🌅🍴🛸 From Cocoa Beach Sunrises to Cooking Legends and Chewbacca Selfies: April 29 Through Time, Flavor, and Flight

By Robo | www.roboaces.com

🌊 My April 29, 2024 — Sunrise, Solitude, Star Wars... and a Culinary Legend

This time last year, April 29 kicked off stupid early — like “before the birds are even gossiping” early.

I gave someone a ride to Cocoa Beach, and by the time I got there, the sky was still flirting with night. Then came the glow. No music. No chaos. Just waves licking the shore and the sun rising like it had something to prove.

I sat there quietly, feet in the sand, taking it all in. Sometimes, that’s all you need. Just silence and salt air to remember you’re alive.

But that morning meant something deeper.

📸 I stopped along the way to take a photo — one I thought might mark the beginning of a whole new chapter.
I was getting into a serious relationship at the time, and I truly believed this journey would lead to something lasting. We were trying to make it work long-distance — Florida to Pennsylvania — and I was holding onto hope, gripping tight to what felt like love in motion.

But sometimes, life gets in the way.
Miles stack up. Words fade. Time slips.

Now, I look back at that photo — included in this post — and I feel the silence of what could’ve been. It’s hard to admit you miss someone who was never really yours to keep. But I do. I miss her.

🏥 Today — April 29, 2025: An Unexpected Diagnosis at the VA

Flash forward to today — same date, new chapter.

This morning, I had an appointment at the VA in Orlando, and let me tell you — they are top-notch. I've received incredible care from the folks there, and today was no different. After months (maybe longer) of not sleeping right, of waking up more tired than I went to bed, I finally got some answers:

😴 I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea.

It hit me hard — but it also made so much sense.

That bone-deep exhaustion?
The fog that wouldn’t lift?
The nights that felt like battles and mornings that felt like defeat?

Now I know why. And that changes everything.

🧠 What Causes Sleep Apnea?

• Blocked airways (obstructive sleep apnea)
• Neurological misfiring (central sleep apnea)
• Risk factors like weight gain, smoking, or genetics
• And sometimes... just bad luck and worn-down systems

🛠️ How You Can Fight It:

• CPAP machines (game-changer for many)
• Lifestyle changes like weight loss, quitting smoking, better sleep habits
• Positional therapy and elevating the head
• Surgery in extreme cases

For me, this means making real adjustments. Prioritizing sleep. Listening to my body. Taking care of the vessel that carries all this grit, history, heartache, and hope.

🏄‍♂️ Ron Jon Surf Shop – The Mecca of Wave Culture

After the sunrise last year, I stopped by one of Florida’s most iconic landmarks: Ron Jon Surf Shop.

🌊 Opened: 1963 in Cocoa Beach (original: 1959, Ship Bottom, NJ)
👤 Founder: Ron DiMenna

This place isn’t just a store — it’s a beach lifestyle institution. At 52,000+ square feet, it’s the largest surf shop in the world, open 24/7/365. It helped shape East Coast surf culture and has been fueling dreamers and wave-chasers for decades.

Walking inside feels like standing inside the pulse of ocean culture.
It’s freedom. Waxed boards. Neon signs.
It’s home, even if you’ve never surfed a day in your life.

🦎 Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Where Nature Meets Imagination

From the coast, I drove inland to Animal Kingdom, one of the most uniquely built parks on the planet.

🐾 Opened: April 22, 1998 (Earth Day)
🌳 Created by: Joe Rohde and Disney Imagineering
🌍 Size: Over 500 acres — the largest of all Disney parks

It’s part immersive zoo, part spiritual retreat. Flight of Passage in Pandora wasn’t a ride — it was a reckoning. When I soared across floating mountains and glowing forests on a banshee’s back, I felt lighter than I had in months.

It wasn’t adrenaline.
It was healing.

🍴 Meeting Chef Jet Tila – A Culinary Dream Come True

Later that same day, the universe tossed another gift into my lap — Chef Jet Tila, standing right there at the park.

👨‍🍳 Quick Jet Tila Bio:
Born in Los Angeles, 1975
Thai-Chinese American culinary force
Iron Chef America, Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen, Guy’s Grocery Games
Culinary Ambassador for Thailand
Author of "101 Asian Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die"

Jet is more than a chef. He’s a cultural bridge. A flavor wizard. And a total class act.
He took time to chat, snap a pic, and left me feeling like anything’s possible with enough spice and soul.

🌌 Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Lights, Camera, Rebellion

And because the day hadn’t served up enough magic already — I closed it at Hollywood Studios.

🎬 Opened: May 1, 1989
🎥 Originally: Disney-MGM Studios
🎞️ Purpose: To bring the magic of moviemaking to life

Here, I stepped into the Star Wars galaxy. I flew the Millennium Falcon, faced down Darth Vader, and took on Rise of the Resistance like I’d been prepping for it since childhood.

Chewbacca gave me a hug. BB-8 nodded in approval. Vader… well, he glared.

And for a few hours, I was just a kid again. Unbreakable. Untouchable. Whole.

☀️ One Day. One Sunrise. One Diagnosis. One Goodbye. One Awakening. 📜 Today in History: April 29

1945 – Hitler and Eva Braun Die. Dachau is Liberated.
1975 – Saigon Falls.
1992 – Los Angeles Burns.
2011 – Billions Watch a Royal Wedding.

History doesn’t take days off. Neither does grief. Or growth. Or healing.

🧠 Robo Reflection

History doesn’t whisper — it screams.
It knocks the wind out of you. Then it hands you a sunrise, a diagnosis, or a damn photo with a chef you admire.

Some days, you’re wiped out from a fight you didn’t know you were in.
Some days, you’re riding banshees and flying starships.
Other days, you’re sitting quietly with the truth… finally able to name the thing that’s been wearing you down.

Today, I finally did that.

“Life is short. The world is wide. And this moment? You only get it once.
So get checked. Get answers. Watch the sunrise. Take the photo. Ride the ride.
And when your body finally tells you what’s wrong — listen.
Then live.”
— Robo