12/26/13 - Kennedy Space Center, Astronaut Hall of Fame

Amanda & I went to have breakfast while Roger took a shower and got ready for the day.

This is the Christmas tree ornament Amanda & I picked out.

The first thing we did when we arrived at the KSC was head to the Atlantis Exhibit.  You watch a movie and then while the sheer screen is still down with stars on it the wall behind raises up and you see the Space Shuttle Atlantis it is an amazing moment that I can't quit explain.  I do know that I wasn't the only one to feel this way as I heard the person in charge trying to get people to move so the door could come back down, so that the next group could come in.

You were able to go inside a mock up of the flight deck.

Amanda is not to sure about how they had to line everything up before using the toilet.  Especially the fact that there is a camera under you and a monitor above you to help you.

They sleep in these boxes.  They just tuck themselves into the sleeping bag so they don't keep floating around.

The kitchen

They had a mock up of a space station that you could crawl through.

It was a little hard on the knees.

But for Roger the hardest part was probably crawling through the clear plastic tunnel that was a story above the ground.

They had landing simulators so you could try to land the shuttle on the runway.

The path of the shuttle around the earth.  They also had a shuttle launch experience ride that we rode that was pretty cool.

We couldn't pass up the chance to take a picture with the astronaut.

This was a pretty cheesie exhibit.  We did however watch the Imax film of the Hubble Space Telescope which was good.

Roger & Amanda decided to go for a ride on the moon.  I love the way they like to ham it up.

















I couldn't help but take a picture of this stuff.  It brought back so many childhood memories, but what I saw next almost made we scream with delight.

I loved this robot from Lost in Space.  I am sure if I saw the show today it would make me wonder why I ever loved it, but I did.  It was like seeing an old friend.

After leaving the KSC we headed down the road to the Astronaut Hall of Fame.  I will say that if we had paid for this we would have been very disappointed. Most of the interactive exhibits did not work.  They did have some cool artifacts to see and to see the time line of history of NASA and of things going on in the world were cool.





Since scouting was a big part of our life for a while it was interesting to see how many Astronauts were Scouts.

Roger's sister had told us about a restaurant that she had visited last year that she really liked and when we found out it was BBQ we knew we had to try it.
Slow & Low Bar-B-Que has an outdoor bar eating area or you can eat inside.

Roger and I split a combo plate.  The sweet potato chips had cinnamon and brown sugar on them, they were good.  The meat was good but we don't really care for the vinegar based bbq sauce but with some Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce it would be really good.

Amanda was just excited that they had fried okra.

12/25/13 - Coco Beach & Kennedy Space Center

This morning we took advantage of the free breakfast before we headed to Coco Beach.














It took us about 2 ½ hours to get to our La Quinta hotel.  Luckily they let us check in even though it was only 12:30. 

 While Roger rested a little bit Amanda and I walked out on the beach and went a little ways on the pier.  To go all the way out to the end it costs you $1.00 per person.  I guess that is one way to pay for the upkeep of the pier or to keep people off of it.  We went back and told Roger we wanted to head over to the Kennedy Space Center. Since it was already 2:00 I got on to find out how late they were open and it was only until 6.  I went over to the hotel computers to print season passes so that we could go every day if we wanted (buying a season pass was cheaper than 2 days).  Well when I went to print the tickets I found out the printer does not work.  The young lady who was working the front desk was very helpful and let me use her computer to print our vouchers.

So off we went to the Kennedy Space Center.  It took a half hour to get there because the speed limit never goes over 50.  On our way there we passed Port Canaveral and there was a Carnival ship in port. It got us just a little excited we can't wait to set sail on the 28th. Later I found out it was the Carnival Pride.










I have wanted to go to the KSC for a long, long time so I was very excited when I finally saw the sign and parts of the Atlantis exhibit.  I bought Roger the season pass that also included parking, which for cars is $10 a day.  So that worked out nicely. 










Of course we had to take a picture of the NASA ornament before going in. 














Once we went through the ticket gate we went to the right and entered Guest Services where we picked up our passes.  Roger didn’t get a lanyard with his pass because they were all out of the orange ones and it would confuse the park staff if he had a white lanyard since his benefits are different. 

  One of the first things you come to is the Rocket Garden.















We had fun climbing inside the different rocket modules.

Another family had asked us if we would take a picture of them in front of the Christmas tree and we said sure, as long as they would then take a picture of us. So at least we got one family picture.

We were able to catch one of the last buses for a tour that is included with admission.  We saw the 39A & B launch pads. Along with a stop at the Apollo/Saturn V Center.

They are rebuilding this launch pad so they can use it in 2017 for their new space craft.

We also passed by the Vehicle Assembly building.

But for most people what got their attention were the alligators. The bus driver said that this is what most people get the most excited about.

They dropped us off at the Apollo/Saturn V Center. Where we got to see & hear what happened in the Firing Room during an Apollo launch.











When we walked out there was a 363-foot moon rocket.

Amanda noticed that the date of our first walk on the moon coincides with Brad's birthday. Of course Roger said that "we planned it that way".

We also watched a recreation of the Lunar Landing.

They had displays of space suits and other items that were either used or were brought back from the moon.

 When you get dropped off the tour bus right in front of the Atlantis Exhibit.  We plan on seeing this tomorrow.

These always intrigue Roger.

Amanda and Roger picking out which design she wants for her penny.














I thought this astronaut looked kind of creepy.

Amanda thought of some of her students when she saw the Angry Birds Space Encounter. So of course she couldn't disappoint them by not going in.












Amanda was a better shot.















The views as we were leaving were touching.












It was not easy finding someplace to eat Christmas dinner but we finally found someplace we could agree on, Papa Vitos Italian Restaurant. It turned out to be pretty good. Then it was back to the hotel with full tummies.