The BIG Florida Return - 26th August 2017 Day 11

[smithlane]

Day 11

Today we were off to Kennedy Space Centre.
Jim and Bill were playing golf at Providence this morning, Sylvia was staying at the villa as she has been before so it was just the remaining 9 of us.
We were up and ready to leave at 8.45.

First up we needed breakfast so headed for Cracker Barrel on the 192.

I REALLY wanted to bring one of these home with me!

As I’m a creature of habit I went with Momma's Pancake Breakfast with eggs, sausage and bacon that I had and enjoyed back in 2015. Scrambled egg on toast for Hope and the kids portion of pancakes for Sam.
The service was a bit on the slow side but it was fairly busy and our server was really lovely. Amazing food as always!
I just love the mini bottles of syrup they give you. I always squirrel away a few bottles to take home with me
Altogether it came to $33 including a tip. Bargain

I needed to fill up the beast, first time so far! I wasn’t sure how much to put in but went with $30 worth. This got me just over half a tank from empty.
Bearing in mind it's a 5 litre engine with a huge gas tank that's pretty amazing.
We were finally on our way by 10 and arrived bang on 11.15am.

It didn't look too busy but we still had to wait a while to exchange my voucher for tickets at Will Call. Helen was buying hers on the gate, I think they were $3 more per ticket doing it this way instead of pre paying so worth bearing in mind. Once we had our tickets in hand we started with the bus tour over to the Saturn V building as advised on here.

We went past the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) which is HUGE and 2 launch pads. The one used for the Apollo missions and one that Space X are transforming ready for the new state of the art rocket, Orion.
We had a really interesting guide on the bus, loads of fascinating facts about the inner workings of KSC. We were sat on the left as you’re looking towards the front of the bus which was the wrong side. Everything we passed seemed to be on the right hand side, typical!
We spotted an alligator poking its head through the water but we couldn’t really see too clearly as it was the other side so I’m not counting that as seeing one in the wild!

We arrived at the Saturn V building and after a short wait we were led inside.

First up we saw a short film about the Apollo missions including the tragedy of Apollo 1 narrated by Jim Lovell. We were then taken into a mock up control station where it went through what the countdown would look like to the Apollo 8 mission. Very interesting.

Once over the doors open and you walk in to find the ENORMOUS replica of the Saturn V model.
Really interesting facts dotted all over, we all took our time reading them all.
We even touched a piece of the moon, but to be honest it could have been a bit of granite kitchen worktop

We grabbed a drink and bag of crisps from the cafe and took a seat outside, mainly to warm up as the air con was fierce!
I went nature spotting down by the water.
Had a quick look in the shop where 2 magnets were purchased. Obvs

From here we got the bus back to the Visitor Complex. We did see a Bald Eagle nest with 2 hovering around it which was pretty cool.

We decided to do the Atlantis exhibition next.
First you are taken into a room with a huge screen that showed a short film on how the shuttle programme started. It was so interesting to watch the struggles they overcame.

The screen then lifts away to reveal the Atlantis shuttle.
Wow, it was amazing. I had goosebumps all over

We spent a little while reading all the information, there's just so much to take in you could be in there for hours.

Sam tried out the slide.

We walked through the memorial exhibition of the astronauts that lost their lives in the Challenger and Columbus disasters. Very sobering indeed.

The kids now wanted to go on the launch simulator. Mum and dad didn’t fancy it so we left them to read some more while we went on.
You had to put your belongings in a locker to begin with, this was free for 2 hours.
We queued for about 20 mins then taken into a room where you watch a step by step of what happens as an astronaut on a real launch.
You are then taken to stand on a number, a bit like Star Tours queue.
We were soon in and buckled up then before knew it we were off!
It seemed very life like. You are tipped up at a 90 degrees angle so you were looking straight up, then it really shook you around until the main fuel tank broke away. It then felt like a flying weightless feeling.
It was over very quickly as it was just the launch you experienced.

We had been gone for nearly an hour. It was now 4.30 and breakfast seemed a distant memory! We had seen the main exhibitions that we wanted to although hadn't seen either of the Imax films but we didn't think the kids would hold out much longer.
It was time to leave but not before looking at the memorial garden.

I absolutely adore this photo of Sean. He can’t read at all so obviously didn’t know what he was looking at but from behind it looks so poignant.

After a recommendation on here we decided to get some dinner at Shiloh's Steak and Seafood restaurant in Titusville.
The Sat Nav said it was about 20 mins away so The Leans followed me.
The weather really was awful today, we were quite glad we were inside for most of it
There was talk that hurricane Harvey in Texas might be having a knock on effect with the weather here in Florida. Not sure how true that was though

We got seated straight away with a table right by the window overlooking the river with the VAB in the distance. It was such a shame it wasn't better weather as it would be glorious on a sunny day!

I was starving but couldn't decide what I fancied. The menu had too many good looking choices!
I finally decided on the sirloin steak with garlic mash and green beans, Helen had the same. Nick went with the prime rib and mum and dad went for the special which was Mahi with risotto and a mushroom and cream sauce. All 4 kids had chicken strips and fries to make a change
Our server was lovely and very attentive. The food was amazing, best steak I've had in a very long time!

Helen and Nick had seen a pod of dolphins on the way to the restaurant so I was desperate to spot some. Every now and then I would go outside and watch the water but no luck in spotting any.
I did see some fish jumping out of the water though!

I had left enough room for dessert when I saw they had homemade key lime cheesecake.
OMG so good! So good in fact, I hoovered it up in seconds and forgot to take a photo
Mine and the kids dinner came to $55 including a 20% tip. Great value considering the quantity and quality of food we had. Might leave Jim home more often
I really would highly recommend this restaurant.

A couple more photos from outside then we made our way home.

We were back at the villa by 7.30pm. Bill and Sylvia had had a chilled out day whilst Jim went shopping after golf. How very dare he without me
He bought some more golf clothing and finally the golf trainers he was after.

The rest of the evening was spent packing as we were off to Anna Maria Island tomorrow. Beyond excited about this!
Bedtime was by 10, we were all exhausted

[nsal0101]

Really good read, thanks for sharing. I can't wait to go back to KSC the last time i went i missed out on Atlantis by about a year! i can't wait to see it...

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by nsal0101

Really good read, thanks for sharing. I can't wait to go back to KSC the last time i went i missed out on Atlantis by about a year! i can't wait to see it...

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Thanks so much for reading.
You will find the Atlantis exhibition amazing. I’m actually considering going back again this year as there was so much to read you need 2 visits! 😬

[Waltdisnae]

Really enjoying your report and looking forward to AMI. We were there last year for 3 nights and going back this year. Loved it! Thanks for taking the time.

[yellowrose78]

Great day with lots of fab photos

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Waltdisnae

Really enjoying your report and looking forward to AMI. We were there last year for 3 nights and going back this year. Loved it! Thanks for taking the time.

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As soppy as it sounds AMI really stole my heart, I just knew we had to go back so have booked 7 nights this year
Thank you for reading, Day 12 coming soon!

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by yellowrose78

Great day with lots of fab photos

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It really was a fantastic day. Thank you so much for reading

[Goldia]

I agree, I'd love to have a front porch with a rocker on it so I could sit out there on a hot evening and watch the world go by...I might need to relocate my house somewhere hot and then actually build a porch, other than that I'm totally ready for it!

Sounds like another great day for you Alicia.

[smithlane]

😂 same here! A client of mine has not long had a New England Style house built with porch complete with rocker chair. Its absolutely stunning! It’s amazing how quickly you can stop liking someone for these things 😬
Thank you for reading 😃

[princess allie]

Great trip report, I have just binge read the trip so far, thank you