Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore

Based on a recommendation from our friend, Bruce Neale, we decided to make a day in the nature preserves surrounding Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center.  We left the Daytona Super 8 around 8 am and drove south on the A1A along the ocean to the northern entrance to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  Our first stop was at the manatee viewing area on one of the canals across the island.  Unfortunately, there were no manatees there when we were looking.  We drove on to the visitor center where we paid for a day pass to the nature trails in Merritt Island and Canaveral National Seashore. 

The staff at the visitor center was very helpful and gave up tips on places to look for interesting birds, mammals and alligators.  Since it was Thursday, a number of birders were in the area and the park service took a van load of visitors out to spot some of the many resident and migratory birds in the area.  A number of people were admiring the beautiful painted buntings that were common around the visitor center.  We also learned that a huge group of birders will flock to Merritt Island in late January for viewings and a number of events for birders. 

We took the seven mile drive around the Black Point Wildlife Drive on a well maintained gravel road where we saw more numbers and varieties of birds than we could imagine.  We saw several species of egrets and herons, ospreys, kingfishers, scrub jays, bald eagles, coots, gallinules, white and glossy ibis, rosette spoonbills, turkey and black vultures, and any number of duck species.  We also saw a number of alligators and turtles basking in the sun and even a few armadillos scurrying along the road.  Just to know what we were looking at, we picked up a simple guide to Central Florida birds at the gift shop.  The guide helped us to know which birds were which.

We ran into Titusville to get lunch from El Leoncito Cuban and Mexican Restaurant.  Mary had the Ropa Vieja which is roasted and shredded beef.  Her meal included fried sweet plantains, rice and black beans on the side.  I had a Cuban sandwich which was excellent.  We swapped some of each other’s meals and had a very good lunch.  We found El Leoncito on Trip Advisor and we agreed with the good ratings. 

After lunch, we crossed back over to Merritt Island but drove to the Playalinda area of Canaveral National Seashore.  This end of the park is mostly public beach although there are a number of wildlife areas as well.  From many of the beaches you can see the launch pads over at Cape Canaveral.  We learned that many people come to the beaches to watch launches at Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center.  

There are 14 parking areas with a boardwalk over the dunes leading to the beach.  Visitors are not permitted to walk on the ecologically fragile dunes to protect them from erosion.  According to my pal, Bruce, beach 13 is commonly a “clothing optional” beach.  However, with air temperatures in the mid 60s today, it is highly doubtful that anyone would be prancing nude along the beach today.

To access the northern, Apollo area, of Canaveral National Seashore we had to get back on US 1 and drive to New Smyrna Beach and cross over to the barrier island.  A light rain started as we drove which caused the temperature to drop to the low 60s.  We stopped at Turtle Mound which is a huge midden made of cast off oyster shells that the Timucuan people dumped over the course of time from around 1000 BC to around 1400 AD.  The mound was huge and contains over 35,000 cubic yards of shells.  Since homes and other structures were built on the mound, it was spared from destruction when roads were built in the area and many mounds were torn apart to use the oyster shells to lay the base for roads.  We drove around the grounds of the Apollo area of Canaveral National Seashore until around 5 pm then started back toward our motel in Daytona Beach.  We stopped at a Super America and purchased gas for 1.99 per gallon.  I haven’t filled up for less than $20 in many years. 

After a brief stop at Publix to restock on fruit, we came back to the motel then went back out for dinner.  Since we really liked the nearby Bay Street Seafood where we ate on Monday night we decided to go back this evening.  Like a lot of places here, the restaurant closes at 7 pm so we headed there quickly.  Mary had a salad and I had a fish sandwich made with local grouper that was blackened with their good homemade onion rings on the side.  On seeing my Marshall sweatshirt, the cook came out and talked to us about the We are Marshall movie.  We came back to the room to plan for our day on Friday.

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Kennedy Space Center

We left our room at the Super 8 in Daytona Beach around 8:30 and drove south on I-95 to meet my friend, Bruce Neale, at the Village Inn in Titusville, FL.  We followed Bruce to his house where we left our rental car and rode to the Kennedy Space Center with him which is where he works. 

Bruce was a social studies teacher at Cabell Midland High School until he retired in 2005 and moved to Titusville.  His teaching skills of preparing lessons, making educational information relevant to a diverse audience and public speaking makes him a great fit as an educator with the Kennedy Space Center.  In the nine years that he has worked there he has taken a variety of people and groups from all over the work through the facility.

As an employee, Bruce gets a few guest passes to the Space Center.  We were very appreciative that he was not only able to get passes for us but gave us a personal VIP tour through the facility.  As a product of the post-Sputnik generation, I was very influenced by the space program.  The heroes of probably everyone of my age were the Mercury and Apollo astronauts.  Many memories of my childhood were watching a manned rocket take off to orbit the Earth or to land on the Moon.  It was a walk down memory lane to see actual Redstone, Saturn I and Saturn V rockets.  There were a number of actual rockets at the facility that have done service in the NASA space program.  Displays also included capsules from Gemini and Apollo missions as well as space suits and interactive displays of the experiences of training and flight in a NASA rocket. 

One of the newest displays is the one on the Atlantis Space Shuttle.  A brief movie introduced the Space Shuttle program and the Atlantic space ship.  Then we were able to get an up close look at the actual retired Atlantis.  It is displayed at the Kennedy Space Center as it looked after the final mission without having been cleaned up or prepared for display.  Many displays in the Atlantis display familiarized visitors with what a Space Shuttle mission was like. 

While there, we participated in a simulation of a launch of a Space Shuttle.  The seats moved in ways that give visitors the experience of launch and acceleration to 17,500 miles per hour as they would on a shuttle flight.  It was a very realistic simulation.

Another great exhibit was on the International Space Station.  Displays on what astronauts do aboard the Space Station were interactive and informative.  The exhibit on the toilets in the Space Station was especially popular.  

We watched a 3D IMax movie on the building of the International Space Station was very good once we became used to the 3D movie. This exhibit was especially meaningful today since an incident was in the news this morning because an ammonia leak, from a cooling system was detected in the US living quarters this morning.  As a result, the US astronauts moved into the Russian section of the Space Station until the leak can be repaired.

The Saturn V/Apollo Center has a complete Saturn V rocket on display along with many artifacts that that had been to the moon such as scoops used to collect samples of lunar material, space suits for walking on the moon, a lunar landing module and several moon rocks.  We had a salad lunch at the Moon Rock Café there.

We finished our visit to the Kennedy Space Center by stopping by the education office and picking up some packets for educational material and to sign up on the center’s mailing list. 

After leaving the Kennedy Space Center, Bruce drove us over to the Canaveral National Seashore which is where we plan to go on Thursday.  There are many species of birds, mammals, wildflowers and aquatic live to be seen on the many hiking trails.  While we were there with Bruce, we saw wild boar, bald eagles, osprey, and many other animals.  We should have a good time there.

After returning to Titusville, we went to dinner with Bruce and his wife, Letha, at a local favorite restaurant, Dixie Crossroads.  Bruce and Letha had a salad with a bowl of clam chowder.  Mary had a dozen on the local rock shrimp that had been broiled.  She had a side of cole slaw and a baked sweet potato.  I had shrimp and grits made with the local rock shrimp.  They also brought their signature corn fritters to the table.  Everything was very good.

We were very appreciative to Bruce for giving up his day and giving us an excellent tour from an insider’s perspective at the Space Center.  We had a great day.  We said our goodbyes and drove back north on I-95 to our Super 8 motel in Daytona Beach.

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