Visiting Space View Park

      My son, John D., was visiting this week, with his wife, Sara, and baby, John Paul. When we realized there was to be a shuttle launch this week, John D. really wanted to go. We decided to drive up to Titusville, which was supposed to be one of the best places to view the launch. An article in the newspaper recommended getting there 6-8 hours before launch time, so we planned to leave at 7 am for the 2 hour drive up to Titusville. The launch was scheduled for 3:49 pm. My daughter, Marie, who lives nearby, would come also with her 2 children, Hallie & Aiden.
      Unfortunately, we didn't leave until 8 am. Marie was not very happy. We had told her we would pick her up at 7 am and no one remembered to call her at 7 am and tell her we were running late. We couldn't all fit in one car, so John and Sara started up I-95 ahead of us while we stopped at Marie's house. Marie was worried we wouldn't be able to find them when we got to Titusville, but that didn't turn out to be a problem. We found them OK while we were driving through the traffic jam deciding if there was another choice to paying $20 to park. Now Space View Park boasts no admission fee and no parking fee, but the free parking was long gone. We decided to get in the line for the $20 parking. John and Sara got into the parking lot, but they closed the lot and put up a "Full" sign 3 cars ahead of us. They told us to go to another parking area that was far away and would have made it very hard to find John and Sara again. We found a place nearby to park for $30 though. Marie agreed to pay the extra $10 and it turned out to be a good choice. This parking was at the Mason's Lodge and the parking included free use of their restroom! Not only that, there was a shorter line at their restroom than the one at the porta-potty near where John and Sara parked. So we decided it was worth the extra $10.
      The newspaper article on going to the shuttle launch had said to bring all kinds of things- chairs, food, sun screen, and activities to occupy your children. What it didn't say was to pack them so that you could carry them a long ways. I was expecting a park with picnic tables, and we hadn't seen any of those. We decided to leave our lunch in the car and just take snacks and  chairs and the bag of stuff for the kids, since we couldn't carry everything. I had my charango to play during the long wait, but it is not hard to carry.
      We got out of the car and it was windy and cool! We weren't expecting cool weather. It had been 90' in Port St. Lucie the day before. We were expecting to be hot waiting for the launch and had dressed appropriately. Hallie had on a halter top and said, "Mommy, I thought you said it was going to be hot!" John and Sara were lucky to have their suitcases with them, because they planned to continue driving north after the launch to head back to Maryland, so they had warm clothes.  There was a big CVS within view of where we parked, so I decided to take Hallie to the CVS and see if I could buy some sweat shirts.  CVS was packed with shuttle viewers buying all kinds of things. Some people had not brought chairs and were buying lawn chairs. There were no sweat shirts, but I found 2 kids' long sleeve shirts that would fit Hallie & Aiden and they had shuttle t-shirts. I found a nice t-shirt with a picture of the shuttle that said "God Bless America" and bought 3 of them. When I put the t-shirt on over my sleeveless top, I was actually warm enough and Hallie's long sleeve top was perfect for her over her halter top.
      Hallie and I made our way to where the others had already set up a place to view the launch. We had 5 lawn chairs and a beach blanket spread out. John and Sara were going to walk to where they could get their national park books stamped and Hallie went with them. When they returned, Hallie quickly made friends with the kids on the next blanket, even though they were a little shy at first.  There were little monuments to honor astronauts, but I was too tired to go look at them, after the walking I had done with all my things. I sat for a while just sitting and taking everything in. Then I got out my charango and decided it was appropriate to play patriotic songs. I hadn't played my charango in a while, so it took a little practicing to get used to it again, but it was quiet and only the people on the next blanket could hear it.
      Around noon, Marie needed to take Aiden to the bathroom and said she would stop at the car and get our lunch on her way back.  While we were waiting for Marie to come back, we suddenly saw people start walking away from the launch viewing area carrying all their things.  John D. used his Blackberry to find out the news- the launch was being postponed for 48 hours because of a problem with the heater.  We tried calling Marie, but she didn't answer her cell phone, so we had to wait. I wanted to have lunch before we packed up anyway.  While waiting for Marie to come back, we found out that the hot dogs that were previously selling for $3 were now only $1. When we finally got a hold of Marie, we told her not to bring the lunch from the car because we decided to buy hot dogs. I had brought things to make sandwiches, but they weren't made yet and we didn't have a picnic table, so $1 hot dogs looked real good. 
       Now we had to decide what to do next. There were other things to do in Titusville besides view the launch, so we decided not to drive back right away. We headed to the National Park Visitor Center on Merritt Island.  John D. got there first and it was closed. Traffic was a mess. Marie was ready to head back to Port St. Lucie so that Hallie wouldn't have to miss her dance class at 5:15. However, I hadn't said my goodbyes to baby John Paul, whom I wouldn't see for a few months. We looked for a nearby park and found one with a playground- perfect for Hallie and Aiden to use up their energy before the long car ride and a good place to give John Paul his good-bye hugs. At 2:30 we headed home and got there in time for Hallie to go to dance.
       Even though we didn't get to see the shuttle launch, John and I agreed that it was a worthwhile trip up to Titusville.  We had a nice day with our family and got to see another part of Florida.

Marie & Aiden standing behind one of the astronaut monuments in Space View Park.

Hallie like putting her hand in the handprints of the astronauts on the monuments.

Here are some pictures without the crowds from the Space View Park Website.

At the park with 3 of our 4 grandchildren:

One last picture of John D., Sara, and John Paul before they head back to Maryland:

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Spring in Florida

     Now that it is April, the snow birds are leaving.  I always thought snow birds split their time somewhat equally between their home in the north and their Florida home, but now I find out that a lot of snow birds spend only 3 months in Florida- January, February, and March.  It is very disappointing to make a new friend and then find out they only spend 3 months a year in Florida.
     I should look at the bright side. Maybe after the snow birds have all left it won't take so long to cross the bridge from Stuart to Palm City.  Maybe the afternoon traffic will run more smoothly with less people on the road in Port St. Lucie.
     I don't think I would like to be a snow bird, even if I could afford 2 homes.  A home is a special place.  How can you have two special places? I don't like to be away from home for too long.  Three months is too long for a vacation, but too short a time to call a place a home.
     Florida is a great place to live year round. The time you spend indoors with the air conditioning on in the summer is still less than you spend indoors in the winter up north.  Being on the east coast of Florida, we have beautiful sunrises, and the morning is a great time to be outside observing all the wildlife we have.  It is best to go home by noon though. I found out last summer that you can get very hot having a picnic lunch. If you go indoors for lunch and an afternoon nap, you can go back outdoors in the late afternoon and evening.  The beach is really nice at 3 pm, and less crowded too.  A bike ride after dinner is a great way to spend the evening.
     Most of us in Florida have come here from somewhere else.  When you meet someone new, one of the first questions you ask each other is, "Where are you from?"  That means we all have family and friends in other places, but Florida is a great place for our families and friends to visit. Come on down and visit beautiful Florida!