Thursday,
January 18, 2024
Hampton
Inn
Cape
Canaveral, FL
74F
It was 56F when we left St. Augustine this morning, and by the time we checked into our hotel for tonight, it was already 74F. I hate to say that when our Erie/Jamestown area family and friends are anticipating a blizzard and cold conditions tomorrow. We hope they stay safe and warm!
Today we learned how to turn a 2 hour drive into 4 hours. First, TK could not handle his dirty truck any longer, so we went to Tidal Wave Car Wash in St. Augustine. The truck really does look better.
Since we were so smitten by Buc-ees in St. A, we decided to head to the one in Daytona Beach. I learned that this chain started in Texas in 1982, and there are only two in Florida at this time. I asked how many gas pumps there are at the Daytona location and the cashier said, “104.” Again, we were spellbound by the size and amount of offerings, and we did purchase a few things like barbecue sauce.
As
we continued our travels on the very interesting U.S. A1A and U.S. 1, we had a
little conversation about when we are driving on a four lane road, there is a
power lane and a gawking lane. If the
driver is gawking, he or she should not be in the power lane. Readers probably can probably figure out who
is driving and gawking in the power lane, aka the passing lane. I could not find an image to share but imagine
Rt. 20 with four lanes, going toward Fairview with lots of interesting things to
see on both sides of the road.
We arrived in Cocoa Beach and went straight to RonJon’s, a favorite stop because it is a large, interesting store with everything imaginable for visiting the beach or Florida, swimsuits, tshirts, sunscreen, surfboards, sunglasses, why are we so fascinated? Colors! Sounds! I cannot explain myself.
By 2 p.m. we decided to check in at the Hampton Inn, Cape Canaveral, before we headed to Titusville, FL, to eat at Dixie Crossroads, another favorite. The seafood restaurant that runs its own shrimp boats was not busy and soon we were enjoying fried cornbread balls, Krabby Bites, and fried rock shrimp.
We were on the 4th floor of the hotel and a window near the elevators faced toward the launch pad and luckily no one was there. While TK was resting, I kept an eye on the area despite the clouds. I didn’t actually see the spacecraft, but I felt one distinct “earth shaking” and heard two booms! I was so happy to know that the crew seemed safe. “The first all-European commercial crew is on its way to the International Space Station.” Friend Ann was on the phone with me and watched the launch on TV.
TK, Randy, Brian, and I saw the Space Shuttle Discovery launched in June 1985. An Erie East HS graduate of the 50s who worked for NASA gave us launch passes and we were as close to the launch as civilians could get. That sight was beyond belief. Sound and Smoke and Fire! In January 2018 TK and I saw a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch when we were leaving on a cruise ship out of Port Canaveral. Seeing a launch is the sight of a lifetime.
That was the end of the excitement for today!
TK’s Takes: He got nervous when the bus full of families with lots of kids pulled up to the hotel as we were checking in. People arriving for a Disney cruise tomorrow. We live in fear of children running up and down the halls and hollering. [Janie’s note: I think we ae going to be OK, so far, no running!]
