pkondz
Brace yourself for immediate disintegration
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2007
Dang, Randall beat me to it. I was going to say they made out like gangbusters in the last tax deal.
That works, too.
Motorcycle gangs too.
Dang, Randall beat me to it. I was going to say they made out like gangbusters in the last tax deal.
We did a quick check to make sure no one had to visit the hospital due to extreme blood loss before continuing on. After the Debacle At Flamingo, the next item on the itinerary could have been just about anything and it would have felt like paradise in comparison.
Kids: “Where are we going next, Daddy?”
Me: “We’re going to spend 5 hours visiting a distant relative in a 55-and-older retirement community in Boca Raton.”
Kids: “Yay!”
He appears to spend his days scuba-diving, sending his daughter scuba-diving, taking photos while scuba-diving, and drinking scotch while barbecuing something he probably caught while scuba-diving. We believe he basically owns the Florida Keys.
I might not have all the details correct, but from what I can tell from the photos CJ posts, she basically goes out on a boat and catches sharks with her bare hands, holding their jaws shut while the team tags them for research. Don’t ever get on her bad side.
“Come on outside so we can eat this pie before it gets warm.”
Wait, there’s pie? No one had mentioned pie before. This day just might be salvaged after all.
CJ had figured that if we were going to be near the Florida Keys, we needed a proper key lime pie. Hey, he’s the local, so we deferred to his expertise. And it was really good! Thanks for the treat, CJ!
Nearby, a family was grilling up some chicken and it smelled amazing. CJ kept trying to goad Scotty into going over and stealing some for us, but Scotty was apparently feeling too cautious (read: chicken) to try it. But at least we had pie.
Just across, you could see Miami rising out of the water like Atlantis.
Actually, I made that up. I have no idea what these are, other than “fish”.
This one had been arranged by Magdalene (@Flossbolna )—she had seen our general itinerary and offered the services of her (then) fiancé, Michael, to be our personal guide through the famed Disney Character Warehouse outlet in Sawgrass Mills.
This, of course, raises the question as to whether or not “Michael” actually exists or is just a figment of Magdalene’s imagination. So I was definitely curious to find out for sure.
Now that we know this store exists, I’m sure we’ll never, ever spend money on the ridiculous prices in Disney parks shops ever again.
Give Michael a subject—any subject! He will have a forceful opinion on it.
They had recently been traveling overseas and had visited both Shanghai Disneyland and the Tokyo parks—Magdalene had decided that maps from each park would be the perfect gift for us.
The heck with it. I’m getting a photo. If nothing else, I want to prove to the rest of you that Michael actually does exist. So, let’s everybody line up. What’s that, Michael? Oh, sure, absolutely. I’d never dream of posting this anywhere in public. Scout’s honor.
Heh. Sucker. I wasn’t a scout.
Everybody ready? One…two…three! Say cheese!
What to order and not order on the menu, the state of Disney Parks, Bob Iger, differences between traveling in the states and abroad...he was very clear on his opinion of our current administration as well.
BUT, I too was wondering at Michael's existence.
But why does she smell so funny?
This is about what I know about Cj as well.
And yes, same for the Pirate Princess, I've seen pictures of her wrangling sharks. Not someone I would mess with! Plus she's smarter than heck!
Pie definitely makes just about anything better and I agree, as long as it is not Pecan or Coconut.
I am going to have to try this Key Lime pie someday....
I bet Drew could have given them the "look at me, I'm such a cute toddler" treatment.
Cool picture!
I've been there too! But not with the luxury of a trained guide.
Yes, I had wondered too, until I actually met him.
There are two within half an hour of Disney World. The problem is that with Disney's Magical Express people don't rent cars and it is not easy to get to them without a car.
Yes, if you're facebook, you know this for sure.
Yeah, Michael I know you're not reading, but those would have been a perfect gift for someone else.....
He forgot them the last couple times we met up!
Yes, these sound like things that he would love expounding his opinion on!
But we have seen his hands in several pictures now!
driving 2 hours up the coast with the intention of reaching the John F. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
Because, as we all know, the Rope Drop strategy always works.
…and came to a full stop. Wall-to-wall cars as far as the eye could see.
Apparently, I’d miscalculated on the crowds. Everyone and their mothers, along with their mother’s old college roommates, were visiting the Kennedy Center today
The longer we crawled along the road, the more my stress level rose.
it was Julie, Sarah and Drew’s first-ever visit
My heart sank when I saw the Will Call line was just as long as the regular ticket line.
There was a rocket launch scheduled for this particular morning.
which meant we’d spent all this money to be there and wouldn’t get to see the main attraction.
Thankfully, the rest of the family was excited about the launch, and they chastised me for my attitude. And they were right to do so.
I’ve written about the Kennedy Space Center before, but it’s heaven for science geeks.
It’s also hard to fit the entire shuttle into one photo.
You can never go wrong with allowing a 3-year-old to assume the controls of a multi-billion dollar spacecraft.
They also had a model Hubble telescope on display
They do a great job of keeping little kids busy. There was a model space station built for kids to crawl around in on an endless loop. Which they did.
And a slide was built at 22 degrees, which matched the precise re-entry angle for the shuttle when returning to Earth’s atmosphere.
It was cute, but not something I’d wait longer than 10 minutes to do.
We found a grass clearing to the side of the building and saw a crowd of people gathered and looking to the east, so we figured we’d do what everybody else was doing, because you can never go wrong by following the crowd.
From our home in Delaware, we are occasionally fortunate enough to be able to see a rocket launch from Wallops Island in Virginia. However, the skies have to be clear, and we can only see a distant orange light rising into the sky. It’s still cool.
This was a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. That’s about all the useful information I have for you.
But it was awesome to see. Another magnificent vacation moment, just the way I’d planned it.
When I came back, I saw a long line forming at the entrance to the bus tour. So I quickly hopped in line to get a spot and then texted Julie that they were opening up. It actually worked out pretty well—I had our place in line and Drew was distracted and didn’t have to stand there baking in the sun.
I did, of course. But I’m the dad and low man on the totem pole, so that’s how it works.
We saw the massive Vehicle Assembly Building, big enough to house the Statue of Liberty with room to spare:
This was a new launch pad being built for the Ares rocket, which is being designed to go to Mars. If that project ever gets proper funding, anyway.
Its roadbed is made of pure Tennessee River Rock, which is trucked in from Alabama.
And this is the mission control area during launch events.
The last stop on the tour is the massive Saturn V building, which might be worth the price of admission by itself. This building is full of exhibits on the Apollo moon missions. A pre-show sets up the history of the Apollo program and gives a window into the space race that pitted the U.S. vs. Russia for superiority in space travel. It all leads up to the story of the launch of Apollo 8, which is shown in real time with the actual mission control setup of that time.
I think it’s fair to say we were all suitably impressed.
We even got to touch a moon rock! Spoiler alert: it feels like a rock.
we visited the one place that can rival Disney for maxing out your credit card: the NASA gift shop.
It was nice of them to have forms available right at the store to apply for home equity loans as you wait in the concession line.
ut I really logged in to say that your blurry Hubble picture is either a happy accident or understated comic genius. Not sure which. I just remember in college when Hubble was launched...
But I really logged in to say that your blurry Hubble picture is either a happy accident or understated comic genius. Not sure which. I just remember in college when Hubble was launched...
Very cool. I have a story. My first trip to Florida (as an adult) was in 2000. I went to Kennedy one day, loved it (I guess I'm a science geek too). By pure coincidence (certainly not due to my complete lack of planning skills back then, although to be fair in a pre-internet age, was there much planning?), anyway, by coincidence, I saw there was a shuttle launch scheduled in two days. It was Atlantis, in fact. I bought a ticket to come back and watch the launch. Took the buses out to the viewing site. Was very disappointed the launch was scrubbed due to winds. In fact the shuttle didn't get off the ground for more than a week, after I had already gone back home.There was a rocket launch scheduled for this particular morning.
I would love to go back and see the Atlantis exhibit, especially considering it's the only shuttle I've actually seen on the launch pad.We finally got inside the gates and the line for the bus tour (taking people out to the observation area) was mobbed. So we didn’t bother with that. Instead, we went straight for the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit. Since most people were trying to get on the buses, there was hardly anyone here.
Well, that's rather appropriate in this case. You must have had your millimetres and inches mixed up when you took the picture.They also had a model Hubble telescope on display (sorry about the blur).
Well, too bad everyone couldn't do it, but being able to see people on the ride is actually a great bonus.Julie took the short straw and took Drew to the “observation room”, where they actually had a setup so you could watch those on the ride.
I touched that rock! Now you have cooties! (Does cooties stick to a rock for 18 years? I wonder if they wash it?)We even got to touch a moon rock! Spoiler alert: it feels like a rock.
But…but…Rope Drop always works! Doesn’t it?
I would love to take credit for once again pulling off an amazing vacation-planning coup. But no, this was pure dumb luck. Until that moment, I had absolutely no idea what was going on, and had spent most of the drive cursing our luck and the crowds.
I would also love to tell you that my attitude immediately improved at that moment, and that I was mature enough to realize that a rocket launch was a once-in-a-lifetime event and we were fortunate to be there to witness it. But that’s what a wise, mature adult would do. Instead, I became even more frustrated, because now I was sure the bus tour would be closed to the public, which meant we’d spent all this money to be there and wouldn’t get to see the main attraction.
We checked our watches and saw that we had about ten minutes to launch time, so we hustled outside. We found a grass clearing to the side of the building and saw a crowd of people gathered and looking to the east, so we figured we’d do what everybody else was doing, because you can never go wrong by following the crowd.
That’s about all the useful information I have for you.
When the rocket became a faint orange dot, we turned and made a beeline the snack bar,
It was nice of them to have forms available right at the store to apply for home equity loans as you wait in the concession line.
This speed demon transports spacecraft from the VAB out to the launchpads at a speed of 1 mph.
They also had a model Hubble telescope on display (sorry about the blur).
No, it would not...not even in $100 bills based on this...I've heard that if you stack up all the national debt in $1 bills... it still wouldn't fit in there.
(Totally made that up, but am now curious.)
It did work and.... that was kinda cool!No, it would not...not even in $100 bills based on this...
go to usdebt dot kleptocrasy dot us (don't know if that will make it past the sensors or censors[both])
Awesome
Been a looooooong time since I've been there. Last time I was there, the Shuttle wasn't even an idea yet.
What the?
But.... but.... but...... rope drop!
August, not May, so... not Mother's day... hmmm....
Breathe, dude... breathe.
Nice!
And totally envious.
Ugh... they didn't have an Oblivious family fastpass line?
WHAT?????? LUCKY!!!!!!!!!!
Dude! A launch is the main attraction!
Yes they were!
Wow! Just.... wow!
I really need to get back there.
You did pretty good. That's a cool shot taken from the nose like that.
Hey look! It's the Oblivious kids with someone's mother!
What could possibly go wrong? This is how discoveries are made.
Like that. Smart.
Good info for future reference.
One guy sees a duck and watches it... crowd forms... rocket lifts off behind them.
Really! Cool!
I'm saying "cool" a lot... because it all is.
Big rocket! But... here.
Man, I'd be wandering around there for hours.
Gemini capsule, no?
Nice move.
Also
That thing is so deceptive.
The mind just can't quite make sense of the scale of the thing.
Huh. Hope it happens.
Um.... what?
No way! That's the first time I can recall seeing that.
Another place I could spend a loooooot of time in.
Awwwww....
Who cares if it feels like a rock! Dude! It's a piece of the moon!
The moon!!
Did you manage to escape unscathed?
KSC looks really cool. The one time we had a trip planned the government shut down 2 days before we were to arrive so they were not open (well I think they were but only a small part) so we haven't been but one day we will make it there.
I’ve been lurking on the trip reports for an awful long time but I HAD to log in after seeing your KSC report.
I was fortunate enough to visit KSC as part of a NASA social and see a launch in person. I’m so glad your family could see it! It’s pretty amazing.
But I really logged in to say that your blurry Hubble picture is either a happy accident or understated comic genius. Not sure which. I just remember in college when Hubble was launched...
Very cool. I have a story. My first trip to Florida (as an adult) was in 2000. I went to Kennedy one day, loved it (I guess I'm a science geek too). By pure coincidence (certainly not due to my complete lack of planning skills back then, although to be fair in a pre-internet age, was there much planning?), anyway, by coincidence, I saw there was a shuttle launch scheduled in two days. It was Atlantis, in fact. I bought a ticket to come back and watch the launch. Took the buses out to the viewing site. Was very disappointed the launch was scrubbed due to winds. In fact the shuttle didn't get off the ground for more than a week, after I had already gone back home.
In another trip planning failure/missed opportunity, I was in New York City the day they flew in Enterprise for it's installation at Intrepid Museum. Sadly, I did not consider going to watch it.
I would love to go back and see the Atlantis exhibit, especially considering it's the only shuttle I've actually seen on the launch pad.
Well, that's rather appropriate in this case. You must have had your millimetres and inches mixed up when you took the picture.
Well, too bad everyone couldn't do it, but being able to see people on the ride is actually a great bonus.
I touched that rock! Now you have cooties! (Does cooties stick to a rock for 18 years? I wonder if they wash it?)
Man, you need to get back over there. It's such a cool place to visit.
I was. Into a paper bag.
I hereby declare that every attraction needs an Oblivious Family Fastpass Line.©
I know, I know! You don't have to yell.
If nothing else, go see the Atlantis attraction and the bus that takes you to the Saturn V building.
It's truly nerd heaven.
Hard to believe it's so small. Gives you a new respect for the guys who sat in there with a rocket strapped to their backs.
It's really true. It's so out in the open it just looks like a regular building. But it's massive.
It's been polished down to almost nothing over the years! But still, I touched it.
No. No, we did not. But maybe we're supporting that Mars mission.