So early there appears to be no sign of intelligent life anywhere...
We barreled into the car after a speedy check-out and were on the road at just after 7am. As we swept over a massive bridge about a mile down the road
I suddenly panicked that I had left my iPod behind. We
checked bags but when it was deemed missing in action, Jan pulled the car
around and we headed straight back to Oceanfront. We alerted the front desk to
the issue in the hope that they might have the brave soldier waiting for pick
up once we arrived again.
I raced to the front desk and re-explained the predicament,
speaking to the clerk as if she knew what I was talking about - she didn't, but she gave me a key to go up and conduct a search and rescue
mission myself. I sprinted to the lifts and headed back into enemy territory.
Removing flip-flops, I careered down the corridor to Room 735 and opened the
door to a loud shout of ‘Security!’ – a large man was already conducting his
own poor excuse for a recovery. He was shaking out the duvet of the bed, presumably hoping the mp3
player would fall out from some sort of hidden blanket compartment. I lifted the bed sheet to find Private
iPod strewn out in distress, but there all the same. Thanking the inefficient porter
I raced back down the hall and returned to the car clutching the fallen
soldier: never leave a man behind. Emergency CPR (power source plug-in) was
immediately performed and we headed back on the road with all accounted for.
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| Daytona International Speedway |
Drama concluded, we still had to deliver Joe to the airport in
time for his flight. Of everywhere we needed to race through, Daytona seemed
about as apt as they come. Joe, quite unalarmed by the potential of a tight
squeeze, promptly fell asleep. Jan negotiated our run through and out of the
city and we made it to Orlando International Airport about an hour and a half
before flight time. Joe did make it by the skin of his teeth, we learnt later. Good lad.
And
so onward we rolled, back to the gruesome twosome. Our first
destination as once again ambiguously-paired foreign lads was a diner a bit out
of Orlando, where we had a bite of brunch. Not one to miss an opportunity for
pancakes, Jan ordered a stack of three the area of his own head and I had a ham
and cheese toastie, forgetting crucially that American sandwich cheese
is as manufactured as an Italian football match. It was pretty tasty nevertheless.
Chock-full
of carbohydrates, we jumped back in the voiture and drove off toward the day’s
activity: Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. I had been to this museum about
a decade ago and remembered good things, and Jan had been looking forward to a
visit since the beginning of the trip. The idle notion of a trip to Disneyworld
was abandoned once we saw that tickets cost $100 – no thanks, Walt.
The
Space Center was impressive. Under searing sun, we walked into the complex with
excitement. Sound bites of radio controllers and JFK’s famous moon speech
played around us as we took photos by the large 3D NASA logo.
 |
| The Final Frontier |
First
stop on the itinerary was a hop on the bus that took us out of the KSC Visitor
Center and to the Saturn V exhibition. These gargantuan cones are rocket
engines used during the Apollo programme, which concluded in 1972 before the
Space Shuttle took over the responsibilities of space exploration. They are to
date the heaviest and most powerful engines in the world. Five of these colossal guys plus some rocket fuel and you’re off to the
Moon!
 |
| Saturn V engine |
 |
| Rocket next to full size human children |
One
of the highlights of the Saturn V section was the Apollo 8 launch exhibit, in
which the actual launch control centre that was employed in December 1968 was
used to recreate the countdown from three minutes, with old footage and sound
thrown in to create a quite gripping atmosphere. Goosebumps in T-minus 10, 9,
8…
Captain
Tom, our tour guide on the bus, downloaded numerous facts into our tiny brains
as we drove around the complex. The entire centre is 140,000 acres in area,
though 90% of that land is a nature reserve that protects endangered species
such as the American bald eagle and the West Indian Manatee. Space, sea… sea
cow, space cow, sea-space cowboys – there’s a pun in there somewhere.
 |
| Sup bro |
Eight
acres of the complex are taken up by a gigantic Vehicle Assembly Building,
which is where the parts for the space ships are put together. It was a huge
construction – the largest one storey building in America and the owner of the
largest doors in the world (at 456 feet)!
The Vehicle Assembly Building
After
seeing the monster rocket, we went back to the Visitor Centre and into the new
Atlantis exhibition. I hadn't seen this last time I was here on account of it
not being there yet, but it looked fantastic heading in this afternoon. A towering model
of the Atlantis Space Shuttle fuel tank dwarfed our miniature bodies as we walked in.
Like the Apollo 8 launch reconstruction, the exhibits were very polished and
executed with some class. After playing a video explaining the origins of the shuttle
program as told by some very professional acting, the screen was raised to
reveal the actual Atlantis shuttle. Take a bow, Atlantis exhibition curator.
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| The (potentially) original model for the space shuttle |
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| The Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula |
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| Mice Galaxies |
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| Stellar Spire of Eagle Nebula |
We left KSC around 4 o'clock and headed to Vero Beach. This was our last stop before terminus in mega Miami. Not dissimilar to Atlantic Beach in scale and vibe, Vero would serve us with food and a bed for the night. We ate dinner at an Italian place that specialised in pressed sandwiches, and they certainly hit the spot. Jan had read about a fairly well-known ice-cream bar in the area so we saved a bit of space for a scoop or two.
Tasty, sure - but wildly underestimated the size of two scoops. So in the spirit of boldly going of where no man has gone before, we tipped out our ice cream and ate the waffle cones...
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