Downtown New Smyrna Beach

I love Melbourne’s downtown, but I have to say, New Smyrna Beach has a lot going for itself as well. I went up there one weekend to visit a friend and we had a great lunch and then enjoyed checking out the area. The surfer hippie vibe is so much fun and the downtown feels much more laid back then the nearby touristy Daytona beach.

There were a ton of restaurants to choose from and we ended up at Third Wave Cafe and Wine Bar for lunch. The restaurant had an amazing garden patio that I could have relaxed in all day. I was going for a light lunch so I will have to come back another time for wine, but I enjoyed their large tea selection on this visit.

We split a salad and flatbread for lunch. The garden atmosphere definitely put me in the mood for a some veggies and their vast salad menu had plenty of great choice to choose from. I went with the Third Wave Salad which had almonds, feta, strawberries and red onions. It was a refreshing choice to go along with the flatbread.

The pizza we got was also delicious as it was topped with prosciutto, pineapple, jalapenos and lots of cheese. It was called the El Ray. It had a perfect flatbread crust that you could tell was straight out of a brick oven. The sauce was the only downside as it is a lot sweeter than I prefer, but the toppings more than made up for it. We loved dining it such a beautiful setting in the sun.Our plan was to do a Christmas cookie walk afterwards but they had sold out of entries. Downtown New Smyrna beach usually does a wine walk once a month, but this month was a cookie walk instead. I have done the wine walk and had so much fun checking out all the different places while sipping some great wines. The cookie walk also looked fun, but apparently they usually sell out of entries so if you go to one of their famous walks here buy your ticket ahead of time!

We walked anyways despite not being able to collect cookies and looked in some of the cute shops. We got some peppermint ice cream instead from Treats on the Beach. There were so many great sounding flavors there, but I was in a Christmas mood and the peppermint satisfied this. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking and window shopping in all the cute stores there. It’s about a mile walk from start to finish and the beach is at the end. It is part of the strip where you can drive your car on the sand, however there’s also plenty of room to stroll or sit in chairs on the sand if you prefer. This town is the perfect driving distance for a day trip from me and about the same from Orlando as well. It is a great escape from the more densely populated areas and you can really relax and enjoy the beach life here.