South FL & Key West

Jada flew back to Florida for a different perspective as this trip was entirely in South Florida.  Many differences from central Florida, especially the weather!  Many more days of sunshine compared to her January visit.

(To see all these posts, Click thru the "Newer Posts" at Bottom)  All the better photos were taken by Jada.

Our first day included a snorkeling trip to a couple reefs south of Key West.

The Seven Mile Bridge made Kelly VI
feel like a boat at sea!
The closest mainland was 25 miles away,
across Florida Bay.

Enroute to Key West we visited new friends,
courtesy of Boondockers Welcome.

Pelicans and many other fowls were in abundance.

As visitors to Key West quickly discover,
chickens run wild all over the island,
including the city streets.

As we traversed the sites and sights 
of Key West, there were many
reminders of our sailing trip in
the tropics in 2023.

Our vessel to the reefs for snorkeling.

A grey day with somewhat bouncy seas, but comfortable temps
for snorkeling.  Even so, a small fraction of the passengers
did experience a bit of mal de mer.

Sand Key Lighthouse and our first
destination, Sand Key Reef.

Jada and I spent a full hour in the water
enjoying the fascinating variety of
corals and fish inhabiting the reef.
Yet the efforts in the somewhat lively
waves did tire us.

Since we were a bit tired, we decided to
commence our happy hour as a few
more enthusiastic, younger, more fit
passengers snorkeled the second reef.

Our track from Key West to  the snorkeling venues.

Immediately after Jada caught me here,
I returned the borrowed wetsuit,
dressed in dry clothes and
joined Jada in our happy hour.  😊

The two reefs where our vessel stopped for passengers to enjoy the snorkeling.

We found fun stops as we trekked from one 
happy hour spot to another. 

I enjoyed the many stickers in one of the pubs.

This tree was fascinating, especially the roots!

We enjoyed live music at Sloppy Joe's.

Titusville '24

February SpaceX Falcon 9
launch into significant cloud cover.

Before Jada returned to Florida for a south Florida and Keys adventure, I enjoyed more launches and bike rides.

Sunset in Titusville

Seen on a city bike ride, a 4 feet long alligator.

Small alligator and turtle

Launch into significant cloud cover.

The rocket reappears between clouds.

And the first stage booster lands at Cape Canaveral. 

Video of the launch and booster landing.

Daytime launch later in February.

This video captures the entire launch until the second stage dissolves into the firmament.

And numerous bike rides around Titusville.

Daytona

Larry and Randy at Daytona for the IMSA sports car race,
an overnight race that we joined on the last day to see the
race cars before the sunrise and for the grand finish.

Randy and Larry made a trip to Florida and we got together for a road race at Daytona and a rocket launch.  Randy reminded us that a former neighbor, C'ville High School Graduate (and, sadly, a dannie) was a Space Shuttle astronaut recognized in the Astronaut Hall of Fame at the Kennedy Space Complex Visitor Center.

For a brief video of this race, Click Here.

Randy, Larry and I caught a night launch after the race.

The Vehicle Assembly Building
where the rocket stages are stacked into
their final configuration.

Apollo Command Module

At the Apollo Saturn V museum.

The Saturn V was the largest rocket ever built until the SpaceX Starship, over 50 years later.

The Atlantis Space Shuttle display is most impressive.  The actual spacecraft is
pictured here on display.  This was the last shuttle to fly.

Randy stands beside a display recognizing
Joe Allen, Shuttle Astronaut and
Crawfordsville native.

Randy stands beside a display recognizing Joe Allen, Shuttle Astronaut and Crawfordsville native.

Larry and Randy in the Rocket Garden

The Rocket Garden

With a pleasant shock, I ran into
great friend, jeweler and skier,
Guy Stewart and his daughter at the
Kennedy Visitor Center, so we enjoyed a dinner
together after playing tourist at the Space Complex.

Guy and Kayla were able to hang around after Randy & Larry left for the airport. 

They enjoyed this afternoon rocket launch.