It is not my fault. Someone has to bite the calories, taste the Grimaldi handmade chocolates then report to you. That would be me.
I bravely walk into their store on Waverly Place in Melbourne.
The vats for making chocolate are behind the counter. Glass cases hold an assortment of possibilities.
A woman wearing a white apron asked: Would I like to try a sample?
Why yes.
And I wonder out loud: Is the sign on the door true – did they really have chocolate-covered potato chips?
Yep.
I try both the milk chocolate and the dark chocolate-covered potato chips. WOW. Salt and sweet together are quite wonderful.
How long have they been dipping chips in chocolate?
For forty-five years – the first owner started the fad! Talk about experiencing undiscovered Florida. I’m munching on a piece of it right now and it is delicious.
These chocolate-covered chips go all over the world. Three customers just ahead of me, leaving as I arrived, are students at a local college. They ordered chocolate-covered chips to be sent back to their home in Saudi Arabia!
Put on your walking shoes and discover downtown historic Melbourne
Chocolate-covered potato chips are just one of the sweet things you can discover while meandering around Downtown Historic Melbourne. From US 1 going south, turn right onto New Haven Avenue then find a parking spot. Parking is free but often iffy as spots fill up around mid-morning. Wear good walking shoes. Hat and sunscreen recommended. Downtown Historic Melbourne is easily 12 blocks long and with side streets to explore, a good four blocks wide.
downtown historic Melbourne, Florida
The entire area is a tasty combination of thrift shops, antique stores, clothing emporiums, craft collections, bead shops, murals on buildings, a potter or two, art galleries, recycled treasures, eateries, a tobacco shop, Irish bar and coffee shops.
At the Molly Mutt II Thrift Shop on New Haven Avenue, all the proceeds go to the Central Brevard Humane Society. They even carry flea products for dogs and cats in case you forgot to get your monthly supply. In case you are wondering, there is a Molly Mutt I Thrift Shop in Rockledge and a Molly Mutt III Thrift Shop in Merritt Island.
downtown historic Melbourne, Florida,- thrift shop
The Common Stone Pottery store sits one of those side streets, E. Strawbridge Avenue. Owner and potter Deborah Speer tells me her husband gave her a certificate to a pottery class as a gift twenty years ago.
One gift, that’s all it took. Her love of pottery began then grew into a store full of creative and useful pottery pieces – all of her stone pottery is oven proof, microwave proof.
Some unique items she has created include a sponge holder and a roasting dish for chicken. She lit up with a smile as she showed me her two-handed large ceramic gravy pitcher. A perfect pitcher for Thanksgiving, the one day of the year that good turkey gravy takes center stage. You grab this pitcher, pour gravy, then turn the pitcher to the next handle and pass it down the table. What fun!
A popular gathering spot for locals is the Sun Shoppe Café on New Haven Avenue. Breakfast and lunch served along with a variety of espresso drinks for the caffeine addicted like me, along with many shades of smoothies.
downtown historic Melbourne, Florida has a great latte place
Expect to see laptops in use, newspaper readers, friends gathered for a meal (? And night time entertainment, with live music, often goes on until midnight.
Ring the Liberty Bell in downtown historic Melbourne
In 1976 Brevard County school children raised $2,000 (?) to purchase a replica of the Liberty Bell. It hangs here in the Liberty Bell Memorial Museum, a project of Honor America. The museum is on Hickory Street, just two blocks from New Haven Avenue.
downtown historic Melbourne, Florida – Liberty bell
No admission charge but donations welcome. The round main room is devoted to our country’s history including a narrated video of what happened to the brave men who signed the original Declaration of Independence – many had their homes burned, they were imprisoned and lost all their possessions. Bravery indeed. There are also local military history memories like photos of the airfield where pilots were trained for World War II.
A side room has uniforms from all the military branches. After touring the small museum, the final thing to do is ring the bell.
downtown historic Melbourne Florida – liberty bell
You are given a rubber mallet to ring the bell and shown the area to strike. BONG. The bell tone is deep, a resonating bass note that lingers and vibrates in the still air. Then you get a card saying you are an official member of the Ding Dong Society. Oh yes, we are definitely having fun now.
Wells Park, across the street from the museum, can sometimes be a good place to see wading birds. The day I visit, flocks of white ibis splash in recent rain puddles, not unlike kids playing at a water park.
EAU GALLIE ARTS DISTRICT
Go back to US 1 going north and turn right on Eau Gallie Blvd. Then left on Highland Avenue. The Foosaner Art Museum and Education Center was closed the day I cruise the Arts District but the museum certainly looks to be worth a visit.
downtown historic Melbourne, Florida – art museum
Nearby the Old Pineapple Inn Historic Bed & Breakfast on, where else?, Pineapple Avenue. The B&B is the current incarnation for an attractive three-story Victorian home built by William Gleason in 1886.
downtown historic Melbourne Florida – historic B&B
GET WET, CATCH FISH, SEE A RIVER’S UPPER BASIN
Melbourne abuts the Eau Gallie River and the Indian River Lagoon with public fishing piers making for easy access to great fishing. Three bridges connect to Indialantic and Satellite Beach, both front the Atlantic Ocean and boast long sandy beaches with easy access.
It is very cool to have both beaches and river ecosystems, so different yet so close by each other. For a look at the upper basin of the St. Johns River take an airboat tour with Capt. Mike Tyson of Bull Gator Adventures. Capt. Mike knows ecosystems, history, wildlife lore and the best scenic places in a vast river system full of lakes, airboat trails, wetlands, cypress stands and an occasional island.
“I give tours, not rides,” Capt. Mike said. Choose between one hour, 90 minutes and a two-hour tour. His 90-minute tour at $49 per person is his most popular.
Most airboats have one gear – go, and the engine is loud and fast. It is that or off. But Capt. Mike has bells and whistles not usually found on airboats. For starters, he added twin trolling motors. This allows maneuvering and almost silent running. The trolling motors are great for fishing and perfect for viewing wildlife up close.
And we got the benefit of those motors on our airboat tour.
Quite a distance ahead, Capt. Mike spotted a gator’s head out of the water. Cutting the airboat engines, he switched to the trolling motors. We silently glided to within eight feet of the gator and then ever so slowly paced along parallel with the male gator as he swam. We did notice the gator always kept an eye on us but he was not perturbed. Must have been our silent running. We didn’t seem like a threat.
“You measure how big a gator is by the distance between his snout and his eyes,” said Capt. Mike softly. Ummm, ladies and gentlemen, this is a HUGE gator, at least 12 inches between eyes and snout, maybe more. Perhaps 80 years old. Cameras click. We are very quiet.
Capt. Mike is deeply impressed and spoke almost in a whisper. “You have no idea what a rare sight this is. It is alligator hunting season. They are usually very skittish. I can’t believe he is letting us be alongside him.”
Someone spoke in a normal voice and whoosh; the gator flicked his tail and heading down into the sediment. Later on a lake we saw baby alligators that had just hatched.
Airboats can skim over vegetation without destroying it. At times it seemed surreal to be in a boat going over green grasses then coming back to water and throwing a wake.
If you’ve never done an airboat ride, or even if you have, spend some time with Capt. Mike and you’ll have a new appreciation of the amazing upper basin of the St. Johns River.
Note: I took the airboat tour as a guest of Bull Gator Adventures. The ride was arranged through the Florida Space Coast Office of Tourism
UPCOMING EVENTS
Oct. 5-7 Melbourne Main Street Fall Festival
Oct. 18-21 Melbourne Oktoberfest & Brewfest
KUDOS
Lucy’s book “Florida Gardens Gone Wild” won third place in the annual Florida Outdoor Writers Association Best in Crafts Awards, Titusville, September 2012