Florida Guide > Other Activities
Visit Kennedy Space Center
No trip to Florida should end without a visit to the Kennedy Space Center. When you are so close it would be criminal not to visit the most historic place in America – from where all the Space Missions leave. It is situated about 60 minutes drive from Orlando.
This may not appeal to both sexes or all ages but I have yet to meet anyone who did not enjoy it. The bus tours take you in comfort to all areas of the space center and everything is explained in great detail. All the most important areas i. e. the launch pad, mission control and the building where the rockets are made are all visited and the public are let off the bus to explore with or without a tour guide. The staff are always happy to answer any questions and there is even a café half way round where you can have lunch and join a later bus to carry on your tour. Nobody rushes you and you can get on and off buses at leisure so you are able to spend as long as you wish at each area. The hall where you can view space memorabilia including space capsules and actual duplicate rockets which are always built as spares in case the first rocket is faulty. The gift shops too sell wonderful momentos of your tour. What little boy back home would not love a souvenir from Kennedy Space Center or even a junior space outfit. They even sell the dry packet food that astronauts eat during a mission. (I wouldn’t recommend it for lunch though)! !
The best part of the whole trip is a visit to the IMAX theatre to see a movie of a launch taken from inside a rocket. The sight of the rocket leaving the earth as viewed from the rocket is absolutely breathtaking and often moves people to tears. (It gets me every time, much to my embarrassment)
Finally if you are lucky enough to visit when a rocket launch is due then you can watch history being made. It is a spectacle not to be missed and will stay in your memory for ever.
You can buy tickets for a seat to view a launch although you would need to book well in advance. I have seen 3 now and all from places close to the space center and all 3 were just as spectacular from 8 miles away. We got a very good view from the causeway leading to Cocoa beach although you will need to get here about 4 hours before the launch. We took a picnic and met many other people all with their picnics and it became quite a party atmosphere. One thing you will have to be prepared for is the very slow journey home though.
If you are on a day trip but have not managed to book a seat, I believe you can stay in the car park to watch the launch but you would have to check this as I am not absolutely certain of this.
Truly a day not to be missed.
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