Kennedy Space Center- Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 22, 2018

     We were all a little tired this morning from our long day yesterday.  We were slow getting up and watched “Bob’s Burgers” Thanksgiving shows while we ate leftover pizza for breakfast.  When we were finally up and moving, we were on our way to spend Thanksgiving at the Kennedy Space Center, which was a little more than an hour drive away.

     We had visited the Kennedy Space Center back in 2003 (when Anna was very small and before Emma).  We had arrived later in the day, and it felt like there was a lot that we didn’t have time to see.  It took until now for us to return though.   As it turns out we probably hadn’t missed that much.

     On our drive there, we saw lots of various water birds, and Scott and Julie each saw a different alligator in the waters along the road.   (When she learned this, Grandma Wright texted us to be careful of the ones that eat people.  We texted back that they all eat people.)  One of the first buildings we stopped at in the Space Center was a building that had exhibits about the history and wildlife of the region.   Ponce de Leon was credited with being the first European to explore the area when he brought his conquistadors here in 1517 or so.  The building had mounted examples of many of the birds that we had spotted along he way, and also had example of the larger animals that inhabit the area, including alligators, loggerhead turtles, and wild hogs. 

     After that, we got in line for the bus tour, because there was only a very short wait time.  The first part of the tour only takes about 45 minutes.  We got to see an enormous bald eagles’ nest, although the eagles themselves were not there.  The nest is supposed to be 50 years old (as old as Scott, at least), so it’s probably the same one Scott saw when he came with his mom and dad back in the 70s, but with a different generation of eagle living there.  The bus tour takes you to see the outside of the Vehicle Assembly Building, although one of its doors was open today so there was chance to peek inside.  We were also taken to launch pad 39A, where the Apollo missions and many of the Space Shuttle missions started.   Actually, there is quite a bit on the tour about Elon Musk’s SpaceX company and Boeing, because both of these company are leasing large parts of the Space Center and are contracted with NASA for certain jobs.  Currently, the Russians are the ones that are taking Americans and others to and from the International Space Station, since our Space Shuttle program has ended.  SpaceX builds and launches their Falcon rockets from here.  Near launch pad 39A are the buildings where the Falcon Heavy rockets are made, though they are assembled horizontally and then lifted to a vertical position at the launch pad itself.  SpaceX is leasing the launch pad itself for 20 years.  We also saw a few more alligators as the bus took us around.

     The bus tour takes you to the Saturn V complex which is dedicated to the Apollo missions to the moon.  We watched a presentation that included the original launch control room from the Apollo VIII mission, and then went into the long building where a Saturn V rocket is laid out in all of its pieces and stages, suspended above the ground.  The girls were getting hungry, so we got lunch here and ate it outside where it was very comfortable.  We heard the low in Buffalo this morning was only 6 degrees, but it’s in the 70s here, and while it is cloudy, it is very nice to be outside.  The girls had seen enough here, and after lunch and a visit to the gift shop they waited outside while Scott went to touch a moonrock and see some of the artifacts from the Apollo program.   We skipped the program in the “Lunar Theater” in spite of the fact that Scott is something of an Apollo fan, because the girls were ready to go back.

     We boarded the bus and went back to the main part of the visitor’s complex.  Our first stop here was the building dedicated to housing the Space Shuttle Atlantis.  We entered the building by walking under the vertical orange fuel tank and rocket boosters made famous by the shuttle program.  Inside the building, we walked up a ramp, and entered another AV presentation.  The first part of it showed how the idea of a reusable shuttle dated back to the Apollo days, and the second half of it was a dramatic recap of the shuttles themselves.  As that presentation ended, the Shuttle Atlantis was revealed, with its nose pointed directly at the viewers.  We could then walk forward into the room where the shuttle was suspended from the ceiling and tipped towards the viewer with its cargo bay doors open and the Canadian built “arm” extended.  You could then walk around the shuttle and see it from just about every angle while also viewing exhibits about the orbiters and their missions.  In all, there were five shuttles that went into space on 135 missions.  Atlantis went on 33 of them.  Scott remembers that we saw Atlantis on display here back in 2003 when we visited, but the building that currently houses her is new since then.  We did see a man who was probably an astronaut talking with people, but we felt awkward just listening in on what he was saying.  Once we had made our way all the way around to her underside and got a view of the heat shield tiles, we were ready to move on.

     We stopped for some drinks and refreshment and once again enjoyed being outdoors.  There were some movies that we could have watched, but Julie said she didn’t really want to be inside today.  The three of us probably would have ended up taking naps if we sat in a darkened theater for long anyway.  We continued on to the Rocket Garden, which Scott remembers seeing when he was young.  There are quite a few examples of early NASA rockets there, including the Redstone and Atlas rockets the Mercury program used and the Titan II rocket that the Gemini program used.  Scott sat in a Gemini capsule mock-up and marveled that the sign said the longest mission was 14 days.  Two men would sit inside there without even the ability to stretch their legs.  Emma showed how you could just put your legs over your partner which got a laugh from everyone that was watching.

     We also went to the “Heroes and Legends” presentation.  It begins with a room that explores what heroes are, in a presentation that surrounds you.  There are lots of images of people that are projected on the walls in various places, and it keeps you turning in circles to see everything, including the Robot from Lost in Space, for some reason.  This presentation is followed by a 3-D movie in the next room.  To view this movie, you stand on platforms that jut out into the room, which was meant to make you feel like the presentation surrounds you.  That probably works well for the people who are standing right at the tip of those shapes, but the rest of us are left looking to the left of center (or to the right, for the people on the other side).  Sure, you can turn your body, but the railings made it feel like you were facing the wrong way then.  Honestly, we probably would have liked it better if we could have sat down.  The movie explored what qualities that astronauts share that make them heroes.  There was lots of flashing and 4-D effects, as wind blew across us occasionally.  In one scene, a space capsule that was spinning out of control was making Julie so dizzy she had to look away.  After that movie, we went into a room that continued to explore what qualities heroes have.  The building ended with the Astronaut Hall of Fame, with Alan Shephard’s statue in the center and portraits of apparently all of the American astronauts around him in lit panels on the wall.  The Mercury 7 were first, in a group. 

     We were done with the Kennedy Space Center after that and made our way back to the car.  We decided that, while there were some things we had not seen before, most of what we didn’t see were things like the “Astronaut Training” that you had to pay extra for.   We were satisfied we had seen enough this time and drove back to Orlando.

      We decided to do some shopping and look for dinner at the area now known as Disney Springs.  It used to be called Downtown Disney, but they’ve expanded it a lot recently.  It seems to have lost a bit of its charm, though, and was just a crowded expensive shopping place on this Thanksgiving evening.  We started at the World of Disney, which is the giant Disney Store.  It too has received a recent renovation and seems to have lost a little personality as a result of it.  And in spite of how big it is, it didn’t really have the things we were looking for.  We were directed to some of the other stores for that. 

     We still needed dinner and we ate at a place called The Earl of Sandwich, which of course, specializes in sandwiches.  Julie got a turkey wrap and Scott got a turkey and swiss sandwich so at least two of us had turkey on this Thanksgiving.     We’ve been in touch with Anna over the course of the day.  She and Noah spent part of the day with Grandpa and Grandma Frank and then went to his family’s house.

     We didn’t go to a lot of the stores, but we had very specific things we were looking for.  We went to the pin traders, where Scott wanted to get a pin that said “2018” and “World Showcase,” or maybe “Epcot.”  There wasn’t one, but he did buy a “2018- Walt Disney World” with Donald Duck on it and a second pin with Mickey and the flags of the World Showcase, so together they work.  We also got a 2019 pin so Julie won’t have to remember to get one when she comes back in January with the JFK seniors.  We looked for a beer mug with the World Showcase countries on it.  In the kitchen store there was a nice wine glass that showed them, but no beer version.  We also looked for scrapbook stuff, but the scrapbook store has been replaced.  We went to the Pandora store, but they were out of the Disney rings.  (Scott asked, “What the point of having a Pandora store at Disney that doesn’t have the Disney stuff?”)  As we were shopping, we did buy some Christmas gifts that we can’t list here.  By a little after 7:00, we were ready to call it a day and headed back to the hotel.