Extra Day

We've had a fun time this week, and decided to stay until Thursday. Since the only time we've gone to Daytona Beach has been during Bike Week, we thought it would be nice to see how it is as a "normal" town. I'm not saying that I'd like to be there during their normal tourist season -- that would be like being stuck in traffic in Myrtle Beach, something I avoid every summer.

The ride south to Daytona Beach down the A1A is really worth it. About 50 miles of two-lane, much of it with the ocean on your left as you pass through small towns separated by sandy patches with small palm trees. The temperature when we set out was a cool 55^o but promised to go up to the mid 60's by afternoon.

Yesterday morning I took a look at Google Map, and found a strange little park near the Matanzas Inlet called Fort Matanzas National Monument. It's on an island, and it didn't look like you could get to it at all -- no road appears to go anywhere near it. A street-view of the map shows an entrance off the A1A that we would pass, so I decided to take a side trip. You never know, right?

The story began in 1565 when the French attempted to attack Saint Augustine, sailing from Fort Caroline, a few miles north. A storm blew the ships off course and wrecked them, leaving a band of French sailors stranded south of Saint Augustine. General Pedro Menéndez de Aviles left Saint Augustine and attacked the undefended Fort Caroline, killing the soldiers and taking the fort. In the meantime, a band of Spanish soldiers marched south and found the refugees from the French fleet, and killed them. In fact, the name given to the "river" (actually an estuary), was Matanzas, spanish for "slaughters."

Move forward 175 years, and now the British are a threat. Then Florida Governor Montiano commissioned the building of Fort Matanzas in 1740 to protect the inlet, the "back door" to Saint Augustine. The small fort was completed in 1742.

The standard complement for the fort was 7 men, all that was needed to defend the inlet. As ships entered the estuary, a shot fired over their bow was usually enough to make them turn around. If a ship's captain was foolhardy enough to turn the ship to broadside (to fire their own cannon), they would not only create a large target to the fort's four cannons, but run the risk of running aground.

Warren G Harding is credited with wanting the fort restored, as he felt it was an important piece of American history. After his stroke, his wife (with the signature of his vice-president -- Calvin Coolidge) made his dream a reality. In 1924, Calvin Coolidge as president declared the small fort a national monument.

We took a chilly, 5-minute boat ride over to Rattlesnake Island and were treated to our own personal tour, as we were the first visitors of the morning. The staff out-numbered us, and as you can see, they hadn't even put up the flag yet. This is the back side of the fort.

Our ranger guide explained that originally, the fort was plastered and painted white, the single turret painted red. Over the years most of the plaster is gone, leaving only the brick. You can see from the next picture that the main floor stood high over the ground. The soldiers used a ladder to climb into the fort that they could pull in behind them, protecting them from Indians and other enemies.

The turret was not used to fire at approaching ships; the cannon served that purpose. It was mostly a decorative piece that identifies the structure as Spanish Architecture. In fact, the small port holes didn't even point at the inlet. They could be used to look along the outside of the wall to see if anyone was hiding there.

There are actually three floors on the structure: the main area where the soldiers lived and slept (and where the cannon were placed), the second floor where the commanding officer slept and the stores were kept, along with a powder room, and a ladder from there to the roof, where you get a wonderful view of the inlet and the ocean beyond.

After a short boat ride back (this time with the wind at our backs), we continued on our way to Daytona Beach. It was a neat discovery, and something more to add to our adventures. Take the time to look over the National Park Service web page on Fort Matanzas. It's an interesting tale.

Within an hour we were in Daytona. By this time of year, without the roar of the motorcycles and the throngs of people, the town almost appeared deserted, only a handful of people on the boardwalk.

Main Street, during Bike Week a constant parade of iron horses, and such, was quiet, although something was going on. After we passed, a motorcycle cop blocked the road; we're not sure what was happening, and didn't get to go back to look.

Across the river, Beach Street in Daytona proper was empty. With Bruce Rossmeyer Harley-Davidson moving out to Highway 1, much of the area is being torn down, and there was no traffic at all. Kinda creepy.

We didn't stay long, and headed back up I-95 to Saint Augustine. A light lunch a the Sunset Grill, then naps and a Chinese takeout for dinner. All in all a good day, if a quiet one.

We're headed back this morning (gonna wait until 9, hoping to miss rush hour in Jacksonville), and should be back in Florence by early afternoon.

Hope you enjoyed the adventure with us. Let me know what you think.

Kennedy Space Center

"We choose to go to the moon in this decade . . . not because they are easy, but because they are hard." - President John F. Kennedy, Sept 12th, 1962.

President Kennedy said these words at Rice University in Houston Texas 50 years ago, and his promise was fulfilled in July of 1969 when Neil Armstrong placed "one step for man, one giant leap for mankind" on the surface of the moon.

We had expected that we would have rain showers all day to contend with, but we had planned to go to the Kennedy Space Center as one of our primary goals for this trip, so we headed down the highway, close to 120 miles from Saint Augustine. The Accord was great, the ride quiet and smooth, and we sped in and out of small showers all the way to Titusville. The KSC has no actual address, and lists the GPS as "28^o31'34.10"N and 80^o40'45.12"W" However, the navi had Kennedy Space Center as a pre-loaded destination, so it loaded and sent us on our way.

By the time we got to Titusville, there were patches of blue sky pushing away the rain clouds, and we headed across the causeway to the Center under fair skies and 70^o temperatures. As you turn in at the visitor center, you can see the rear of the Atlantis Shuttle, that will be on display this coming summer. They are working on the display, and still haven't put in the final wall.

The basic rate for the entrance fee is $50 each; for an additional $25 each we got the "KSC Up Close" tour. It was worth every penny.

You enter through the "rocket farm," where most of the rockets on display are actual, retired rockets.

We arrived with 10 minutes to spare for the Close Up tour, so we headed directly to the tour center.

We were loaded on the bus and headed deep into the center, to a location about 5 miles from the launch pads where many of the visitors sit to view the launches. We learned that the safe zone for launches is a 3 mile radius; anything inside that could cause damage internally and to your ears from the noise and the vibrations. We took pictures of the launch pads from there.

Way in the distance you could see the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).

This was our next stop. You really can't get an idea of the size of the building. As you get closer and closer, it just keeps getting bigger. We got to go inside the building, and it was even more impressive.

The yellow item in this view, way overhead, is a 350-ton crane used to lift sections of a rocket from the assembly floor through the "high-lift" opening to the right, and on top of the rocket assembly. For the shuttle, it also required a 150-ton crane to assist. And, the shuttle had to be rotated 45^o to slip through the hole. This picture showed how it was lifted:

Once assembly is complete and the rocket or shuttle is ready to move to the launch pad, the transport is moved into place. This vehicle is huge; again. it's difficult to describe the size, but the surface it rides on is as wide as a 10-lane highway, and the vehicle takes up most of it!

The panels in the assembly bay door lift and stack up like playing cards, allowing the rocket to be slowly removed from the building and transported to the launch pad.

Back on the bus, we travelled around the site to a place about a mile from the launch pads 38 A and 38 B. Too close for humans to stay during the launch, but there is a huge camera here that's used to film the launches.

There's really too much to post here, and the amount of information is truly overwhelming. I'm trying to reduce it to a manageable level.

After the launch pads, the bus took us to the Apollo Saturn V center, where we got a chance to sit in a replica of the control center and witness a re-creation of the launch of Apollo V, the first to orbit the moon. I remember when the actual launch was televised, and we were sitting on the edge of our seats. When this launch happened, we were barraged with the noise of the rockets, and the seats rumbled in harmony, making it very realistic. I could feel the excitement and pride return as it brought back those memories.

I got this shot before they asked us to turn off our flashes. When the lights went down, it was impossible to get a good shot. Take a look at the company names on the backs of the lab coats. The videos they showed had those same coats (with people in them).

After the launch show, we exited to the main hall, where a full-size Saturn V rocket was suspended over our heads. Again, it's hard to describe the scale of this immense beast that could launch three men into space.

Linda could stand up in one of these cones; you can see there were five of them on the first stage alone!

Here's a shot of the Apollo V command module:

We were taken by bus back to the main area, where we were just in time to go in and get a close-up view of the Shuttle Atlantis, which is being retired here. At the end of the week the exhibit will close until Summer 2013 when it's complete. Now that's good timing!

We had the opportunity to experience the Shuttle launch simulator. You had to lock all cameras, phones, carry bags and other loose items in a locker before going in, to prevent items from falling, so no pictures. 44 people are placed in the simulator, belted into their seats, and watch a video view as if you're looking out of the shuttle's front ports. As the countdown gets closer, the entire simulator is tilted backwards until you're 90^o over, flat on your back. When the countdown reaches zero, the noise is deafening, and it feels real enough that you can feel the g-forces pushing you back into your seat; your face actually feels as if it's being pulled down by the forces. You experience the slight change as you pass through the atmosphere, then the renewed g-forces as you begin your thrust into space. The release of the booster rockets, then the extra tank are powerful and real. You are returned to horizonal slowly, then as the extra tank is jettisoned, you are tipped forward slightly as you experience the change in momentum. It's not a roller coaster, but it is so much more.

There was so much more that we could have seen, but it was after 3, we had a two-hour drive ahead, and we were overloaded with what we had seen and experienced. We headed back up to Saint Augustine.

As we got back on the A1A headed north, we decided to stop for dinner at the Red Frog and McToad's. The beer was good, the food was delicious, and the people we met at the bar were friendly and funny. After dinner, it was only 10 minutes back to the hotel, where we're ready to crash.

We had originally planned to leave tomorrow, but we've decided to extend our stay another day. It's been that good of a week so far!

Saint Augustine, Day 2

The ending of Daylight Saving Time has us kind of screwed up. We were in bed and asleep Sunday night by 9:30 (our bodies thought it was 10:30), and up early on Monday. After writing yesterday's blog entry, I set about looking for "things to do in Saint Augustine" on Google. We were out and cruising by 9:30. We decided to first visit the St. Augustine Pirate & Treasure Museum across from the Castillo de San Marcos.

Parking is the only downside to Saint Augustine. There's very little room for public parking lots, the street parking is always full, and as far as I can tell there's only one parking garage, and it's not convenient unless you want to walk a lot. As it turned out, the parking in front of the Castillo de San Marcos worked out fine. In 2007 there were parking meters that you had to feed quarters into, and I was prepared for that. Now, though, they have the kiosks where you can pay for up to four hours at a time, at $1.50 per hour (Visa and Mastercard accepted). You get a ticket that you put on the dash. Much more convenient.

You enter the museum through the gift shop (of course). You're not allowed to use flash inside the museum, so many of the pictures we took are a little blurry or dark. But it's an interesting hour of walking through various rooms and looking at the replicas and actual artifact from 400 years ago.

The flag is supposed to be one of only three actual pirate flags still in existence. Linda pointed out that the stitching looked way too even to be done by hand. I'm pretty sure they had sewing machines back in the 1800's, but it looked pretty even to me. Even so, we had a good time, and bought a couple of souvenir shot glasses for our collection.

From there we went to the Whetstone Chocolate Factory on King Street for their tour. You buy the tour tickets in the store, and the tour begins there.

 

After a fifteen minute introduction, where our guide explained how cacao is harvested, and the process to convert it into chocolate, we walked across the lot to the factory to see the equipment that makes the chocolate candies we all love so much.

 

 

We got the chance to walk through the actual production area (hair nets required) and he even ran the wrapper machine (even making reference to the I Love Lucy episode, saying this would have made her job easier), and there were plenty of samples, from a sweet milk chocolate (31% cacao) to a nice dark chocolate (71% cacao). I learned that 35% cacao is the dividing line between milk and dark chocolates.We even got a piece of while chocolate (0% cacao). Since there isn't any cacao in it, why is it called chocolate? Because it has cocoa butter in it.

 

We didn't buy any chocolate from the store at this time. Instead, we opted to go down King Street to the San Sebastian Winery tour.

 

 

We toured here back in 2007, but who can resist the wine tasting? We saw a video of the vineyards and harvesting process before Doc took us around the site. While most of the wines are fermented in large stainless steel tanks, one of them, the Castillo Red, was being fermented in American Oak barrels, purchased from Jack Daniels.

 

Last time, they had tasting stations along the tour. This time, we gathered around a big table in the store, and got to taste about 8 different varieties, from dry whites through sherry and port (way too sweet). Our guide Doc was great, and gave us extra when we asked. We ended up buy six bottles.

 

We'd had enough touring, so we returned to Whetstone and bought some milk and dark chocolates before heading back to the hotel. After dropping of our stuff we asked our desk clerk Robert to recommend a local place to eat. He suggested Beachcombers.

 

 

I don't think Beachcombers has changed since the 60's, and it was just what we were looking for. Linda had the flounder sandwich, I had a great cheeseburger, and we shared a basket of onion rings, all of them delicious. At 3 o'clock we headed back to the hotel for a much-needed nap.

For dinner, I looked for a local micro-brewery, and found the A1A Ale Works, right across from the Bridge of Lions.

We had appetizers for dinner, along with their home brews. Linda had their King Street Light Lager, while I opted for the Bridges of Lions Brown Ale. I sampled the Strange Stout (named after Alexander Strange, the founder's grandfather), and it was pretty good, but a little more than I wanted. Good people, good beer. Our kind of place!

Back to the hotel and asleep by 10:30.

Today we're heading to Kennedy Space Center. I'm hoping to get lots of pictures.

Saint Augustine, Florida

So, Linda and I have a week off, and we decided to take a trip back to Saint Augustine, Florida, to break in the new car. We bought a 2013 Honda Accord on Thursday from Cale Yarborough Honda. This thing has so many features that I may actually have to read the manual to find them all. As it is, the Navi system has its own book, about 150 pages worth. And another guide just for the new technology, including voice control. Matt and Faisal showed us a lot of it, but we could have spent days finding all of it!

 

After figuring out how to add destinations into the navi system, I plugged in the address of the Hampton Inn, on the A1A Beach road in St. Augustine Beach. Sunday morning I packed up the trunk (lots of room, much more than the Mustang), and we headed out about 9 am.

The Accord has a smooth ride, and I was interested in finding out how it was on the Interstate. The 2013 has Noise Cancellation technology that sends a “counter-wave” through the audio system to quiet the road noise. It really works. While you still have some “drone” noise, you can have the radio on a reasonable level, and you don’t have to raise your voice to have a conversation. We plugged the iPod into the USB port and rolled on down the road. By the way, when the iPod is playing, the album cover for the song is displayed with the rest of the information. Nice touch!

Once you get used to the camera that comes on the screen when you turn on the right turn signal, showing you the blind spot (and more), you find that it’s much more than you can see in the mirror. The guidelines displayed help you determine when it’s safe to pull in without cutting off the driver. And when traffic got heavy, the collision avoidance sensors in the front beeped and flashed if I got too close to the vehicle ahead. Very cool stuff that keeps you safe on the road.

The only close call was an elderly gent that Linda thinks may have gotten drowsy, and started to drift into our lane, right next to us. A car in front kept us from moving ahead, and the traffic in the left lane was too close for a safe lane change. I held down the horn, and moved as far to the left as I could while staying in the lane. Fortunately, he “woke up” and moved back into lane. The girl on my left had slowed down enough that, if I had to I could have moved over. All in all, about a 2 second adrenaline shot. Wow.

We stopped in Darien, Georgia for a light lunch at a Wendy’s. As we pulled into the mall, we realized that we had stopped at the same Wendy’s last year on our way to Daytona. We filled the half-empty tank on the way out. We had traveled about 226 miles on 6½ gallons, for about 34 mpg. Pretty good for a full-size car (and a LOT better than the 20 mpg on the old car).

When we crossed the border into Florida, I shifted the view from the audio view to the navi view, to better negotiate Jacksonville. When you’re on the Interstate and approaching a navi “event,” the screen will split and show a graphic image of the exit, and showing the appropriate lane for where you need to be. I can see this being very valuable on the next New Jersey trip as we go through Norfolk, where you have multiple exits, and the lane you’re in is critical.

While we’ve been down here before, I decided to follow the navi system all the way in, to see how good it was. It took us to St. Augustine Beach on a different route than I would have chosen, but I think it was more direct, and easy to follow. As we pulled up at the Hampton Inn, we realized that this was the same hotel that we had found when we came down in 2007! It’s a good location, with an unobstructed view of the beach (although the beaches look like they’re a half mile away).

 

We arrived around 2, and the desk clerk told us they had a second floor ocean front (of course that’s what I asked for. I’m not getting this close to the ocean and getting a street view room if I can help it) or, if I could wait for it to be cleaned, a room higher up. We could wait by the pool, or head across to the Sunset Grill, a local restaurant and bar, and check in a bit later. We opted for the bar at the Sunset Grill.

Judging from the accents of the bar patrons, we could have been in New York, and I remarked as such. I wasn’t far from the truth, as they laughed and agreed that, while they were from the “other part of New York,” aka not New York City, there were a lot of Northerners there. The bar was crowded, with no two empty seats available. One gentleman moved to the other side of the bar so we could sit together. He was delighted when I bought his first drink.

We ended up on the third floor with a great view of the beach and the pool area. The temperature was 84 (although it’s not supposed to be this warm the rest of the week). After unpacking and a short rest, we headed back to the Sunset Grill for dinner (too tired to go looking for anything else). Linda had gotten a look at the crab legs, and wanted to try them. I opted for the 12 oz. NY Strip.

The food was great, the steak perfect, the crab legs coming out of the shell cleanly. We watched the Giants fall to the Steelers before heading back to the room. We were asleep before nine.

We only have two things we really want to do while we’re here: Head to Kennedy Space Center (about 100 miles south), and do a boat tour on the bay. We’ll play the rest of it by ear. Stay tuned!