Space Coast and Forgotten Coast

Well, thanks to no wifi for a week and having too much fun in the evenings with Phyllis and Dennis, the blog has languished. So, another week’s catch-up.
February 11/12th: leaving Homestead in southern Florida, we spent most of the day on the Florida Turnpike (toll road, but worth it because the transports avoid the extra expense). Another sunny warm day, and by 3 we had arrived at Jetty Park in Port Canaveral. The park is right on the beach, run by the Port and just down the coast from the Kennedy Space Center and the shuttle launchpad. Phyllis and Dennis are already there and we fall into a great routine of walks, talks, evening drinks and snacks, ‘whose turn is to do dinner tonight’. And hey, the dogs are still non-smokers! The following day we enjoyed the campsite, spending the afternoon and evening visiting with a friend of Phyllis from school days in Rhode Island. Sue has a beautiful home set in the rural area south of the Space Coast and she treated us to a wonderful dinner.
February 13th: Kennedy Space Center day! Leaving Jetty Park early, we headed north to the Space Center for a visit and tour. Again, a beautiful day. As you can see from the photos, there was much to see. The huge building is the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) where the rocket, shuttle, launchers – the whole kit and caboodle – are joined together before trundling out to the launch pad. The shuttle is re-used for a number of trips, so goes through a processing building before being moved to the VAB. There they take it apart, check it all, load it up with the scientific equipment etc for the next visit to the ISS (International Space Station).
Although the launch had been delayed, the ‘package’ was already out on the launchpad, having been moved there on the transporter/crawler, which moves along a specially built roadway at 1 mile an hour flat-out. Our entry to the Space Center was $38 each, and for that we got to visit a number of exhibits, take a bus tour of the complex and see a number of IMAX films. The bus drivers were great founts of knowledge and obviously very proud of the center. One of the fun things we did was to go on a ‘shuttle ride’ – they have built a mock-up of the shuttle which we all sat in and got shaken like jelly as they simulated the take-off around us. It was very noisy, very educational and great fun.
One stop on the tour introduced us to an actual Saturn rocket, suspended in an enormous hangar. The only word to describe it is ‘wow’. It is monumentally huge, and all to move the tiny capsule on the front end. Takes guts to strap yourself into a tiny closet glued to the front of a massive can of high-powered space fuel!
We had our photo taken with the shuttle in the background – just to prove we really were there. And of course a photo of the shuttle as it sits patiently on the pad, waiting for someone to say ‘yes, those valves are ok, let’s go!’.
February 14th: Since the launch had by now been delayed even further into the last week of February, we had decided to spend another 4-5 days exploring the west coast of Florida and up into the Panhandle. The four of us had enjoyed time particularly on ‘the forgotten coast’ (Panhandle coast between Pensacola and the Suwannee River) several years ago, so wanted to explore more. The combination of Valentines Day and Presidents Day for the weekend made finding a campsite for Saturday and Sunday quite difficult, but on Saturday (15th) we had booked into a KOA site at Madeira Beach, west of St Petersburg on the west coast. Although we really wanted to camp in Florida State parks, this was the best we could do for one night. As part of our trip there, we dropped in on Ann, another school days friend of Phyllis’ and were treated to a rare cup of real English tea, thanks to her partner Ray (from Norwich, UK).
This was really a travel day, but we were rewarded with a chance to have a campfire at the end of the day.
February 15th: The west coast is particularly well known for its springs and a number of very beautiful State parks. On the way up into the Suwannee River area, we stopped for lunch and visit at the Crystal River Archeological State reserve. Formerly private property, construction digging had unearthed what turned out to be the remains of several Indian temples, middens and burial mounds on the Crystal River. The State took over the site and much research, digging, etc ensued. Carbon-dating, etc indicated that the site had been occupied from about 300BC to 1400AD. In the small display house were some excellent displays, including pottery remnants.
Camping that night was in a private campsite in the village of Old Town. A very interesting campsite – very open plan, about 45 sites all told, and quiet, except for some really noisy roosters early the following day!
February 16th: Phyllis and Dennis’s 29th wedding anniversary! A sparkling, sunny, mild day – great for celebrating. Leaving Old Town, we backtracked to Fanning Springs, to take a walk around the closest of the many springs which feed the Suwannee River in this part of the state. The water was warm (we didn’t go in), the mullet were jumping and the snowy egrets were fishing. We took a walk along the boardwalk through the swamp surrounding the springs, checked the river for alligators and manatee (there were none) and headed off for a couple of days on ‘the forgotten coast’.
Since the weekend was over, we had managed to book into two State parks for the next two nights – Ochlokonee River State Park (near Sopchoppy – what a name!), and St George’s Island (a barrier island just off Eastpoint).
On the way to Sopchoppy, we turned off the road to explore Econfina River State Park for lunch – a charming little park at the end of the road. No camping, but looked after by a delightful volunteer and his wife from Connecticut. From his stories I got the distinct impression that this was an idyllic way of staying away from the family for 4-5 months of the year!
The Ochlokonee River State Park turned out to be another great find – an enormous amount of natural forest, river and grasslands with a beautiful campsite on the edge of the river. Nature trails led alongside the river for miles. The photos do not do it justice. It was beautiful, and Fish and I have added it to our list of campsites that are worth spending a week or so at. Another great find – white squirrels. At first we thought they were albino, but no, it’s a specific strain of the grey squirrel. They were cute, bold and great posers.
We had racked our brains for a good place to have a celebrationary anniversary dinner – Sopchoppy is definitely a small village! Dennis had checked out the AAA Florida Tour book and discovered that the Wakulla State Park, about half an hour away, had an old lodge which had a restaurant in its original ballroom, so off we went. Like many parks, Wakulla started life as the private estate of an important and well-off family. This time, Dr Edward Ball. During its heyday, the estate and river had been used for filming, amongst others, “Creature from the Black Lagoon” and some of the Johnny Weismuller Tarzan films. Anyway, now it is a hotel/lodge, and dinner in the ballroom was excellent and memorable.
February 17th: Leaving Sopchoppy was a wrench, but we had to move on to St George’s Island, which is also a wonderful campsite. The trip there was short, but included some more wonderful Florida bridges – wouldn’t mind having the concrete contract with the Florida state government. We were checked in by 2. The campsite and its facilities are very new, since the long-standing campground had been destroyed by hurricane activity about 6-7 years ago. The campground itself is at the end of a 6 mile barrier island, so everything is sand dunes and sea oats and a variety of gnarly trees. Beyond the campground is another couple of miles of beaches, wet lands and lots of space for long walks. Another wonderful place to visit for a week or so.
We had a great campfire and sat out watching the stars – not a light in sight. Very peaceful.
February 18th: time to part company! Phyllis and Dennis for the northeast and Fishers for the west.
We started out early, picked up an extra hour crossing back into central time, and 550 miles later, here we are in Lafayette, Louisiana. The last hour of so of the trip has been incredible – we are traveling along the I10, and between Baton Rouge and Lafayette, the road is a causeway (more concrete!) through the Atchafayala Swampland. Actually it’s officially a National Wildlife Area, but it’s a swampland! And now we have lost our bright blue skies and clear air, and it’s grey and very muggy. Hopefully it will brighten again tomorrow!