A rainstorm had been gone for only a quarter hour when we walked out to see the Atlantic Ocean at the Alan Shepard Beachfront Park. Tourists were already gathering, many in bathing suits, and a few were venturing into the surf.The sand there is a light brown color and I thought that might be the reason behind the name of the beach. However, Wikipedia says that early residents of Cocoa Beach named it for a nearby town called Cocoa, which was named for either the cocoa tree or the chocolatey beverage made from its beans.
I read that the first non-native settlement in the area was by a family of freed slaves following the Civil War. In 1888, a group of men from Cocoa bought the entire tract of land that became Cocoa Beach, although it went undeveloped until 1923.
Our ship's newsletter introduced Cocoa Beach with the statement that it was the fictional location of "I Dream of Jeannie." I wonder how many of the younger passengers even know what that was — the show ended in 1970.
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