Cape Canaveral, FL

Sunday, December 2

Sunday was a travel day for us. We’d spent the night prior at Larry and Penny Thompson RV Park in Miami which was a good stop-over campground in route to Cocoa Beach. The campground itself was a little strange; spots were on a first-come-first-served basis and there were only a few available by the time we arrived Saturday night. We pulled into a spot, hooked up, made dinner, and were just about ready to settle in for the night when the campground host notified us that we’d have to move to another spot. Apparently we were in a handicap spot (which I don’t think was marked, but it was hard to see in the dark) and then a domestic dispute broke out in the site next to us. Fortunately, it’s easy enough for us to pack up & move, so we did … and then we packed up again Sunday morning to hit the road.

We had a 3-hour drive north to Cocoa Beach, and decided to take the infamous A1A highway to get there. (Shout-out to Vanilla Ice, baby!) The drive north was a beautiful one as we passed through small Florida beach towns. We stopped in Vero Beach to stretch our legs at a playground before finally making it to Jetty Park Campground in Port Canaveral. We selected this campsite because it has one of the best beaches in the area for small children - very flat, sandy and shallow waters.

After we got the RV settled, we walked down to the beach to catch the sunset. The kids jumped right into playing with sand toys and splashing in the waves. The biggest highlight though, were the big cruise ships passing by around 5pm.

Gosh, they’re massive! You forget just how big until you see one “cruising” by. The kids played at the beach some more, then we headed back to the campground to shower. This was our most interesting community shower experience of the trip — Andi found a tin can of hot dogs in his shower stall. Like someone had been there previously washing up while eating wieners. Ha!

Monday, December 3

Monday was a very special day: we took the kids to Kennedy Space Center! I don’t know why this was on my Florida bucket list as I previously knew very little about the Space Program, but for some reason I really wanted to go. The only interest Tory and Aden had shown about space is watching Ready, Jet, Go! on PBS Kids, but this felt like something we should see on Florida’s “Space Coast.”

Everything I’d read online advised arriving before the gates open at 9:00am, so we packed up the RV early that morning, drove 20 minutes to Kennedy Space Center and planned to eat breakfast in the RV while we waiting for the park to open. When we arrived at 8:45am, we had our pick of parking - the lots were empty! Apparently, the week after Thanksgiving was a very good time to visit because it wasn’t busy AT ALL. In any event, we parked and ate breakfast in the RV (and then waited for Aden to take a time-out in the parking lot of the Kennedy Space Center for drawing on the seat cushion with a Sharpie) … and then we set off to explore the KSC.

Kennedy Space Center reminded me of a theme park about space. Futuristic music piped on the overhead speakers and there were several buildings full of exhibits to see. I’d read beforehand that it was important to get in line for the “Behind The Gates” bus tour of the KSC property, as lines grew throughout the day, so we decided to see this first. Since the park was basically empty the day we visited, I don’t think we wouldn’t had much of an issue anyway.

We loaded the bus and began listening to a cranky tour guide, if I’m being honest, share information about the Space Program and what we were about to see. The bus drove by various buildings on property where certain space program officials work and where they built the rockets. Honestly, I didn’t hear much of what was being said because I was in the very back shoveling snacks into Aden’s mouth so he’d quit talking. Every time the tour guide heard whispers he’d yell into the microphone, “Quiet! People came onto this bus to hear this information and if you’re talking, no-one can hear me!” Yikes. If you were a space buff who knew lots of history about the Space Program, this tour would have been interesting. For us though, we were basically watching the clock until it was over.

After the tour, the bus dropped us off at Apollo / Saturn V Space Center. We were ushered into a big, dark room where a movie began to play about John F. Kennedy and the decision to enter into space exploration. We watched another video about the first Apollo rocket launch and saw the NASA control room.

“We choose to go to the moon. - John F. Kennedy”

Next, big doors opened into the Apollo / Saturn V Center. We had the entire place to ourselves to wander around and see all the exhibits. A giant rocket hanging from the ceiling captured the kids’ interest. They also like touching a real moon rock. I enjoyed reading facts about the first astronauts (like, did you know there was a height restriction? All of the Apollo astronauts were 5 ft. 10 in. tall). I also thought the tribute to the crew of Apollo 1 was very nicely done. To be one of those young men at that time in history - to take that kind of risk in the name of science and exploration - was almost unimaginable.

Tory and Aden got to walk across the “Heroes Walk” — the very same service arm that Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin walked across, more than 30 feet up in the air, to the command module of Apollo 11.

After our tour of the Apollo / Saturn V Center, we hopped on a bus that took us back to the main area.

Aden was DYING to go back to a play area he spotted on our way into the park, so we made our way there and let the kids play on what was the equivalent of a plastic play structure you’d see at a McDonald’s. Later, Aden proclaimed this to be his “favorite part” of the day.

We went back to our RV in the parking lot for lunch, and then re-entered into park for the afternoon. It’s so nice when we’re able to do that! It cheaper and healthier to eat in our RV and it gives us some time to mentally re-group, too.

Back in the park, we learned about Mars exploration and saw a Mars Rover, which reminded Aden of our Polaris ATV. This part of the park was interesting as it gave us an idea about where NASA exploration is heading into the future.

We grabbed some popcorn and took in an IMAX movie about space.

Lastly, we visited the Atlantis building which we’d heard was a don’t miss attraction. Once again, our experience there started with a movie as we entered into the building, then the doors opened to reveal the space shuttle hanging from the ceiling in all its glory. It was really neat!

There were lots of things for the kids to sit in and touch in this area, and they had fun pretending to be astronauts.

The kids rode down a giant slide that took them to the lower level of exhibits. (Andi and I took the stairs.) Here, there was more information about how the astronauts lived on the space shuttle: answers to the real questions we all have like, what did they eat? Or, how did they sleep without floating away in zero gravity? There was also a simulation ride, but Aden was just a little too short. Bummer!

We spent seven hours at the Kennedy Space Center, and there was definitely still more to see. Tory (age 7) and Aden (age 5) did so great listening and learning all about the space program. I worried most of it would be too advanced for them to understand, but later I heard them playing “Mars Rover” as they crawled around the floor pretending to be astronauts, so I think they retained more information than I realized. There were some moments when it was hard to keep Aden’s body quiet, but that’s a fact of life with kids no matter where you take them. Overall, I’m really glad we took time to visit the Kennedy Space Center during our trip to Florida.

It just so happens that tomorrow, there’s a real SPACEX rocket launch scheduled. Jetty Park, our campground, is suppose to be one of the best places to watch a launch, so our plan is to hang around to see it in action. We’re excited!