Cape Kennedy and the Mouse

• Gknopp's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Cape canaveral

Trip Start Dec 01, 2007 Previous
Entry Trip End May 31, 2008 Next
Entry

  Cape canaveral, Florida, United States
Tuesday, April 15, 2008

We had talked about stopping at NASA for some time, but never made it happen even though with our rental properties we come to south Florida quite often.  Same with going to Disney and Orlando.  So when we decided to head north, we opted to try to make the stop at Cape Canaveral.   I did a little web research and found a great marina not far from the space center.... so off we went.  By the time we started north from Vero Beach, it was 10am and and by 5:00 I was heading in the Cape Canaveral Barge Channel.  It was one of those rare glimpses of what some call "old Florida".  The canal led directly through a jungle-like setting with dense palms and growth everywhere.  This was beautiful....old FL...very old. 

So we proceeded through the bascule bridge and then on to the marina.  After a single 'go round' in backing into the slip, we were in and tied up.   Soon after that we were checking out the little marina restaurant where we found a terrific tuna and ..... cheap beer.   Anywhere we can get a decent beer for $1.90 a mug albeit a small mug...I'm sold.   So far this marina was ideal...decent restaurant...nice facilities...pool....and all for $1/foot.  This indeed is what a marina should cost.  When you are cruising for several month, these are things you look for....at least I do.

When we tied up, it was hot...really warm I mean....hot is when we are in AZ.  But in FL a temp of 88 is pretty warm considering the high humidity.  We were very happy to have a marina and a good 50 amp cord capable of running our AC.   We cranked it up and cooled down the boat.
 
But by morning...(you guessed it) the next cold front came through and temps were close to 45 degrees with a 20 kt wind.   I was quickly reminded why we didn't make it to the Bahamas.   Clouds were rolling in and we grabbed the raincoats as we headed off to pick up a car and head to the space center.  

We spent four nights at this marina.  During our three days we spent two at Kennedy Space center and a day in Orlando going to EPCOT.   

I hadn't been to the space center for decades and it was very impressive.   Most memorable were:

- A 45 minute stand-up talk by Al Worden who was one of the men who flew to the moon
- The astronaut hall of fame where we saw all the people who made it all happen.  Most folks cant name more than  two or three of these heroes and I was happy to see them get their due
- Two 3d IMAX films showing blast off and re-entry of rockets
- A visit to a full size space shuttle. 

The second day, we drove over to Orlando.   We looked at all the choices of which park to go to  and decided to go back to EPCOT as they had a lot of international exhibits including music and food.  While Disney never really disappoints, it was hard to imagine how families can afford to go to several parks when a daily park pass is $70 per adult.  Still the place was packed and we had a great time including an amazing lunch and show at the German exhibit.  Ommmm pa!   We enjoyed the day and as the weather had settled into sweatshirts suitable for the 65 degree temps. 

Today we were ready to go and rose to find temps back in the high 40s.  Wow, we were glad to still be plugged in.  As we headed north, we encountered apparent winds over 30kits and one of the rougher seas in the ICW we have ever encountered.  Going north is sounding pretty good.

Print this entry Share Cape Canaveral hotels

Previous Entry Next Entry