Being able to visit the Kennedy Space Center, nice beaches, and ride a Segway sure sounded like a great way to spend a week. We traveled to Merritt Island with our friends JC and Bev and had a special visitor Carol come stay for a few days with us too. We decided to stay on Merritt Island at the KARS Park.
This recreational facility was once used by NASA employees and is now available to retired veterans and their guests. The campground is a little run down but we liked our site very much. It's always fun to have a water view and the price was great ($20/night). 
Beverly arranged a fun Segway tour with a Groupon discount. They have tried Segway's before but it was our first time. It was surprisingly easy to learn how to use (learn forward to go -lean back to stop - try to avoid hitting anything). We spent about 90 minutes zipping along Cocoa Beach and at the end I wanted to buy one. They are out of our price range in reality but if you get a chance to try one don't be intimidated.
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| JC, Bev, me, & John |
Our first stop was near the spectacular Jetty Beach. There is a popular campground nearby by the same name which has the added bonus of being able to watch cruise ships and boats going up and down the waterway.
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| Jetty Beach |
Our other stop was by the cruise pier. The weather was a little chilly but check out the pretty blue skies.
Our friend Carol arrived in the afternoon and the next day we all took off for Kennedy Space Center. We enjoyed the center tremendously and spent most of the day there. A nice lady at the visitor center named Noah gave us some great hints on how to make the most of our visit. She suggested our first stop to be the auditorium where an astronaut was giving a presentation about his space travel. His name was Tom Jones and after our visit we all agreed his dynamic presentation was the highlight.
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| Astronaut Tom Jones |
There is an five story IMAX theatre which shows two films. Both were very exciting and fun to watch. As you can tell my friend Carol is a very serious person.
A guided bus tour took us out to the Vehicle Assembly Building where the rockets were put together and then moved out to the launch pad. Check out the very tall garage doors on the side.
The bus dropped us off at the Apollo/Saturn Center. You suddenly become very much aware of the length of the Saturn rocket which launched the astronauts to the moon. It took our breath away as we first walked into the building.
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| Lunar landing module |
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| space capsule |
Looking at this space capsule and seeing how small it was inside gave me a real sense of awe. What brave men and women have participated in the space program.
We all remembered when the astronauts first landed on the moon. The world held its breath as Neil Armstrong first stepped down. This center brought so much of this alive in the hands on displays, movies, memorabilia, and even a moon rock you could touch.
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| Moon rock |
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| Newspaper headlines |
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| Girls gone wild for astronauts |
The next day we stopped at the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. The visit is included in your Space Center Admission. It is somewhat dated but an interesting stop.
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| United State Astronaut Hall of Fame |
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| Carol trying to land a lunar module |
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| My favorite astronaut |
When you come to Florida for visit be sure to add the Kennedy Space Center to your "must see" list. It's out of this world! :)
Looks like you had a good time. Great pictures!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great part of Florida:)
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