Kennedy Space Center

We debated about spending our last day in Florida in the Tampa area, doing something in Orlando, or going to the Space Center.  I would love to spend more time on the Gulf Coast sometime, but since the shuttle program will be ending in just a few months, we decided to go to Cape Canaveral to the Kennedy Space Center.  Dave & Judy had flown out of Tampa early Saturday morning.  We took Aunt Fern out to breakfast at Bob Evans, one of her favorite breakfast restaurants.  After a nice meal we said our good-byes and drove our trusty Impala rental car back to the east coast.  After a couple of detours, we managed to arrive at the space center around noon, bought our tickets, and were ready to explore.  I hadn't known that the Kennedy Space Center is on 140,000 acres.  They only use a small part of it, so the rest is left as a natural wildlife refuge.  Supposedly there are 4000-6000 alligators, but we never saw one, even in the pond they said they were often seen.  They also have numerous kinds of birds, manatees, and many other types of wildlife.  We did see a huge eagle's nest, but that was it.

 The shuttle Explorer

inside the shuttle cargo bay 

We did a ride called the Shuttle Launch Experience.  We stood in line for a while and appreciated the shade and misters.  They show videos hyping up the ride, how exciting it all is, we finally get into lines ready to enter the rows of the ride... and find out it has to be reset as something happened to it the last ride.  After all that, it turned out to be a pretty tame ride.  It simulates what it feels and looks like to take off in the shuttle launch.  

There are many things to see at the visitor center, including two IMAX theaters, an astronaut encounter where you can hear stories from veteran astronauts, have lunch with an astronaut, rocket displays, restaurant, gift shop, etc.  Every 15 minutes big buses leave the visitor center for tours of the rest of the space center.  The tour takes about 2-3 hours and we enjoyed that more than the visitor complex.  There are three tour stops - the LC-39 Observation Gantry, the Apollo/Saturn V Center, and the International Space Station Center.  Each stop has displays and a couple of  them have movies to watch about what is done there.  You can see the room where the shuttles are prepared for their  missions.  

transporter

display in the Apollo/Saturn center

the launch pad

the rockets of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo

As the day came to a close, we drove back to Orlando, checked into our hotel and went out to dinner at Tony Romo's.  Warren then returned the car to the airport.  It had only 6 miles on it when we got it the week before, and when returned, had 1006.  Sunday morning we got up early, took the hotel shuttle to the airport and flew out to Minneapolis, then on to Billings, arriving there about 12:30 noon local time.  We had a great lunch and visit with Rhonda, Kayla, Dane & Greg.  Thanks to Ron & Mary Ann for keeping our yukon in their driveway while we were gone.  :)  It was a great trip!

the Gulf Coast

Friday, June 11, we all piled into our rental car and headed south to Bradenton.  Aunt Fern is thinking of retiring there when she sells her condo in Tampa, and wanted to show us the retirement community she has picked out.  We went through some of the model homes, toured the amenities, and gave our stamp of approval.  :) 

Our next stop was Troyer's Dutch Heritage, and Amish restaurant in Sarasota.  The food was great, home cooking, and the company was even better.  In addition to our family, my dorm parents from high school, Jim & Mary Ann Upton, met us and had lunch with us.  It was sooo good to see Mom & Dad again!  It had been way too long since we had seen them.  They are retired and living in Sarasota.  I'm ready to go back and visit again, we had such a good time!

Jim, Mary Ann, DeeDee, Warren

Judy, DeeDee, Mary Ann, Jim, Warren, Fern, Dave

Nobody can tell a story quite like Mary Ann.  She kept us all in stitches.

enjoying the Amish rocking chairs

Mom & Dad, thank you for your many years of service to the Lord.  You have been a loving, compassionate and fun example for all of us dorm kids.  Miss ya and Love ya both!  Hugs.

After saying good-bye to Jim & Mary Ann, we drove to the beach.  It was very different here than at Daytona Beach.  There the beach had been fine sand, but here it was made up of tiny shells in the sand.  It was almost like walking on gravel, but it didn't hurt your feet.  You still had to watch where you stepped, though.  We collected lots of shells, they were just so pretty.  The water was much prettier than at Daytona - clear, not sandy, very warm and beautiful shades of turquoise blue.

the beach of shells

 Judy and Aunt Fern

checking out the shells

Aunt Fern knew the names of all the shells.

We also stopped at Anna Maria Island for a while and walked on the beach there.  I loved the Gulf Coastal areas we visited - absolutely beautiful!  I know I'm hung up on the water and beaches, but we also saw some absolutely beautiful trees and shrubs.  We saw Crepe Myrtles blooming everywhere.  They reminded us of lilacs, only on a tree instead of a shrub.  They bloom in white, pink, magenta, and lavendar colors.  

 While driving in the Sarasota/Anna Maria Island area, we saw these, but I don't know what they are.

By late afternoon we were heading back to Tampa for a home cooked meal courtesy of Aunt Fern, and a relaxing evening.

St. Augustine

Thursday morning Warren and I, and John & Jean got into our cars, ready for a day of exploring.  Just outside of St. Augustine, we stopped at the World Golf.  There is a Golf Academy, a resort, Hall of Fame, golf courses, shops and restaurants.  One of the restaurants is called Murray Bros. Caddyshack.  Anyone familiar with the Caddyshack movies will know what that is.  Last year Craig met Bill Murray (the actor and one of the brothers in the Murray Bros.) at a golf tournament at Prairie Dunes, the golf course he works at in Hutchinson, KS.  Inside the restaurant was a small gift shop, and the Caddyshack chopper that Orange County Choppers made for Bill Murray.

one of the cool golf carts on display

Once we got to Old Town St. Augustine, we had lunch at the Columbia Restaurant.  It has been in business and family owned by the same family since 1905.  The food is Spanish and Cuban, and they have a special salad that is prepared table side called the 1905.  I had cannelloni stuffed with lobster, shrimp, scallops and shallots, and Warren had Snapper Adelita - snapper, grilled and topped with hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and onions.  I liked his snapper better than my cannelloni.  :)  

part of old town - lots of shops and restaurants

After lunch we visited the Castillo de San Marcos, a 300 year old Spanish fort.  Construction began in 1672 and was completed in 1695.    They had built several wooden forts prior, but they were all destroyed.  This one is made of Coquina, a soft shell rock that is quarried nearby.  Many of the buildings in the Old Town were constructed the same way.  In all of the 300 year history, the fort was never invaded by enemies.  It was built to protect the town from pirates and the British armies.

the inner courtyard where the townspeople could come for protection in times of attack.

the courtyard seen from above.  The rooms were used for storage, barracks, etc.

view of the inlet from the top of the fort...

complete with a pirate ship!

Cannons beautiful?    These were.

John & Jean Oman in front of one of the watch towers.  Thank you for a fun day and all your great hospitality!

After saying good-bye to John & Jean, Warren and I drove south to Orlando to pick up Dave & Judy.  From there we all headed for the west coast and Tampa to see our Aunt Fern for a couple of days.

Last day at Daytona Beach

Wednesday morning Judy and I floated the lazy river.  So relaxing, and a great time to visit.   I so wanted to share our secret!

We spent some time on the pool deck, soaking in some warm Florida sunshine while the guys went down to the North Turn Restaurant.  In the early days of racing, before there were any speedway tracks, stock cars raced an oval "track" of half  hiway, half on the beach.  The North Turn is where the cars turned from one to another.

the North Turn today

We finished packing, loaded our car, and we all went to Chucherias Hondurenas for lunch. This was one of the places Judy and I had found online, and everywhere you asked people about Cuban food, this was the first recommendation.  

You know the food is authentic when you walk in the door, and walk past an open kitchen like this!  This is gonna be good!  We ordered a variety of Cuban sandwiches, and also a Main Dish of chicken, which came with rice, beans, salad and sweet and green plantains.  I've been wanting to try plantains for a while, so that was fun.  I liked them both.

waiting for our meal - Judy, Zoe, Abbie, Paul, Warren and DeeDee (Dave is the photographer)

After a good lunch, Warren and I said our good-byes.  Dave, Judy, Paul, Abbie and Zoe were staying another day at Daytona Beach, but we were off to Jacksonville to visit friends.  John & Jean and their family visited us years ago when they come up to Montana to see the old farm.  Jean's dad owned land that we have farmed for many years.  Jean and her brother, Larry, inherited the farm, and are our landlords as well as friends.  Once we got to their place at Jacksonville, we visited the horses while they did chores, saw the swamp behind the barn, (it was neat to see the cypress trees and plants) then drove to a nearby Confederate Campgrounds for a walk.  The confederates camped there, and now it has walking trails and is a relaxing place to be.  Later that evening we drove into downtown Jacksonville for supper.  We ate at the American Cafe in an area known as The Landing.  Our table was on the deck overlooking the river, right near the ocean.  It was beautiful.  Too bad the camera got left in the car.  Warren had been taking night photos in Daytona, and this would have made beautiful photos after dark as well.  The military uses the river as its hiway, so there were a few helicopters who flew by, as well as water taxis and other boats.  It was a very nice evening.  When we got back to John & Jean's we had a good visit, showing them pictures of the farming operation.

Ponce De Leon Lighthouse

After a day at the beach, we headed south to Ponce Inlet to see Florida's tallest lighthouse.  It is 175 feet tall and the second tallest in the nation.  After a climb of 203 steps, we were able to see quite a view.  It is located where the Halifax River and the Atlantic Ocean meet.  It is made of brick, and 3 lighthouse keepers were required to keep it going.  Their families lived in houses around the lighthouse.  These days there are no keepers, as everything is automated.

The compound of homes and maintenance buildings as seen from the top of the lighthouse.

The Halifax River meeting the Atlantic Ocean - view from top

Judy, Dave &  I walking back down the stairs.  Whew!

After looking through the displays in the houses, outbuildings and a quick peek in the gift shop, we headed just a bit down the road to the Inlet Harbor Marina & Restaurant.  It is located on the Halifax River and has docks for people to motor in in their boats, tie up and have dinner.  There are also lots of huge dry docks for boat storage.  Quite a sight.  We had a great dinner at a waterfront table.  One thing we commented on was the wonderful service at all the restaurants there.  The waitresses and staff were very good, along with all of the food we had everywhere.  

The Harbor Inlet Restaurant in the background with a couple of boats at the dock.

the lighthouse seen from the restaurant