Great vacation! (Posted 8/8/2010)

After the last post we spent a bit more time in Titusville. Tropical Storm Bonnie went into Miami about 200 miles south of us. We had a bouncy day at anchor with winds maybe 25 knots or so from the pressure gradiant but the anchor held and all was fine.

We then moved south down to Cocoa/Cocoa Beach and anchored to wait for Amy, Mark, Olivia and Laura to arrive for their vacation. They arrived on July 27th and moved into a rented two-bedroom condo right on Cocoa Beach. Of course, the girls had to get right to the pool shortly after they arrived!! They have both been taking swimming lessons and are real "fish" now! Olivia swam across the pool unaided and Laura can swim for a good distance and come back up for air and swim further. Both dive to the bottom to retrieve items.

The next day was both beach and pool day. Mark, Linda and I did some "boogie boarding" in the waves (we are all children at heart regardless of our age!) GRIN. A boogie board is a very small surf board you put your chest on and body surf the waves. Olivia and Laura also did some boogie boarding in the shallower water and smaller waves. They also collected shells.

Here is a photo at the beach:



On the 29th we all went to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. WOW! It was great and really interesting and educational. We saw a Saturn rocket (HUGE!) and Apollo capsule, moon lander, moon rover, all of the first rockets, some of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules, mock-ups of the modules for the International Space Station and, of course, a Space Shuttle and the external tank and solid boosters. We could get inside mock-ups of the capsules and were amazed at how small and cramped they were for those first astronauts. We also saw 3D IMax movies. All astounding and jaw-dropping. Then, of course, we also rode the Space Shuttle Launch Experience in which you are taken on a simulated shuttle launch, you go vertical and after the countdown the engines ignite, you are forced into your seat as the shuttle accelerates, VERY LOUD, VERY TURBULENT and shaking the heck out of you, then you are in orbit and floating in space (at 17,500 miles per hour). Very impressive and a lot of fun!

Here are some photos taken at the Space Center.

Saturn rocket that took the Apollo missions to the moon:


This is an example of the Apollo spacecraft that went to the moon. The three astronauts were in the capsule at the front and the lunar lander was inside the cylinder behind it. Very cramped quarters!

Amy, Laura and Olivia in a mock-up of an Apollo capsule. The astronauts were in these seats all the way to the moon and back! NOT comfortable!! The real one was more cramped as this mock-up doesn't have the control panels and other equipment installed!

The mock-up of a space shuttle:


The "Rocket Garden":


Olivia and Laura in a mock-up of a Gemini capsule (the real thing was much more crowded as again this mock-up doesn't have the control panels and other equipment installed in it!):



Another day we went to the Merrit Island Wildlife Refuge and the Cape Canaveral National Seashore so view wildlife and look for shells. The next day we visited the Astronaut Hall of Fame which is separate from the Kennedy Space Center but included on the same ticket and included in the entrance fee. It was also a great experience, very educational, with hands-on exhibits for the kids and adults to play with. Those first astronauts were really something, very courageous, and "had the right stuff!".

A Mercury capsule like the one Alan Shepard went up in to be the first American in space. Tiny cockpit about the size of a jet fighter cockpit. Strapped in, no way to move around:

In between the days visiting places we had days for beach and pool time.

A couple of days before the kids were to fly back to Connecticut, we went to the Brevard Zoo which was a small but terrific zoo! We took a kayak tour and paddled through the animal habitats to see the animals up close. Giraffes, gazzelles, rhinos, apes, monkeys, etc. The girls got to feed the giraffes (they have really LONG tongues!). Saw lots of African and Florida wildlife. Another fun day!

At the zoo:

Of course, each evening before they took us back to the boat we had to eat dinner at a restaurant. Our diets were shot! We are now trying to recover and be good and eat less and healthier. :-)

On August 5th the kids left to go home and we headed south, back to "Gilligan's Island" for a night and then on to Vero Beach were we are now. We will stay here for a little over a week before again heading south to eventually get back to the Keys sometime in September.