Florida’s Space Coast

The bus in this area is called the Space Coast Area Transit.  SCAT?!

We went looking for the Surf Museum in Cocoa Beach. Found an empty lot. We saw plenty of surfers at the beach but apparently not enough of them were buying stuff at the store that housed this museum. So, there’s another part of Florida’s story we don’t get to learn about. Bummer.

We drove by Port Canaveral. There were two big cruise ships in port. One of them was a Disney ship. We’ve cruised with Disney and had a good time. We were there for the Ebert & Roper Film Festival at Sea. For three years in a row we spent a weekend seeing films and discussing them with Roger and Richard and other film buffs. My favorite story of those trips is the time we were supposed to see Who Framed Roger Rabbit. That’s a Disney film and we were on a Disney ship but they couldn’t show us the film because they didn’t have the right projector to do so. Roger Ebert got pretty upset with them making us all sit in the theater while they tried to get it right. So he talked the staff into letting us move to a bar next door where we could at least visit with one another while we waited. Then he announced to us they would be serving beverages in the bar. The staff person’s mouth dropped open. But, serve us they did: screwdrivers and bloody Mary’s and fruit juice  soft drinks since this was before lunch. We never did get to see that film that trip.

We headed north on I-95. We haven’t spent much time on Interstate freeways this trip so, even though we are nearly out of Florida, we came to our first Florida Rest Area  Nice place. Vending machines. Recycling bins. Family rest rooms.

I learned to appreciate family rest rooms after Dave’s Dad had his stroke. While Carl was still in the hospital they made an appointment for him to see a dentist to replace the caps they lost when they intubated him. They provided transportation but he couldn’t go alone so I went with him. While there Carl needed to use the men’s room. He couldn’t go there alone either so I went with him. When the door opened while we were in there I was quick to announce my presence to the gentleman coming in. He looked startled, said he was only there to wash his hands anyway, did so, and left. Poor guy! I hope there was another restroom close by.

I saw a sign that said, “The cost of D.U.I. is sobering.” If only that was true. Many people pay the cost without ever getting sober. I have family that succeeded and family that didn’t. It’s hard to do.

Our next stop was Fort Matanzas National Monument. I wasn’t feeling well and this is a park that requires riding a ferry boat to an island then climbing 15 steps up to the fort. So I stayed home while Dave went. According to its website “The park commemorates the killing of nearly 250 French Huguenots by the Spanish, an act that gave the river and inlet the name Matanzas, Spanish for “slaughters”. One hundred seventy-five years later, the fort was constructed to help protect St. Augustine from a new threat – the British.” Here’s what Dave saw:

When we pulled into Anastasia State Park and were lucky enough to get a site for the whole weekend. It helps to stop for the weekend on Thursday instead of waiting until Friday.

So here we sit. Catching up on our computer stuff and researching Georgia, the next state on our trip up the Atlantic Coast. Our first stop in that state will be to pick up mail. I wonder if we’ll hear anything from any of you. Probably not. You all know by now the fastest way to reach us is e-mail.

TTYL,

Linda