Cocoa Beach 

We headed off to Cocoa Beach to visit the Kenney Space Center.  Our hotel was on Cocoa Beach.  It had a pool and a kiddy pool complete with pirate ship, water cannons and slides.

When we got to the hotel.  We checked in and headed to the beach.  It was overcast and a little breezy.  A storm front was working its way to us from the west.  So we played on the beach a bit and then headed for the pool.

You can see Ryan on the bow of the ship.

The next morning we got up bright and early and drove to the Kennedy Space Center.

Jeff and the boys are standing next to a mock-up of the new space craft being designed and built to ferry astronauts to the ISS.

Wanna fly in a T-38?  It is the plane used to train astronauts for heavy G-forces in flight.  They also use them to fly to and from Houston and Kennedy.

Jeff and Wyatt rode a new motion simulator ride.  It is similar to Disney's Star Tours but with a fun and funny NASA twist.  No pictures allowed.  Sorry.  After the ride we boarded a bus for our tour.  We stopped off at the closest viewing area of the Shuttle launch pads.  Then drove by the Vehicle Assembly Building and one of the Shuttle hangers.

The boys walking under a real Saturn V rocket.  There were 3 left when the shut the Apollo missions down after Apollo17.  The unused rockets were dismantled and used in various museums and such.  They used smaller rockets to get to Skylab.

Future Mars explorers.  Look out Neil Armstrong these guys will give you a run for your money.

Not too sure about this crew.  With that commander they may be in trouble.

During the two days we saw both IMAX films.  One on the Moon race.  The other on the ISS.  (International Space Station)  Both were in 3-D.  They were both awe inspiring and vividly astounding.  You really felt like you were floating with them and could catch the water floating to you.  

We also checked out the Rocket Garden.  They have Redstones to Atlases most standing tall.  There were mock-up Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury capsules.  That red piece of gantry behind the boys on the right was the actual one used for the Apollo launch pad.  You are able to walk through it.

We have clearance Clarence.  Roger, Roger.  What's our vector Victor?

Roger.  Huh?  Roger, over.  What?  No, that's Clarence Oeuvre. Roger, over.  Huh?  What?  Who?  

We left KSC and headed back to the hotel to play on the beach.  Our passes were good for two days so we would come back the next day and catch everything we missed.

The next day we played at the beach until noon and then headed back to the center.  

Do you need a ride?  Check out this Lunar Rover.  No steering wheel.  Just a joystick.  The tires were made of guitar/piano strings!

During a VERY heavy downpour we took shelter under this open dome and the boys played in the kids maze.

We had a wonderful time.  Going to places like KSC makes us proud to be Americans.  Not everything we do needs to make a dollar.  Exploration is expensive.  The human experience is exploration.  Regardless of cost, exploration has been and always will be the answer for our survival.  And, oh yeah Cocoa Beach helps too.

Last updated 07/11/2006