Titusville, Florida

On Wednesday, we left Orlando and the Magic Kingdom, traveling east to Manatee Hammock State Park in Titusville.

First, isn't that a picturesque name for a park? Although we didn't see any manatees (or hammocks for that matter) we really enjoyed our stay there.  It was right on the water, and very "Florida" with egrets and ibis birds wandering the pathways through the palms and palmettos.

The view from Manatee Hammock

We were also directly across the Intercoastal Waterway from NASA and Kennedy Space Center.
On Thursday, we spent nearly the whole day touring that facility. We went to one of the multiple launch pads (this one was where the Shuttle used to launch from).

That "cradle" on the left side is what kept the Shuttle safe before launch

This is the ramp that the "Crawler' had to climb, carrying the shuttle.  Took about 3 hours.

Jack, in front of the flame chute. At launch time the chute was filled with 18,000 gallons of water in 6 seconds, to muffle sound and cool the structure during launch.

We visited the Vehicle Assembly Plant, which is a MASSIVE building (53 stories high inside) where the various rockets and space vehicles go for final assembly.

One of 4 bays where TALL space vehicles are assembled. 

Vehicle assembly area. That crane can lift 250 tons!

Prototype of next generation manned capsule, due to launch in 2017.  It can carry four astronauts, but precious little cargo. For cargo we depend on Russia.

There was a multimedia presentation about the initial lunar landing, better than anything we've seen before. We walked through the "Rocket Garden", where all the different types of space rockets stand at attention...from today all the way back to the beginning of the space program. There is an entire building dedicated to the Space Shuttle program and the International Space Station.  

Central large orange liquid fuel tank, flanked by two solid fuel cylinders. The solid fuel boosters get the Shuttle off the launch pad, then fall away. The liquid fuel gets the Shuttle into orbit, burning half a million gallons in 8.5 minutes. The Shuttle itself is basically a glider after that.

The actual Atlantis, the last shuttle that flew. The open doors expose the vast cargo bay. Very, very cool thing to see.

We saw two different control rooms, one from the Mercury program in the 1960's, and one from the Shuttle. Quite different. From slide rules to computers...think of it.

Mercury control center, 1960's. Very crude with simple analog instrumentation. There was very little data available to "control" the mission from Earth.

Shuttle control center, 2000's.

Just two short bridges away was beautiful Cocoa Beach. And we were there when it was 82 degrees and sunny. The water was 74 degrees, warm and wonderful. This has been one of our goals since leaving Oregon in June...to bask in the Florida sun. It was all we had hoped for. We probably could have gone back for a second day, but had other things on the agenda...

Ahhh! Sunshine and surf. Perfect combination

Orlando, Florida...so much to do!!!

We arrived in Orlando on Sunday, 11/17 afternoon.  We are staying in a "resort" park, so LOTS of spaces...but not crowded at all, and very clean and quiet.

Monday, we "did" Seaworld Orlando.  This is such a great time to be here, because it is uncrowded and warm but not hot.  We went to the Killer Whale show.  Amazing!!

How does he do that?

Killer Whale, struttin' her stuff

LARGER Killer Whale, struttin' HER stuff....she was HUGE!!

Doing aerial acrobatics....and making a BIG splash!

They have a walk-through shark aquarium...you walk through a tube, surrounded on all sides by water and swimming fish. This tube is very sturdy. Thankfully.

There is a great Antarctic penguin exhibit....

And, of course, the flamingos...

On Tuesday, we visited Disney World. Since both of us spent some of our younger years in Southern California, we couldn't help but compare/contrast with Disneyland. Orlando's Disneyworld is obviously newer, but very similar in most ways to Disneyland, and just as enjoyable.

Walt and Mickey, in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle

Unfortunately (or, depending on your tolerance for other people's travel photos) our camera battery died within moments of entering the park, so we only have our one shot from my phone. But we did ourselves proud: Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Autorama, Carousel of Progress, Pirates of the Caribbean. There is no Matterhorn and no Indiana Jones here, but it was a great day! We were exhausted!

The Ramsey's do Epcot

Today we went to Epcot Center. Maybe everyone in the world knows this, but I didn't... Epcot is an acronym for "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow". I had always thought it was some really smart person's name. It was so totally different from Disney World, but very interesting.
There are about 10 separate international "houses" spaced around a central lake.  Each one includes at least one restaurant serving food from that country, and several also offer a short presentation or display about the particular country. It was interesting. Jack, of course, was drawn to the Norwegian area...his peeps.

Jack with his ancestor, King Harrald, the Fair-haired (well, maybe not)

The other area of the park contains various presentations on the history of energy, or interactive displays regarding the future of technology. Very interesting. Again, we were exhausted!!! We are too old for all this fun!

Daytona Beach, Florida (11/17)

On our way from St. Augustine (which we liked a lot!) to Orlando, we drove south along the coast, and stopped in Daytona Beach.

The beach was wide, and clean, with white sand packed as hard as concrete. The original Daytona car races were held ON the beach. The water was cool, but certainly swimmable, and the surfers were out in force. Air: 80 degrees.  Water: 74 degrees.  Nice swell.

Jack in Daytona's surf

Of course we had to seek out the International Speedway.  We could hear high-powered cars racing around inside the track, but couldn't find a way to actually see inside.  Bonus: there was an RV show taking place in the parking lot...so we browsed through a few of what I refer to as "behemoths" ....motor homes that are 40+ feet long.  At the end of the day, we love our little Irv.

Daytona International Speedway

"Floridays"...at last!

Okay, those of you who know Jack know that he has something of a Jimmy Buffet complex. Ah, to be in the tropics with no schedule or agenda. Well, after 4-1/2 wonderful months on the road, we sailed into St. Augustine, Florida yesterday. It was 74 degrees, sunny and really, really beautiful.

Our campground (they all seem to call themselves "Resorts") is among the most beautiful we've seen. It's actually on an island and right across highway A1A from the Atlantic, and set in a dense jungle of live oak trees and Palmetto palms. You drive in through a veritable tunnel of trees, and our campsite is right on the sand, nestled in a little clearing. Last night we sat outside with margaritas, Jimmy Buffet playing just to set the mood.

The place backs up onto the inter coastal waterway. We went exploring just after sunset and found a quaint little restaurant called Aunt Kate's located back in the jungle and right on the water. They serve alligator. Tonight we're going there for dinner.

We saw this little retro motel near the beach (The Magic Beach Motel) with neon bunnies jumping from a neon top hat, and the requisite pink plastic flamingos in niches in the walls, and just steps from the beach.

Our first stop was, of course, the Fountain of Youth. We fear that no one will even recognize us when we get home! Juan Ponce de Leon, who (did you know this?) came to the West Indies WITH Christopher Columbus, sailed on to discover Florida.  St. Augustine has been around since 1513 (yes, 500 years).

Stacy and Ponce (this is her "Before" picture. She had the water later.) We think he looks really good for a 500 year old, huh? So it must work.

This was the landing site of the ships (I don't think the pier was here then)

A recreation of the Indian villages that were in the area

We walked through the Castillo de San Marco, a fort established by the Spanish in the 1500's and still beautifully preserved. An interesting factoid: This fort was built from a rock called Coquina, which is composed of tiny little sea shells. It is comparatively soft. Instead of shattering, the walls would absorb the energy of cannon balls fired into it. That made the fort remarkably indestructible. Hence, it is still there.

Firing of the cannon across the Bay

A view of modern-day St. Augustine. It is a lovely city, easy to walk around, and full of interesting places.

The dreaded Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia (11/11 & 11/12)

Finally!!! Internet again!! Those swamp folks are really isolated!.

This is Old Roy (newly deceased and preserved), 13 feet long. Jack said I couldn't keep him. He's smiling.

We arrived at one of the most beautiful places we have stayed on this trip, just outside Waycross, Georgia at the Laura S. Walker State Park. We backed up to a big lake where we could watch a variety of wading birds, flocks of geese, and squirrels. It was roomy, and peaceful and we sat outside in the sun and counted our blessings.

Laura S Walker State Park, and our little home

About 5 miles away was the Okefenokee Swamp Park.

Looks like they were decorating for Christmas.

We took a boat ride through old Seminole Indian waterways, watching carefully for "several different types of venomous snakes that live in this area, including the Cottonmouth, which sometimes drops out of the overhead trees". The water in the swamp is a deep reddish-brown, from the tannin released by the decaying vegetation.  It gives off a sulphur odor, but it isn't unpleasant.

The swamp... eerie and beautiful

Spanish Moss, called "French Beard" by the Spanish (because they so loved the French)

More of the swamp...note the black water, which is pure enough to drink (per our guide; we didn't try it)

 We did see several alligators, of different sizes, none of which paid the least bit of attention to us.

'Gators!!!

This is the remains of an alligator nest.

More 'gators!!!

Even some of the plants down here are carnivorous !!

Pitcher plants...insects fall into their "throats" and are digested.

Then we took a small steam locomotive trip through the swamp and out to the rebuilt homestead of some REALLY TOUGH people who made their living out there. These folks made turpentine (from the sap of pine trees), and did some farming. Most of the livestock was gone, but there were some chickens (much to the delight of Stacy, who LOVES chickens).

The Chesser Homestead, now part of the park, but they lived here until 1955

Moonshine still

The area around the swamp is forested with skinny, straight-up pine trees interspersed with low-growing palmetto palms.  As one is driving, there will suddenly be a large swath where all the trees have been clear cut, and they are being loaded onto trucks. They can't be big enough for lumber, so we think they must be for pulp.

Palmettos and pines

Logging the Okenfenokee

There have been two devastating fires in this area within the past 10 years (2007 and 2011) and it's kind of sad to see the aftermath. The rangers say that the Swamp benefits from periodic burns to keep the ecosystem healthy.

A view of the burned area

Owl Lake, right in the middle of the burnt area. Really pretty.