Melbourne, Florida

Although I live in Palm Bay, Melbourne is our neighbor just to the north and is the ‘real’ city where people often go for shopping, restaurants on the water, and nightlife. Palm Bay is very much still growing, and doesn’t have the historic district and nice shopping district that Melbourne has. We still have entire neighborhoods being developed, and they just opened a new freeway on and off ramp. So it’s definitely on the move, but Melbourne is more of a ‘hub’, locally.

For one thing, Melbourne has an airport, the Orlando Melbourne International Airport. Yup, our own little airport! It’s not that big, as you might expect, but it does serve Delta and American Air. I read an article recently that said they are looking to expand the airlines that can use the airport, which would be nice, since Orlando airport is about an hour away. It hasn’t happened yet, though.

Trains, also, run through Melbourne. You can catch an Amtrak to go pretty much anywhere. There is also a new high speed rail system being developed. Right now it’s connecting the south of Florida, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. Ultimately, however, it will connect to the Orlando airport and will be going right through Brevard County (which includes Melbourne, Palm Bay, and Cocoa Beach, etc.). There have been talks of adding a stop in Brevard. We shall see.

I love the historic downtown in Melbourne!

Melbourne has a historic downtown, which is usually my favorite part of any town. This is a small district, only a couple blocks across, but it has a great assortment of shops, bars, and restaurants. It’s also not far from the water, so there are waterfront restaurants close by as well.

If shopping is your thing, there are two malls, only one of which I have been to so far. The Melbourne Village has a theater, lots of restaurants, and a very nice mall. It’s a very nice area that has pretty much anything you might want, plus it’s a quick hop to the beach! There is shopping in Palm Bay, but not the more upscale stores. Kohl’s, for instance, is handy, but if you want something a bit more fancy, you’re probably going to Melbourne.

Speaking of the beach… Melbourne is on the water, but the real beach is across the bridge, at Indiatlantic. So it’s 5 minutes away (see the map above). The Indiatlantic beach is a nice one, not very touristy (less so than Cocoa Beach, which is about 20 minutes north). One thing of interest, at least to me, is that the sea turtles nest here. You can see the signs marking the protected areas for the nesting turtles. I’ve not been lucky enough yet to see any, but one of these days!

Of course, it is Florida, so there is a beach pretty much everywhere! There are lots of nice condos in Indiatlantic, and various restaurants along the main strip. In fact, it’s where my real estate office is!

Indiatlantic Beach

There are a couple of other sites to see in the area (more than that, actually, but trying to stick to the big points!) First of all, there is a very nice zoo, the Brevard Zoo, which has a great assortment of Florida and other wildlife. The one thing unique about the Brevard Zoo is that they have an option for ziplining and exploring the zoo from above! It looks like a very cool experience (not sure my back would handle it, but if I could do it, I would!).

And while it’s a topic big enough for another day, I would be remiss not to mention that this area is part of the Space Coast. The Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral are right up the road. In fact, you can watch rocket and shuttle launches from Indiatlantic or Cocoa Beach, and with the renewed efforts put into the space program there has been lots of activity lately! As a side note, anyone who works in aerospace and/or technology might want to check out the jobs in that area. There is a lot going on.

Manatees

One more thing that many people may not be aware of is that this area is home to manatees. Especially around Christmas time (which is when we went looking for them) there are many manatees that congregate in local waters. There are lots of inlets and waterways in Florida, and that’s where these fascinating creatures like to hang out at that time of year. The picture above was taken just north of Indiatlantic beach, just off the road alongside a neighborhood! A related activity that one can do in this area is the swamp tours. I am eager to do that, and will share the pictures when I go!

I’m really enjoying this area, it is totally different from anywhere I’ve lived before. For anyone who might be considering a move here, I would recommend looking into the various cities I mentioned, to get a flavor of each. Also, if you’re curious about different housing prices, check out my contact page, my real estate link has a nice search tool you can use to look around!