Trains, Beer, Crafts, Beer, Art, Beer

 Trains & Beer 

The paper said the new Brightline train was going tp be coming through Brevard for the first time. Then my friend Ann sent me a link announcing that the estimate was between 5 & 6 PM. It was Thursday and I had no dinner plans, so I headed down to Hell n's Blazes Brewery located next to the tracks in Melbourne.

It was early so I decided to start with a beer. They had the Blueberry Sap Tap so I kiddingly asked for a "pancake" to start the day. It was not too sweet and had a distinctive maple flavor. Here is the beer after a sip with the menu description.

Still early for the train to go by so I decided to have a "cookie" before I left. My humorous order of Todd's Crumb Catcher was cracking up the bartender, or at least that is what I thought after the 6% Blueberry Sap Tap.

Back to the train, they had updated the time to between 5:30 & 6:30 PM. I had some time to waste. The Brightline is going to be a high-speed rail between Miami and Orlando. It will go through our county but I think the current plans has NO stop for us on the Space Coast. The trains will travel about 125 mph. Although no stations, they are adding a second set of tracks through our county to Cocoa and then it will turn West along the SR 528 heading to the Orlando International Airport. This task is disrupting traffic at every railroad crossing. There are a lot of those. Plus, they are adding new bridges. This is the current construction over Crane Creek in downtown Melbourne.

I did find this sign with a little history of the trains in Brevard and Melbourne

Between the construction and the pandemic, lots of local businesses have suffered. It looks like this place is closed.

Just below the Crafty Crane is a Cuban restaurant called El Ambia. They are open and you can still get there by car, but you need to pass thru Road Closed signs to get there. It has to be hurting them. It looks like someone flew in...

Nearing 6:30. I head back to the tracks and sit on the steps of an Antique store that was closed. This is the view from the steps.

As I was sitting there, an older lady passed by and I thought I recognized her as Ginny from the lighthouse tour in Cape Canaveral, but what would she be doing down in Melbourne on a Thursday evening? So I said nothing.

Then I see Devin Dean, a past co-worker at ENSCO walk by, who happens to be the son of Ginny. I stopped him and asked if that was his mom I just saw. Yep, it was her 78th Birthday and they were heading to Crush XI for her celebration. Here is Devin with his son and his son's fiancée. 

Now the train may not get there until 7 PM so I went back to the brewery for another beer and some dinner. Met a couple from Deerfield Beach and enjoyed conversations with them. I missed the train going by...

Crafts & Beer

Friday was a do some chores day and I visited Lou's Blues for a beer. On Saturday, my phone remined me of two events that day. The first was the Fall Arts & Crafts show in Cocoa Village. I decide to head up early at 10:30 AM, but the place was already packed with people. I ended up parking in an abandoned field with 100 other cars. It was free but a 15 minute walk to the Show. First thing I noticed is that there was a new English Tavern. Checked it out briefly but did not stop.

This mural was on Harrison Street...

Across the street from the mural was this sign. We had a long discussion on Friday of where we could find Beignets in the local area. There use to be a restaurant beachside that served them with a wonderful Café Au Lait. Just like Café du Monde in New Orleans. Maybe this place will have them...

Because of COVID, the show had spread out the vendors. This included using the riverside park. I guess Christmas must be coming...

The park runs up to the edge of the Indian River Lagoon. There were a few sail boats in the small harbor. If I turned around, I could see the fountain and the bandstand.

There was a band playing named Tru Phonic. They were good.

After visiting the park I headed up Harrison Street. The first picture is a wide angle and the second is a close up of the old building. Interesting brick work...

I just had to take a picture of this tee shirt. Being polite, I asked the vendor for permission and she was wearing the same tee-shirt. I need to take more photos of Boo Bees....

Art & Beer

The second event my phone reminded me of was an Art Festival being held at the Avenues in Viera for the first time. Somehow I ended up at the World of Beers first. Not sure, maybe I was lost. I ordered a Sea Dog Blueberry, served with real blueberries that float up and down in the glass.

It was Saturday and they had college football games playing. The left TV had the UF (Gators) game and the right TV had on USF (South Florida). The next TV to the right had the UCF (Central Florida). I ordered another Sea Dog with Guinness on top.

The beers made me hungry so I headed over to the Pizza Gallery. From my seat at the indoor bar I could still see the World of Beer.

The original Pizza Gallery was located on Post Road, where Long Doggers is now. Back then, the ENSCO office was just a short ride away and we would go here for lunch. We would each order a personal pizza which they cut into four slices. If there were four of us, we could each have a different flavor. If only three, you had to eat two slices of what you ordered. My favorite was the Cezanne. White sauce, garlic, mushrooms and chicken. The Viera Pizza Gallery still has famous artist names for the pizzas but the no longer have the Cezanne on the menu. But I found out, you can still order the old favorites. I asked the bartender and he said he would have to use the Secret pizza menu. Here is my Cezanne, just like 20 years ago...

Well, I was here for the Art Festival. They had cars around the artists. You can see it is the Space Coast Art Festival. For 50 years, it was held in Cocoa Beach. Then it moved for two years at the Port and then two more years in Port Canaveral along the Banana River. This is the first year at the Avenues and it was small, under 50 artists.

It was a beautiful day for an Art Festival. I hope they can grow in their new spot.

One last note, as I was leaving the Avenues at Viera, I saw them working hard on the new Tuscany Grill Restaurant. I think they plan to open in November. This building has hosted a few different places, the last being a Mexican Restaurant called Tequila Azul. 

ENSCO held many luncheons at the old Tuscany Grill on Wickham. Maybe this will be for the better. I hope they serve BEER!