Travels with haRVy

Our first stop in Florida was just over the border at Fernandina Beach. When we arrived at our Boondockers Welcome host location, Mike invited us to walk with him and his granddaughter into town for the Christmas tree lighting festivities!

I didn’t get a shot of the tree, but thought this truck was pretty cool.

Beautiful post office building downtown. We found this area quite charming and although this visit was brief, we hope to return later this winter.

Old Town has sandy streets and nice old homes. Some still awaiting restoration.

Remnants of what used to be a thriving shrimp industry.

Fernandina Beach after which the town is named.

Next we moved down the coast to St. Augustine where I was reunited with Kim. She rented a room from me in Rhode Island over 25 years ago. She and her husband Rod were great hosts!

Kim, who is a great cook (she had been in Rhode Island to attend Johnson & Wales Culinary School), prepared many delicious meals for us. Here Al enjoys shrimp grits and collard greens. Can’t get much more southern than that!

Kim with her “babies.”

Resident chickens

Further on down the road this sculpture greeted passersby in front of the Baliker Gallery.

Flagler Beach, the first place the water was warm enough to swim in!

More damage from Hurricane Matthew. It goes on and on. Not far from here the highway literally fell into the ocean.

A little piece of “Old Florida” along the Ormond Scenic Loop.

We would have missed this drive if Kim hadn’t suggested it. Gotta go with local knowledge every time!

Great birding here too.

Now we are loving the sun and surf in Cocoa Beach where fellow Westy owner Dave is our host.

A beautiful day at the beach…in December!

This area is referred to as Florida’s “Space Coast” because Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center fueled development here. It is also one of the area’s primary tourist attractions. We spent an entire day there enjoying educational entertainment at its best. We touched an actual moon rock and experienced a simulated shuttle launch.

We began with a bus tour of the campus. That launch pad will be used by SpaceX.

This crawler transporter is used to move rockets to the launch pad. It is one of the largest land vehicle on earth.

Several of the shuttles launched from this pad. That big pole at the top is a lightning conductor.

Part of the “Rocket Garden“

A life size mock-up of the fuel tank and booster rockets that launched the shuttles.

We were in the actual ground control center from the Apollo program. It has been turned into an amazing theater. Follow my link to see it in its entirety.

Saturn V, the largest rocket ever flown. It was used to launch the Apollo Race to the Moon spacecrafts. NASA restored the rocket and then erected the building around it.

Saturn V’s rocket engine nozzles. Almost everything here is HUGE.

Except for the capsules the astronauts had to live in. This is from Apollo 14.

Many spacesuits are on display. This one seems almost medieval.

Space shuttle Atlantis

Moon Buggy

We have now been chillin’ here in Cocoa Beach for a few days. We are camped just a half block from the beach so we spend a lot of time there as well as riding our bikes around the area. I captured the following shots at sunrise yesterday.

Time for another beach walk. See you later.