Cape Canaveral: Fun But No Blast

We are at Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral waiting in 80 degree weather for the shuttle launch. (We just heard the launch has been postponed until January. Bummer!!!) The park is right across from the Kennedy Space Center and on the port where Carnival, Disney and Royal Caribbean cruise ships come in and out daily. There are many different kinds of birds and they seem to be used to people because you can get very close to them. Also, there is a fishing pier and the beach is only about a hundred steps from the campground. Yesterday we toured the Kennedy Space Center. We got to see the actual mission control room that was used for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions to the moon. It was really interesting seeing the real thing after watching it on TV so many times growing up. We also toured the room where all the components for the International Space Station are inspected, assembled and prepared for placement in the shuttle. Because the shuttle is on the launch pad we did not get to see it. We went on the Shuttle Launch Experience which simulates what it is like to be blasted into space. It was really great to experience the sights, sounds and feelings of a vertical launch which included the shaking, noise and vibration of the real thing. We also saw the Vehicle Assembly Building which is over 500 feet tall but really does not look that big because it sits on open flat land. The space center covers over 120,000 acres and because most of it is restricted area it also serves as a wildlife refuge. We saw many birds, including a huge eagle, and an alligator. At the space station building the guide told us a gator had been inside the fence that morning. There are 5000 gators on the grounds of the center.