Laura & Family - May 2007

DAY 3, Sunday May 27

Today we start the day with a little road trip We want to get an early start (well, at least early for my family~ everything's relative!) so we grab some cereal bars from our bag of snacks and off we go. First stop, gas station. We start to pull in to the Chevron station right here on SR 535 (between our hotel and I-4) until David looks up at the marquis and has sticker shock!!! $3.43 a gallon!!! WOW! Well, fortunately I married a very smart man and he remembers that when we were at the movies yesterday at Downtown Disney there was a Hess station across the street that had gas for $2.95... Hmmm... let's see... is it worth driving a mile out of our way to save 50 cents a gallon?!? Of course, it's the Dollarless way....especially when you are driving a Honda minivan with a HUGE gas tank. Moral to the story.. if you are driving to Disney do not get gas on SR 535 thinking it will save you money to buy gas off property.

We're headed to the Kennedy Space Center so we hop on I-4 and exit at SR 528. It is an easy drive. Just head east across the state. There's not a lot of traffic and it is well worth the price of the tolls. In a little over 45 minutes we are there...we pull into the KSC parking lot and... FREE PARKING! Imagine that, a theme park in Florida that offers Free parking! YES! We already have passes (we got them using Mycokerewards points this past January) so we walk right in. We immediately head to our favorite attraction: Astronaut Encounter. This is a show where you actually get to meet a real astronaut. Last time we were here we got to meet John Fabian, who was on the Challenger crew with Sally Ride. He was really interesting. He spoke about his missions in space and narrated a great slide show: he showed slides that were of a scientific nature and also some great shots that he said he took just because he was "playing tourist". Then there was a question and answer session. We even got to meet him one on one and have our picture taken with him. Leia loved him so much that she chose as her souvenir that day a pin of that Challenger mission. It was so AWESOME that this was obviously our first stop. We were pleased to see that today's astronaut was someone good whom we hadn't met before: Story Musgrave. DH said he was a great one because he's been on lots of different missions and has been in space alot. Well, the show didn't start for awhile so we decided to walk over to the adjacent "Rocket Garden" to kill some time.

The "Rocket Garden" is a great place for some major "Kodak moments". You can walk through yourself at your leisure or take a free guided tour that lasts about 15 minutes. There was no tour starting right away so we decided to just explore on our own and not take a chance on missing our Astronaut show. The first one we looked at was the Mercury Spacecraft. You would not believe how tiny this is! Leia climbed inside and she was shocked that an astronaut actually flew into space inside this little capsule. Astronaut Gordon Cooper said by the time this was filled with instruments, etc. it was like going to space in a small bathtub! We then looked at the Gemini Spacecraft. She and I got in this and were amazed that they actually orbited the earth for 14 days.... there wasn't even room to stretch your legs! We also got to walk across the service arm like the one that led to Apollo 11 and sit in that spacecraft too. There were Saturn Rockets and other items on display as well. Way cool! For those with little ones, they had a little playground area in this section as well.

Time to go back to meet Story Musgrave (and yes, that's his real name: Leia asked him!). He was very interesting. This guy has 7 College Degrees and never finished High School! Amongst the zillion other things he's done, he was the designer of the Hubbell telescope and flew the mission where they walked in space to repair it. He showed some pictures taken from the Hubbell that were breathtaking. Especially the ones of the planets and other galaxies. I have to say the up close shot of Saturn was by far my favorite. After his talk, there was an opportunity to take photos with him in the lobby of this attraction if you had your own camera. They wouldn't allow him to sign autographs because apparently he's written a book and they were having a book signing with him in the gift shop at 1pm.

We took our photo, spoke briefly with him, and then dashed across the way to "Mad Mission to Mars" as this was starting in 5 minutes. We got there just in time and were let in right away. This is a funny, interactive kids show geared towards children up to about age 11. Although there were some older ones in there who seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. They give you 3D glasses as part of it is a 3D movie. There are lots of jokes and songs and they choose kids out of the audience to participate. It doesn't seem to matter where you sit as it looked like they pick the kids randomly. Leia was chosen to be a scientist and help "launch" a rocket. We thought the show was a bit corny but Leia of course was picked so life was good.

Next stop.. the moment you've all been waiting for... the NEW Shuttle Launch Experience. We got over to the attraction and they have lockers there to put your things in. You can't take anything on with you. No bags, no glasses, no cameras, no cell phones, etc. Can't remember what they cost as DH did it. After putting our things in the locker we asked the girl who worked there if it was really bad. She said oh no your child will be fine. No, you don't understand.. she's fine.. it's her parents who are afraid we replied. LOL. She convinced us to try it saying it's not that bad and you won't get sick. We were pleasantly surprised to see NO LINE. Yep, you heard that right.. no line.. we practically walked right on! We got to the top of the barred area and had to wait a few minutes until the ride in front of us was over. Wish we had to wait longer (never thought I'd hear myself saying that!!) as they had an interesting video playing in the queue area. There are TV monitors set up and the video clip shows prior Shuttle Astronauts talking briefly about their experience. Got to hear a few and then it was time to go in. You're taken into a large room with 3 screens up front, you stand and watch a short preview film about the shuttle launch, etc. Then it's time to load onto the shuttle. We were told to go into Row 1. DH almost bailed when he saw the child swap room. He stayed and after it was over said he was glad he did. We loaded, put on seat belts, grabbed the bars for stability and then countdown....... to launch! How cool. You really feel like you're launching. The special effects from the seats combined with the movie you're watching and the G force against your face pushing you back into your seat...I don't know which was my favorite part of the ride.. it has to be either when you reach space and begin to float... or when the top of the shuttle opens and you're upside down above Earth... this is a GREAT RIDE!!!!!!! And that is coming from a MAJOR non ride person!!!!!

As you exit the ride you wind your way down with plaques on the rail that commemorate each of the Shuttle missions. There are special plaques for the Challenger and Columbia missions. This was a very serious moment for us as one of David's buddies was on the Challenger that blew up. We stayed here for awhile (you can go through this at your own pace) and then you exit into... a gift shop. Surprise, surprise.

Next to the Shuttle ride is a full scale replica of the Shuttle Explorer that you can walk through.

After you come out of this is the area where the bus tours start. These don't cost extra. They are complimentary with your admission price and I highly recommend them. They take you on a bus to different stops. You go to actual launch sites and see actual items that are used to prepare for missions, etc. You see the Vehicle Assembly building, Crawler transporter and more. They take you to "The International Space Station Center, the LC-39 Observation Gantry and the Apollo/Saturn V Center. They actually have an Apollo Saturn V rocket full size laying down on it's side in this building. INCREDIBLE!!

If you haven't been to KSC and have a car.. this is well worth the drive! There is quite a bit more than what I listed, including IMAX movies, and I do have a guide map if anyone has any questions.

They do have snack bars, a food court and a sit down restaurant but we decide to go to one of my all time favorite restaurants in nearby Titusville for a late lunch, the original Dixie Crossroads. This seafood restaurant is an institution on the Space Coast. For those of you that are staying around Orlando: the good news is they have opened one near the Outlet Mall off of International Drive!!!

We are lucky and are seated right away, there's usually a wait. We get a booth right by the window which makes Leia happy as she can see the pond with fish and turtles. Guaranteed well behaved child for this meal. YES! Our waitress immediately brings out fresh hot corn fritters dusted with powdered sugar that are complimentary with the meal. We decide to make this our main meal of the day since we are starving and this place is so yummy. We have a coupon we got from the hotel lobby that gives us a FREE appetizer of Crab Bites. DH decides to order one of the fresh fish of the day: Tuna ($11.99). He asks for it prepared almost Sashimi style. Seared on one side, flip it, sear it on the other and leave it rare inside. It comes out perfectly prepared. He is one happy camper. The waitress even brought him the plum dipping sauce they serve with the coconut shrimp that he asked if he could have. It comes with your choice of 2 sides from a long list. He chose Shrimp Soup and Sweet Potato. Leia decides against the kids meal, even though they have a good kids menu, so she can share a combination platter with me. We decide to splurge and get the Cape Canaveral Special ($24.99) which comes with 1 dozen shrimp, 2 dozen Rock Shrimp and a large platter of Scallops. You can choose your cooking method and/or seasoning and we chose to have them broiled. Our 2 sides were Clam Chowder and Caesar Salad. For those of you who have never had Rock Shrimp, they are like little baby lobster. We had them served with melted butter. Leia never ate them before.. she tried one and immediately said "These Rock Shrimp are to die for!!!!!". This was an incredible meal and we all walked out very satisfied. No room for dessert, what a shame, as they have good Key Lime Pie. Of course, before we left we had to drop a quarter in the little machine for fish/turtle food and feed them from the little dock.......

Back to the hotel to rest a bit before heading over to Downtown Disney tonight... what a great day!!!

Page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5