Kennedy Space Center

Do you ever have a day where no matter how unenthusiastic (or grumpy) you start out, the universe keeps sending you messages to look up. The day we went to the Kennedy Space Center was a bit like that.

Our day got off to a rather rough start as I grumpily packed up the trailer, annoyed that we were leaving Florida, and many of the families we had met in the state (and who were at the campground with us) without a proper goodbye. Then, mis-communication on the route meant we took an extra hour to get there (in true McMillan style!). Bob was initially excited about our destination, but by the time we actually arrived in the parking lot, he was rather frustrated. It didn't help that the kids and I weren't all that enthused to go. Despite most of the family’s initial ambivalence, we spent an interesting afternoon learning about the various space craft and space, in general. (My first bright light – the parking lot attendant only charged us a vehicle fee, instead of the RV parking fee.)

The Center has many displays and activities (and tours) providing history of the race to get humans (and stuff, in general) into space, and some the innovations and inventions which were required to actually make it all possible.

 

A walk through the Rocket Garden gave the adults a chance to look at various rockets used to get stuff into space. 

It also gave the kids a chance to be silly in some of the space craft.

I’m not really sure what Angry Birds has to do with the actual Space Program, but there was a sizable area that had several games & activities for the kids to do.

In the Space Shuttle building, the kids liked the videos about life on the space station the best; barely blinking an eye at the (actual) Space Shuttle Atlantis overhead.

The slides beside the shuttle were much more interesting. Oh, and the space toilet got rave reviews from them too. (Bob did find the Atlantis interesting, though, and was quite surprised to see how rough and patchwork looking the outside of the entire shuttle actually is.)

The IMAX show, Hubble, capped off our day with some spectacular images of far-away galaxies, nebulas and stars captured by the telescope.

Our noon arrival didn't provide enough time to see everything the Center had to offer before closing at 5 o’clock (not even considering tours of the launch area – there was no way the kids would have managed a 2 ½ hour tour, even if we would have had sufficient time), and so we missed out on one of the IMAX shows, and some of the displays. I didn't mind skipping the History of space exhibits (as we had seen similar in New Mexico), but I do wish we would have had time to go into the robotics section.

Now, also in true McMillan style, we started our drive day at a time when most people would be stopping. Hey! What a novel idea! I’d already had enough of the day, and wanted supper at a reasonable time. So, just a few minutes up the road, we stopped at the KOA for the night. This was a good decision as the front desk person gave us an extra 10% off (I guess looking tired and grumpy gets me discounts!).  The campground playground let the kids burn off some energy, and the free WiFi let me connect and catch up on some of the TV I had been missing (yes, WiFi makes me happy).  And so, what began as a grumpy day, finished up on a good note.