Debarking from Freedom of the Seas was fairly easy. We waited in the theater until our number was called, walked right off the ship and collected our luggage. Paid a porter to take all the bags, which meant we cleared customs fairly quickly.
Our plan was to pick up our rental car, drive across the state, and spend a few days with our friends who live outside Tampa.
But first ...
Musical cue: David Bowie, "Space Oddity"
When we cruised out of Port Canaveral back in 1987, our vacation package included admission to the Kennedy Space Center. We decided it was time for a return visit.
You can tell where you are even from the parking lot:
Admission is expensive, but includes a bus tour of the campus as well as all the major exhibits. We paid an additional fee for a guided bus tour, which includes additional stops. Our tour guide, John, gave us lots of insights into the comings and goings at Kennedy Space Center, as well as the projects that NASA and private contractors are working on for 2018. We're going back to the moon! And that will be the first step in going to Mars.
Vehicle Assembly Building, as viewed from the bus:
Launch pad:
And up close:
Musical cue: Frank Sinatra, "Fly Me To the Moon"
The bus tour ends at the Apollo-Saturn V building, where it's 1968 again.
One of the best displays in this building has you seated in the control room during a rocket launch. It includes news footage of the launch as well as activities you'd find in the control room during countdown.
You'll see the rockets, the lunar module, suits worn by the Apollo astronauts. You can even touch a moon rock.
We grabbed a couple of burgers here, then took the bus back to the main complex.
Musical Cue: Elton John, "Rocket Man"
The bus drops you off at the entrance to the building that houses the Atlantis Space Shuttle, the largest exhibit in the main complex. Outside the building you will see a full-scale model of the rockets that were used to launch the shuttles. Inside you will find Atlantis, as well as numerous exhibits explaining the shuttle program, and saluting the men and women who flew the shuttles. There's even a simulator that allows you to experience a rocket launch.
The rockets:
Atlantis:
We'd seen the shuttle prototype, Enterprise, at the Intrepid Museum in NYC, but that display did not allow us to see inside the space craft. This was fascinating.
Next we walked to the back of the complex to see the memorial:
We realized, at that point, that we'd spent the entire day at the space center, and yet had not seen all of th amazing exhibits they offer.
We paid a visit to the rocket garden on our way out.
Musical Cue: Willy Nelson, "On the Road Again"
And then it was time to drive across the state to Tampa, and the second half of our vacation.
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