A Sharks Tale.

*I meant to publish this months ago, but only had it half way written and completely forgot about it. This is the conclusion to our Disney/Universal Florida Vacation Recap. The Beach Day!

In between our stays at Disney and Universal, we took a day to switch resorts and rest our feet. We absolutely have to squeeze in a beach day when we vacation anywhere near the ocean, and typically when we travel to Disney we take our beach day at the end of the week to truly rest. This time, since we were switching resorts, it just made sense to take it in the middle of the week. It was absolutely the best decision. Weather wise it ended up perfect, too. 

We slept in and then headed an hour away out to Cocoa Beach to spend the day. I can't tell you how great it felt to not hit the ground running. This mid-week break was a true gift! 

I had been seeing everyone talk about "pub subs" from Publix on the internet, so we decided to grab those for lunch to take and eat on the beach and then go out for seafood for dinner (my husband's request). We found a great beach, not crowded at all, and enjoyed a full day of fun in the sun.

We had no idea we would end up with such a story from our beach day, but boy did we! 

Darin decided to get a little bit of work done during our down time so he perched up in the shade for a little bit while the boys and I played in the ocean. I had my camera out to take pictures of the boys in the waves and I tell you we had not been in the water for 2 minutes when Levi screamed, SHARK!!!! He saw it's fin sticking up out of the water and as he screamed, I looked down and a LITERAL SHARK swarmed around Levi's body and then made it's way toward Ezra, circling around his stomach. It was a small shark, but you better believe we SCREAMED and booked it to shore as fast as we could. I was running and screaming "SHARK! SHARK! SHARK!" and we cleared our whole area. Every was running out of the water and I looked up to the shore thinking Darin would be sprinting toward us to save the day, but nope - he was completely immersed in his work and didn't even hear us. I was incredulous. He got an ear full from me telling him how I could be dead and gone by this point and he'd be none the wiser. Unreal.

It was the rush of a lifetime and the boys were beyond thrilled about our shark encounter.  It was WILD. Darin finished his work up and they went back in the water to hunt for the shark (crazies - I didn't get back in past my ankles after that whole ordeal!) Darin had a whole crew of kids with him looking for sharks. So funny!

We spent the rest of the day swimming and playing and most of all relaxing before the evening storms rolled in and we loaded up and headed out for some seafood. We stopped for souvenirs at Ron Jon's Surf Shop and if we weren't so hungry we could have spent hours in there - that place was amazing! 

We found the neatest restaurant that had the highest ratings in the area and I honestly think about that place all the time. It was one of those places that wasn't fancy or anything, but it was just FUN. The food was absolutely delicious, the waitress was the sweetest, and the atmosphere was one of those places where you just want to be. It was the perfect end to our beach day, and all of us agreed that was one of our favorite (and definitely most memorable) days of the whole vacation. 

Plans, itineraries and reservations are super fun on vacation, but there's something about those spontaneous days that always bring about the very best memories. If you're doing a big Orlando vacation, I cannot recommend enough making time for a down day at the beach. Forget the crowded hotel pools or expensive water parks - get back to nature and enjoy the beautiful beaches in the area. Just beware of the sharks!