Easter Weekend.....COCOA BEACH

Under Cocoa Beach Pier

 Since we were stuck in Florida without family and I actually had Easter off, we decided to head to the beach.  Cocoa Beach had their annual Ron Jon surf  competition. It was a three day festival with tons of people, food, and vendors.

Unfortunately, we had to much fun that we forgot to take any pictures of the surfer!

Picture of the crowd from the Pier

Our standard self portrait

Alaina's last night!

Shelling and the Sunset

We decided to head to the beach one last time after a short drive down A1A (Beach Front Avenue!). On our way home we stopped to get some great pictures of the Sunset.

sand crab

AIRBOAT RIDE

Checked one off our BUCKET LIST! Wild Willy's Airboat ride was amazing.  A hour long ride out in the swamps searching for gators. We wish we could have stayed out all day long. We saw several different types of wildlife along with several gators.  Captain Dan even did donuts in the boat to add to our experience!  Did you know an airboat can drive in only 3 inches of water?

Do I look scared? I think I was about to choke "Cricket" to death!

Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral

Brad and I

I never thought I was interested in space but it is quite fascinating.  If you are ever in central Florida, Kennedy Space Center is a must!  It was an all day event.  We were able to see the launch pad, which actually had shuttle Endeavor ready to launch.  The government is canceling the shuttle program in the next 6 months. Unfortunately some 6,000 people are going to lose their jobs.  There is going to be two more launches from  KSC before it ends.  A launch was scheduled for today and I had arranged to have the day off.  We headed to the beach  to watch it, unfortunately it was canceled due to mechanical problems.  It is rescheduled for Sunday, but I have to work.  :(
Anyways, more about the Space Center. I learned all about how a shuttle is made and transported to the launch pad. It takes 8 hours to move the shuttle 3 miles, from the assembly plant to the launch pad.

The Crawler, this is used to transport the shuttle to the launch pad.

Shuttle Endeavor on the launch pad. 

After learning about the assembly and transport of the shuttle, we were able learn about all of the Apollo missions and Americas journey to space! I know I sound like a space geek but I really enjoyed it.  I even made Brad rent Apollo 13 since I had never seen it!

Saturn 5 Rocket

Can you see me? This is the engine to the Saturn Rocket.

3D IMAX movie about the ISS-International Space Station

Alaina came to VISIT!

Alaina came to visit April 14-19th.  She arrived on Thursday and I had to work, so Brad picked her up at the airport and they headed to Aquatica (Sea Worlds Water park).  I have to say I was a bit jealous, but the next day made up for it.  I was scheduled to work that Friday and had asked everyone to switch with me and had no luck.  Luckily the ICU only had 2 patients, so I got Canceled!!  We headed to the beach for the day.

Alaina and Brad

Alaina catches a wave!

Peanut Island....Day 2

Snorkeling....while exploring the island the first day, we discovered a snorkeling lagoon. We saw several tropical fish and even a barracuda!!  We wish we would have had an underwater camera to capture it all.  Can't wait to go snorkeling in the Keys!

JFK'S Bunker

Peanut Island is home to one of JFK's bunkers.  JKF had a residence in Palm Beach and the government built a fallout bunker on Peanut Island in case their was a nuclear attack while he was in town. It is said that JKF had been to the bunker to view it but never used it.  After JKF died the bunker was decommissioned. The city discovered the bunker when rebuilding  the island. They decided to restore the bunker the best they could and have it as a tourist attraction. They had built the bunker to house up to 30 people for 30 days.

This would have been their toilets!!

GROSS

Some people have WAY to much money!! The captain of the water taxi said this boat sank about a month ago and the owner probably doesn't even know.  He said it happens often!!

Peanut Island.... Day 1

After doing some research I found this quite, cute island about two hours south of us near Palm Beach called Peanut Island.  The island was created in the early 1900s while creating an inlet port from the Atlantic Ocean to Palm Beach for shipping.  They named it Peanut Island because the port was used for shipping peanut oil.  In the early 2000's the city decided restore the island and make it a recreational island.  There are no motorized vehicles or streets on the island.  What you take over to the island with you is what you have.  The only way to get to the island is by water taxi, boat, or kayak. There are public restrooms and outside showers. We rode the water taxi over and began to explore the island.  While walking around the island we discovered a sand bar. The tide was out and you could actually walk out and stand on it. We spend most of the day laying by the beach with a beer in our hand.  Can't get better than that!

Water Taxi

This is taken standing on the sand bar, looking at Peanut Island.

relaxing!

SEA WORLD

I have been wanting to go to Sea World for a while now.  I have been bugging Brad to take me to San Antonio and we just haven't done it yet.  I figured while in Florida I could con him into it.  Gosh, it cost an arm and a leg to visit a theme park in Orlando.  Besides that, we had a blast.  A couple days before we attended they brought Shamu back to perform.  It doesn't make much sense to me, Shamu has only killed 3 people!!!  At least the trainers no longer get in the water with the whales. We made it to three shows and saw most of the exhibits. We fed the seals and stingrays.  They have a exhibit that you can actually pet a stingray. Brad assured me that they removed their stingers!

Preview

kinda scary!

Fishing

Brad and I decided to take a fishing trip. There is a large fishing boat that leaves out of Cape Canaveral, which is very reasonable priced.  It is a bit ridiculous having 30 lines in the water next to each other but we had a good time.  Didn't catch much.  We hope to go on a night shark fishing trip soon.

 

Black Sea Bass

 

 

 

Someone caught an EEL!!  Look at all the fishing lines!!