Central Florida and the Space Coast

The title of yesterday’s post was both appropriate for the scene and my attitude. I didn’t feel like writing much and was looking to get the image posted before I headed out on an adventure. If you haven’t guessed yet, I’m on vacation in Florida. I drove down Monday morning and will be returning home on Thursday.

I had points that were going to expire in my Disney vacation club and decided to use one of the resorts as a home base for a little adventure. I’m at a room at the Saratoga Springs resort which is next to Disney Springs. My plan was to visit Cocoa Beach and Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, the Bok Tower Gardens on Wednesday before returning home. Day one is complete and I’m getting ready for day two now.

Monday after I arrived in the Orlando area I did a little hunting for retro video game stores. I didn’t have a lot of success, well, I found some store but didn’t find any thing I was willing to purchase. The hunt was interesting but the traffic was starting to wear on me so I worked my way to the resort. I planned on walking around Disney Springs while I waited for my room to be ready.

I only walked about a third of the way when my phone dinged from the notification my room was ready. I backed tracked, unloaded the car and decided to relax for a couple of hours around the resort before heading over for dinner. Yep, remembering why I’m souring on Disney, expensive and crowded. At least on the walk back to my room I was able to catch some good light.

The weather on Tuesday was going to be a challenge but I didn’t let it change my plans. I was going to roll with it no matter what. The sunrise at Cocoa Beach was less than ideal. The waves on the other hand were nice, probably due to the rip currents warning I received on my weather app. You can see the clouds moving up from the south and eventually it did rain.

I grabbed some breakfast at a beach side diner on my way to the space center. When I planned this trip the Artemis II mission to orbit the moon was scheduled for March 6. I was looking forward to getting some images on the rocket/capsule on the launch pad. During the last test an issue was discovered that required the return to the vehicle assembly building. To say I was disappointed would be a little understated. The rescheduled launch is now for April 1st.

Today I am driving an hour south of Orlando to visit Bok Tower Gardens. This is a fifty acre botanical garden with plenty of walking trails. Looking forward to what I’ll find…