visitors center also is worth a look as it features some of the animals that have been seen in the Refuge and you can also find out about camping there as well. There are only a few spots to camp in the Refuge and they must be accessed from the New Symrna side of the Canaveral National Seashore so it is a bit of a drive for Melbourne and Palm Bay residents if you want to camp there. You can also camp on one of the islands in the Refuge and you can find information on that here.

Enjoy a nice day trip away from Melbourne and Palm Bay up in Merritt Island. Get more information about the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge here.

Enjoy some additional pictures of the Refuge below:

Blanket Flower on the roadside:

Gator tracks in the dry swamps. They’re obviously looking for water.

More dry conditions at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge

Apparently some of us got more of the new Palm Bay trash cans than others, but the real story is how much the city paid for them and why. While the city of Melbourne Florida let Waste Management pay for the trash cans at a cost of approximately $34.50 each, for some unknown reason, the city of Palm Bay Florida decided that they would pay for the trash cans out of borrowed and city money. The claim is that Palm Bay has a better credit rating and therefore can borrow money for less.

I can’t verify this, but supposedly Palm Bay purchased the 76,000 by spending money collected from sanitation fees and not from taxes. Any way you want to look at it, the money belongs to the citizens of Palm Bay because there would be no city services if we weren’t paying the taxes that created that mechanism. Some $2.6 million was spent on the trash cans and the amount that was borrowed will end up costing the city $480,000 in interest on top of the already $175,000,000 Palm Bay is in debt.

Another controversy surrounding the new trash cans is that they were purchased from Cascade Cart Solutions in Grand Rapids Michigan instead of a local Florida, Brevard County or Palm Bay business (both Lowes and Home Depot have them, though not 76,000. I’m sure something could have been worked out). With the local economy the way it is, it doesn’t seem like a smart thing to do for a municipality such as Palm Bay to spend $2.6 million to support a non local economy, but at least they kept it in the good old USA.

Beyond the controversy, the new Palm Bay trash cans are 64 gallons, made of commercial grade plastic (the same is available at Lowes and Home Depot…just sayin) and do hold quite a bit of garbage. I hope you read the rules that also came with your trash cans (recycling cans come later to take up space in your garage) because you are now supposed to bag all of your trash, not place anything outside of the can and all recyclables will now be placed in another container to follow. That means you will be breaking down boxes when you purchase your next 56″ mega flat screen TV.

When the final trash pick-up schedule goes into effect on Nov 15th, Palm Bay will then go to a one day per week pick-up vs 2 days per week. Don’t worry though, you will save a little money for less service, a whopping 75 or so cents per month.

I think the new cans are kinda cool despite the controversy, and as you can see from the top photo you can have a little fun with them.

We are blessed with terrific weather here in Melbourne as we get approximately 300 days of sunshine a year. That’s why so many people choose to move to this part of Florida every year.

The Melbourne Florida area along with Brevard County was voted the 4th best place to retire in the United States and 1st in Florida recently by author David Savageau in Retirement Places Rated.

What makes the Melbourne area such a great place to live? Well, we have sort of a small town feel here in Melbourne, yet we have many of the conveniences and amenities of a much larger city.

Some of those nice amenities include some tasty Melbourne restaurants, entertainment, the Brevard Art Museum, medical care, golf courses, shopping and much more.

One of the top entertainment amenities available in the Melbourne area is the King Center. The King Center is a top notch entertainment venue with some of the biggest names in the music and entertainment worlds. Some of the scheduled shows coming up this year include Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Ed McMahon, The Moody Blues, James Taylor, The Manhattan Transfer and many many more.

The weather in Melbourne Florida as I mentioned earlier is usually very nice but when it gets a bit hot and humid here in July and August it’s time to head to the water and cool off. We have plenty of watersports activities available since Melbourne is right on the Indian River and just a short drive across the Melbourne Causeway gets you over to Idialantic Beach where you can enjoy everything the sand and surf has to offer most of the year.

One of the biggest events in Melbourne and the one that has put us on the map is the annual Melbourne Art Festival. The Melbourne Art Festival has been voted one of the top 25 art festivals in the nation and bring 250 artists and upwards of 60,000 attendees for the 3 day event. You don’t want to miss this one of a kind show in Melbourne.

If you are just planning a visit to Melbourne to check it out or are here for business please visit our Melbourne Florida Hotels page to find some comfortable accommodations.

I’m sure you will love the everything Melbourne Florida has to offer!

Additional Resources:

Melbourne Weather • Brevard County Clerk Of The Court • Brevard County FL Info

Brevard County Real Estate • Melbourne Real Estate Agent

Did you know that the Brevard Zoo is a world class zoo located just about 15 miles north of the city of Palm Bay?

If you don’t remember the history of the zoo it is famous for being the largest volunteer community build in the world. The initial stages of the Brevard Zoo was built starting in the spring of 1992 by over 20,000 volunteers.

The land was donated by Duda and Sons and after securing a $2.5 million loan with the help of the Brevard County Commission, 20,000 volunteers and 2 years of construction later the zoo opened in March of 1994.

This was just the beginning of the Brevard Zoo however. With continued support from the community it has grown into a tourist stop and education center for many a visitor and resident of Brevard County.

The Brevard Zoo now consists of four distinct habitats including Expedition Africa, Wild Florida, Autstral-Asia, and La Selva or South America. Each habitat has it’s own unique animals and theme. The zoo boasts some 550 animals representing 165 species from 5 different continents.

Other exhibits and activities at the zoo include, 2 kayaking adventures, a train ride, a behind the scenes look at the Expedition Africa exhibit, a petting zoo for youngsters and other specialty adventure tours. Part or all of the zoo can be rented after hours for special events and the Serengetti Pavillion that holds 250-300 people can also be rented for weddings, picnics or company functions.

The Brevard Zoo has been an important part of Brevard County for more than a decade now and is a great place to spend the afternoon sipping a cool drink and having a look at animals and habitats found all across the globe.

Over 300 people volunteer at the zoo to make it’s educational programs, gift shop, docent program and outreaches to the community truly unique.

The zoo sits on 58 acres of land at the South East corner of Wickham Rd and I-95 north of Melbourne Florida. To date 28 acres have been developed.

For more information, you can visit the zoo’s web site at: www.BrevardZoo.org

See you soon at the Brevard Zoo!

Brevard has 18 libraries located throughout the county with a total nearly one million volumes available.

There is most certainly a library located near you.

The library system has over 2,250 magazine subscriptions, 18,000 videos and 21,000 sound recordings available besides the extensive collection of books available.

The Brevard County Libraries have an extensive card catalog available via their web site which allows you to search or browse their entire collection for any subject or interest.

If you are stretched for time or you just don’t feel like driving to the library you can reserve books right from you own home and have them delivered to any one of the 18 libraries in the county available for you to pick up.

There are also several databases that are available in the libraries through your home computer if you need to do research on a particular subject.

To access the Brevard County Library System through the internet you can go to their web site at: www.brev.org

Gov-Resources.com Public Records Search

The Brevard County Property Appraiser Web site is another repository of valuable information.

Don’t get stuck not knowing what’s happening in Brevard County as it relates to taxes and your home and property.

At the Brevard County Property Appraiser’s Web site you can find out the latest tax laws, estimate the tax on your home, find out interesting facts about taxes and how they are figured on your home and lots of other info.

You can also find forms, maps and lots of demographic information on Brevard County at the Web site.

By far the most valuable resource available on the Brevard County Property Appraiser’s Web site is information on property research. You can find out just about anything about a piece of property in Brevard County with this valuable tool.

Find out who owns a piece of property, what the market value is, how much a piece of property sold for, how large a home is, how many bedrooms it has and on and on.

How Can You Use This Information?

Suppose you are interested in a piece of property. You can find out who the owner is and write to them and make an offer.

You can compare sales prices of property in a specific development to get a good idea of what your home or the piece of property you’re looking at is worth.

If you are looking for that special home or property as an investment you need someone who knows the area and has connections with the right people in the Brevard County area.

You can search the Brevard County Property Appraiser Web site all you want, to do your best research.

If you need to do business with the Property Appraiser’s office you can go to his Web site or visit one of the locations below near you:

Please visit the Property Appraiser’s contact page for current addresses and phone numbers.

North Brevard
Brevard County Property Appraiser
(Main Office)
Brevard County Government Complex – North
400 South Street, 5th Floor
Titusville, Florida 32780
Telephone: 321-264-6700

Central Brevard
Brevard County Property Appraiser
(Merritt Island Office)
This Office Has Been Closed Due To Reduced Budget
Brevard County Central Services Complex
2575 North Courtenay Parkway
Merritt Island, Florida 32953
Telephone: 321-455-1444

South Brevard
Brevard County Property Appraiser
(Melbourne Office)
Brevard County South Services Complex
1515 Sarno Road
Melbourne, Florida 32935
Telephone: 321-255-4440

Brevard County Property Appraiser
(Viera Office)
Brevard County Government Center
2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way
Viera, Florida 32940
Telephone: 321-690-6880

Brevard County Property Appraiser
(Palm Bay Office)
450 Cogan Drive SE
Palm Bay, Florida 32909
Telephone: 321-952-4574

Did you know that all sorts of records are available to the public? The Brevard County Clerk of the Court website lets you search all available county public records including land records.

The Brevard County Clerk of Court’s office is a complex organization that performs a wide range of record keeping, information and financial management for the judicial system, the Board of County Commissioners, and most importantly, the citizens of Brevard County.

The Brevard County Clerk of Court is the official recorder and custodian of all documents placed in the Brevard County Official Records. The Official Records are a permanent repository of those documents which primarily relate to real estate transactions.

Besides real estate records other records available include:

• Marriage licenses
• Court ordered child support
• Alimony payments
• Jury summons
• Criminal felony and misdemeanor cases
• Probate and Small Claims proceedings
• Juvenile cases
• Traffic citations

he current Brevard County Clerk of the Court is Scott Ellis. And here is a fun little bit of triva:

Since 1871 we have had 26 Presidents, how many Clerks of the Court have there been in Brevard County?

Give up…

Only 8…

That’s right, there have been only 8 Clerks of the Court in Brevard county in the time we have had 26 Presidents. The longest serving Clerk of the Court was G. M. Simmons who served 30 years from 1932 to 1962.

Pretty interesting factoid there. There are lots more where that one came from.

The Brevard County Clerk of the Court Web site is an invaluable repository of information. You can access the Web site here.

What’s Your Home Worth?
Find out the value of your home for free!