From Melbourne, FL to Jacksonville, FL
From Melbourne, FL to Jacksonville, FL
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The weather this morning is beautiful. It is warm but not humid. The pavement has dried overnight except for some big puddles here and there. I leave the hotel heading eastbound on Florida 192 to meet up with US Route 1. In Melbourne I stop for cash at the ATM. I cross the Banana River or Indian River or some river to get to the other side and Florida highway A1A. I have a very pleasant breakfast at the Blueberry Muffin in Indialantic. The Blueberry Muffin is a cute little cafe but serves weak coffee. I estimate the morning diners have a median age of 68. I blame the weak coffee on the preponderance of elderly patrons. The orange juice, freshly squeezed is fantastic. After breakfast, I head north on A1A towards the Kennedy Space Center. It's a beautiful drive eventhough there is a fair amount of development between the road and the ocean so the views are intermittent. Patrick Air Force Base is a nice buffer -- the military when not preparing for war is apparently the best stewards of our nation's natural resources. I stop at a turn-out on Patrick Air Force Base to look at the ocean. The ocean has always seemed central to me. I get nervous when I'm away from it for very long. The beach here is beautiful with clear green water and nicely formed breakers beating against a broad sandy beach. It beckons me for a nice long walk, maybe even a swim. Back on A1A heading north through Satellite Beach and Cocoa Beach -- so many beach cities. There are so many familiar place names. At Florida 528, I turn west to cross the Banana River and enter the Kennedy Space Center. Soon Il learn that there are two parts of this massive base: The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to the west and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Base. KSC houses the industrial activities of the complex. Canaveral attends to launch operations. Only a portion of the bases is actually used -- most of the land is dedicated to natural resource conservation. A private for-profit company operates the KSC Visitor Center. I'm not sure how I feel about my country's space heritage being entrusted to a private company but my visit is flawless with the same quality of experience that we have come to expect from the Disney Company. It is a bit Disney-fied and expensive at nearly $30.00 for an adult admission. For thirty bucks, I spent about five hours and I did not tap into every activity. For your admission fee, you are allowed to visit four distinct areas. The visitor center includes a static display of old launch vehicles, two IMAX theaters, two smaller theaters, an Astronaut memorial, a shuttle mockup, shuttle external tank, endless snack and gift shops. There is a lot to see and do. There are a collection of Redstone, Agena and Titan rockets from the Mercury and Gemini programs. A Saturn IIB rocket is on display. It is huge but represents only the second and third stages of the Saturn V moon rocket on display elsewhere. From the Visitor Center buses transport you to the other three exhibition areas. The first stop includes a movie presentation and a viewing gallery in a structure designed to look like part of a launch gantry -- the structure that encloses a shuttle on the launch pad while the shuttle is prepared for launch. From the top of the viewing platform you can easily see the two launch pads used for shuttle operations. The Level 3 sign caught my eye. You could tell that you were in a place where accuracy and science mattered. In most places a notice that the height was 29 or 30 feet would be acceptable. I guess it was critical to get those 4 inches just right. Another view from the viewing gantry is back along the tractor way to the Vertical Assembly Building (VAB). The VAB was originally built for the Apollo moon program. The building was designed to provide the space required to stack the parts of the Saturn moon rocket and Apollo Service and Crew modules. The total height of the assembled rocket is nearly 400 feet! Once assembled the structure is loaded onto a tractor that moves the rocket from the VAB out to the launching pad. The tractor moves at a rate of 1 mile per hour (not much slower than my average speed today). The scale of everything here is massive. It is amazing visit. Back to the bus for the trip to the next stop. The second stop is the Saturn / Apollo complex. During the ride between the sites, I manage to see three alligators lazing in a drainage ditch beside the road. In the Saturn / Apollo complex, you first view a presentation of the USA space program. The program opens with the launch of Sputnik and the enormous impact that achievement had on the American psyche. The failures of the early US program are cited. Finally we get to see the successes of the Mercury and Gemini. The tragedy of Apollo 1 is reviewed along with the eighteen-month delay in the Apollo program. The need to catch up on the timeline sets the stage for the next part of the display. As you leave the first theater you move into a second theater. The front of this space is devoted to a re-creation of Launch Command Center on the morning of the first launch of the redesigned Saturn / Apollo System. We listen to the tape of the last three minutes of the countdown and the first two minutes of flight. Large video projections show stunning motion picture footage collected from cameras all over the launch complex. The final stop before re-boarding the bus is the display of the last existing Saturn V rocket. This device is truly amazing in its scale. The rocket itself lies on its side. The walk from one to the other makes you appreciate the sheer scale of this monstrous vehicle. The whole project reminds me of how important it is to dream. And while, John F. Kennedy's famous speech defining the US resolve to get to the moon is the critical starting point for the road to Apollo, it is really the dreamers &endash; the men that had the sheer nerve to think this was possible who got the US to the moon. There are a number of other elements on display. A lunar excursion module hangs at the command module end of the rocket. There is also a lunar rover that was used for training on earth. But really, can any display of historically significant artifacts be complete with a gift shop and snack bar? Apparently not. The rockets are gigantic as are the shop and snack bar. The third stop showcases the International Space Station. It is getting late and I decide I need to skip this stop. It is almost three o'clock when I get back to the bike and get ready to head out. I notice that there are two Gold Wings towing trailers. I saw these two bikes in Key Largo two days ago. I'm impressed by how far these travelers are from home, one bike has Montana license plates the other is from Utah. The clouds are threatening rain again and I feel some raindrops as I head across the Inter-coastal Waterway to get to US route 1. Traffic is delayed for a few minutes while the drawbridge is raised and a handsome sailboat continues her travel south. On route 1 heading north out of Titusville, I feel like I'm definitely in a different Florida than the past week or so. I stop for gas at a small Shell station / store in Oak Hill. The man at the next pump wants to ask questions about my bike. Not unusual but he is the first person on the trip to have no teeth. I step inside to pay for my gas (no credit cards at the pump) and buy some water. The store is a trip; I could spend an hour or two exploring. The front convenience store is straightforward enough. The back half of the store appears to be a deli, bait shop and clothing store. May be worth a longer stop next time that I'm here. This part of Florida has a lot of motorcycles on the road; some of them are highly customized. There are bikes for sale at every used car lot as well. I wonder if the Daytona Bike Week influences this condition or if the Bike Week exists because of all the local interest. I stay on US Route 1 through Daytona Beach until Route 1 intersects with Interstate 95. I have less than one hundred miles of interstate mileage to get to Jacksonville. Given the late hour, I decide to use the Interstate so I can get to a hotel by six o'clock. At the same time, I know I have missed something. I'm sure that the coastal drive would have been very interesting. Continue Reading: Jacksonville to Savannah |
Apeaceful
beach at Patrick Air Force Base north of
Melbourne Florida (1.1 megs :30 minutes duration)
Depart Melbourne heading east on Florida 192.
Turn north onto Florida A1A.
Turn west onto Florida Route 528
Visit Kennedy Space Center
Turn north on US Route 1
Enter Interstate 95 heading north.
Arrive Jacksonville.
(c) 2001 Thomas N. Engler Revision Date: 05/04/2001 revised
11/09/2001
