Category Archives: Activities

Things we have done during our travels.

The Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL (AKA Cape Canaveral) — Part 1

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Monday, May 4, 2026 — In the early morning, Eric took a ride share to a rental car facility and rented a car. Then he went to Kosmos, picked up Christi and Keith, and we all set out for the Kennedy Space Center. It was located in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and was a 20-minute drive. We headed west on a bridge that took us over the Banana River, then north to the Space Center.

We’d been once before, four years ago. Like Colonial Williamsburg, it was only open from 9 – 5 and there was more to see/do than could physically be done in one day; it was recommended to get a 2-day pass to see/do everything. Last time, we’d only had four hours, so we didn’t get to see much. Eric and Christi wanted to see the rest of it. Keith didn’t remembered much, so it was almost like his first visit.

As we drove in, we were astounded by the size of the Blue Origin complex. We remembered being astounded last time, too. This is just a tiny bit of the complex.

The Kennedy Space Center parking lot entrance was just beyond the Blue Origin complex. We arrived at 0920. Parking was $15. The line to buy tickets was short. Tickets were $77 for 12+ for one day and $91 for 2 days. With sales tax, the grand total for three 1-day passes was $217.17. This was the entrance. You can see part of the Rocket Garden in the distance.

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Passage from North Palm Beach, Floria to Port Canaveral, Florida, USA

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Friday, May 1, 2026 continued… They took the straps off, then we backed out of the slip and headed south down the ICW. Thankfully we only had to wait 7-minutes for the first bridge to open.

As we feared, the ICW was busy on a Friday afternoon. Lots of speed boats zoomed by and several tiny boats came terrifyingly close to us, but now we’re jaded and don’t freak out when the boats get close like we used to. We were pleased to report that the ride to the Lake Worth inlet was uneventful.

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Eric’s Time in North Palm Beach/Christi and Keith’s Time in San Diego

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Thursday, April 30 — As we’ve already reported, Kosmos was hauled out on Monday, April 13 to have assorted work done, mostly preventative maintenance. We’ll do a complete write up of the work done in a separate post. This is just a quick summary of how Christi, Eric and Keith spent their time while Kosmos was out of the water.

Eric spent the majority of the days onboard Kosmos. Each day, he looked at what was scheduled to be done and helped clear spaces for the workers, then put everything back away once they were done. He monitored the work that was being done and helped as much as was viable. As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, Eric was frustrated that he’d hurt his back and was unable to do as much boat work himself as he would have preferred. He began pursuing care. He visited a doctor and had tests run. Once he had an understanding of what the issue was, he began trying some strategies to help facilitate healing.

He tried a couple of new restaurants. One was a pizza place called DeSanos, which had real Italian thin crust pizzas, that he really liked. He also tried a breakfast restaurant called Sarah’s Cafe, located in the same shopping center as Doris and West Marine. Sarah’s was not bad, but he preferred Berries & More.

Christi and Keith flew to San Diego on April 16. Leaving Palm Beach.

Landing in San Diego

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Seeing Tiki Tour in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA

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Wednesday, April 13 — Johnny and Joanne had recommended a breakfast/brunch restaurant in the same shopping center as Jeremiah’s called Berry Fresh Cafe. They had some unique menu items, both in terms of foods and beverages, that piqued our interest. The portions were huge and the food was fantastic. Keith ordered the Chorizo Crunch Wrap, which was a grilled tortilla stuffed with scrambled eggs, bacon, chorizo sausage, bacon, regular sausage, ham, cheddar and chipotle cream sauce. It was served with salsa on the side. Eric ordered the Nashville Chicken Biscuit, which had pimiento cheese, pickle slices, chicken tenders, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce served on a biscuit.

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Part 3 of The Clewiston Museum in Clewiston, Florida, USA

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continued… There was a large exhibit on the agriculture industry. Clewiston was dubbed “America’s Sweetest Town” because it is home to The United States Sugar Company, Florida’s largest producer. Here was a model of the plant.

In 1925, a group of investors bought a giant tract of land to create a sugarcane plantation. Interestingly enough, the principal investor also owned a company that produced Celotex boards, which were made from the fibrous remains of sugarcane after the sugar was processed out. Sugarcane became the predominant crop in the Clewiston area and Southern Sugar Company was the largest employer and property owner. One of their biggest early challenges was drainage. They dug canals to help the water go away and planted trees to help absorb the water that stayed. They bought a defunct sugar mill from another part of Florida and moved it to Clewiston. The mill opened in January 1929. Nine months later, the stock market crashed and the Great Depression set in. In 1930, they went bankrupt and were planning to halt production. One of the creditors and major shareholders, Charles Stewart Mott, stepped in to save the operation. He formed US Sugar and bought out Southern Sugar a few months later.

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