Poor Brendon has come to realise what touring with me is like, in that everything is scheduled to within an inch of our lives and punctuality is key. In fact arriving early is key - so we are half an hour early for our bus and waiting in the rain for the tour bus to arrive. After a bit of toing and froing, picking up other guests and swapping buses, we are heading to the east coast and our first glimpses of the Atlantic Ocean. Although could have done without the tornado warning we heard for a neighbouring county - what is it with me and wild weather in Orlando? Last time I was here we had a hurricane come through and we were curfewed for 24 hours while it passed!
Madeline, our tour operator, gives a running commentary on the one hour drive with just enough detail to not spoil the day’s activities. She has kindly mapped out how we should spend the day at the space centre with the “must do” marked on our map and has walked us through the entry process so we are well prepped when we get there.
It’s hard to find the words to describe how you feel when you get that first glimpse of the rocket garden as you enter the centre. This is something I’ve watched hundreds of times on tv, seen live on FB and now here we stand next to these huge structures that carried man into space. But that was nothing compared to our first exhibit - space shuttle Atlantis. The US really know how to put on a big reveal. First a ten minute video showing the history of the shuttle program. Would you believe they were working on a prototype before man walked on the moon?
At the end of the video, where they have just successfully launched the shuttle, the screen rolls back and bam - right in front of you, suspended at eye level is the Space Shuttle Atlantis. For a kid of the 80s this was pretty impressive - we grew up watching shuttle launches and re-entries. I was 15 when Challenger exploded live on tv just 73 seconds after launching. Indeed there is a beautiful memorial to both the Challenger and Columbia astronauts, with tributes to all 14 victims of these disasters. Most sobering was the wreckage on display in the memorial - a section of the door panel from Challenger and the cockpit windows from Columbia.
Hayden and I braved the launch simulator, which was pretty awesome - it was quite clever how they can recreate some of the feeling without leaving the floor! We explored the whole exhibit (including the exit slide for some of us), before jumping on a bus and getting a 45 minute tour of the centre, including the launch pads, crawler roads, lake areas where debris is retrieved and recycled and at the end, the Saturn V and Apollo exhibits.
Barry our bus driver was an absolute card, and a great guide. His running commentary, along with the NASA videos made for such an interesting trip, which also included a bit of bird watching as he pointed out a bald eagle’s nest (one of 6 on site). It is 7ft wide - and could fit a king size mattress in it!
The Apollo exhibits were interesting and again, something so many of us grew up on. For Hayden it was a chance to learn a bit about the history and certainly about the many Apollo missions which weren’t the original moon landing. I’m thinking Apollo 13 will be the movie to watch after this so he can learn more about that particular mission.
The Saturn V on display is suspended above you from the ceiling, and really gives you a sense of the size of these rockets - you know they are large, but wow, until you’ve walked under one, you can’t fathom how large!
We spent probably far too much money at the gift shops, but what a way to remember a fantastic day. Finished the day off at our rooftop bar and bistro at the resort and treated myself to a “Almost Sangria” cocktail - peach flavoured of course!
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