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Kennedy Space Center
NASA sign, located just inside the entrance of the Kennedy Space CenterOur morning started out at Sunrise Diner, where we collected our free breakfast courtesty of the Luna Sea Motel. The breakfast was a bit too homestyle for my taste (crisco flavored hash browns, anyone?), but thankfully I picked french toast, which was quite possibly the safest choice. And hey, it was free, so I'm not going to complain about it!
After breakfast we headed to Kennedy Space Center, located about 25 minutes away from the motel. The last time I went to KSC, I was 9, so let's just say that space travel has sure advanced since then. The visitor complex is set up much like a theme park, complete with a launch experience simulator, models of several rockets, satellites, and shuttle equipment readily available to explore or photograph, a memorial wall and tribute to all the astronauts who lost their lives, an IMAX theatre, and a bus tour that takes you around the grounds and stops at the launch pad observation tower, the Saturn V complex, and the building where pieces of the International Space Station are built.
We had a great day, but I have to add that if you compare KSC to the Houston Space Center,
Sunrise Diner
Cocoa Beach, Florida Houston is much, much more impressive. All the rockets and space vehicles at KSC are replicas, and the launch simulator was quite a disappointment (just have someone grab your chair and shake it violently for a few minutes...you'll get the same result). But the tribute to the astronauts who've lost their lives was quite touching, and the IMAX movie was fantastic (we watched "Space Station 3D"... "A Walk on the Moon 3D" was also showing).
I think the highlight of the day, however, was seeing four alligators in the canals around the complex. Apparently it is mating season and the alligators are extra aggresive right now. I guess I won't be trying to stop and feed one anytime soon (yes, I'm kidding), but I will get a picture of one before this trip is over! Other wildlife we saw today included: hundreds of egrets, some herons, a few turtles, and a group of vultures snacking on a dead boar. There were also quite a few vultures outside the Saturn V complex, eyeing the visitors with those hungry black eyes of theirs.
After a trip to the gift shop (to add a new snow globe to my collection!) we
hit the road and headed down 95 South toward Miami. We meant to stop about 60 miles north of Palm Beach. However, after a detour to the 1 South and several failed attempts to find a motel, we ended up back on the 95 and managed to drive all the way to Palm Beach after all. We found a Motel 6 at about 8pm, complete with police cars parked outside because two guests had gotten into a fight and were in the process of being kicked out of the building (hopefully this doesn't foretell what the night will be like here...fingers crossed!). This motel is also surrounded by miles and miles of fast food restaurants (and nothing else), so our late dinner was Burger King taken back to the room. Mmmm...healthy! Oh well, at least it was cheap, as was the motel ($59 a night).
Tomorrow we head to Miami!
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Motel 6
Not surprised about Motel 6. I told you about our experience in Scottsdale. However, hope you have a good night. We're enjoying your blog. Glad to see the new astronaut.... By the way this is the correct spelling for vulture.