Reluctantly, but with some satisfaction with our time there (and a bag full of sea shells), we departed Fort De Soto Park Campground entirely too early in the morning for the drive east. We decided we’d seen enough of the pristine and vacant beaches of the gulf coast and bee-lined it for Kennedy Space Center, hoping to get through Tampa traffic before morning rush hour.
All along the panhandle and northwest Florida we had seriously enjoyed the awesome roads with no traffic and leisurely speed limits. Now we were faced with an almost 3 hour drive with interstates and toll roads and amusement park traffic, etc. We knew it was going to be a long day…but we made it.
I’d been to Kennedy Space Center before but it was Keli’s first time. Parking the RV was no problem. The nice people at the gate told us where to go and it was over by the bus parking. We did pretty quickly discover where all of those people were who weren’t at the left coast beaches…they were at Kennedy Space Center…and they were waiting on the bus tour.
Now it had been about 15 years or so since I’d been to KSC, but I could swear there was more stuff to do and see there. (This was later confirmed by one of our friends who lived in Florida and told us it was revamped and was nothing like it used to be) We carried on and did what we felt we should…like the bus tour with the hour plus long line…
We don’t have any great photos from the bus tour despite our best efforts. In an amazing twist of fate (and physics) absolutely everything interesting could only be viewed from the opposite side of the bus from where we were sitting. At the end of the tour, we were deposited at the Saturn V building where they have a horizontal, full size Saturn V rocket for onlookers to gaze upon. If I sound a little cheeky about it, it’s because we saw the same thing in Huntsville, AL at the Space and Rocket Center and it was honestly much more interesting there.
I hate to feel this way because we were both really excited to visit this place, but honestly the Rocket Center in Alabama was just way more interesting to us both…AND they have their own rv campground on site!
At the end of the day, we were just really underwhelmed by the entire experience. I’m not sure if security protocols over the years have caused the changes or what but Keli and I both agreed that we don’t really have a good reason to revisit unless there’s a rocket launch or something…but then again I’m pretty sure we’d be watching that from somewhere that isn’t here. On a positive note, the gift shop is HUGE!
After getting up early to drive across the state and doing the touristy thing at KSC (including waiting in line far too long for the bus tour) we were ready to relax a bit. Keli found us a legit RV resort just north of Titusville with…wait for it…one spot available for the night. So off we went. They had a hot tub and pool and even restrictions on how old your RV could be to stay there. I felt like it was a legitimate destination spot for snowbirds. We’re not snowbirds yet. But we did get one fantastic photo at the resort and we’ll share it with you below while you guys anxiously await the next post.
