Florida, February 26, 2012

There were two destinations today, each very different. So after our walk on the beach (the other direction from yesterday) and breakfast, we headed out.

The first stop was John's Pass in Madeira Beach. It is an interesting collection of shops and restaurants. Originally it was a fishing village. After wandering around for a while, we had lunch at an open air restaurant (it was covered) with good food in a very casual atmosphere.

At John's Pass

John's Pass

A young Heron (?)

It is by a channel with boats going in and out, and many sea birds, mostly looking for a handout. There were also several dolphins swimming through the area, seemingly going back and forth. Add more Florida wildlife to our list.

Dolphins in the channel

Dolphin in the channel

From there we headed to the other side of Tampa Bay, through Tampa, and south to Apollo Beach. Here the Tampa Electric Company has a power plant that discharges warm water into a channel. It seems manatees love warm water, so they gather there in the winter. The company has built a viewing and education center where one can see the manatees and learn about them. (They probably get lots of school groups.) It is very interesting, and we did see manatees, as well as some other fish. They also have a butterfly garden and other nature resources. Here is a little taste of the site.

A creek at the Manatee
viewing area

A small shark?

Manatee tail fluke

Manatee tail fluke

A young one resting

Young one coming up for air

Fish swimming where the little shark was

Florida, Febraury 25, 2012

Hotel Isis from the beach

We started the day today with a walk on the beach. It was about 2 miles roundtrip from the fishing pier by our hotel, to the next pier south. The sand was hard and the water warm where we walked. It was a good start to the day.

After breakfast ready for the day

Today after the walk and breakfast, we explored the area north of our hotel with stops in Clearwater Beach and Tarpon Springs. We took the slower but more scenic way up on Highway 19A through all the coastal towns.

We first headed to the CVS parking lot on Poinsettia Avenue, the sight of the apartment court where Karen lived the first year of her life, while her dad was stationed at Drew Field in Tampa. The first time we were here in 1985, the court was still there. It's been long gone.

Karen on the beach at
Clearwater Beach

Karen standing where the apartment court was
(as close as we can tell)

We then wandered the area and went over to the beach. It is a broad open white-sand beach. We even found what must be the access Karen's mom used to take her to the beach that first year. It is just one block from where they lived.

A walk along the main shopping street through town finished our exploration of Clearwater Beach. It looks about the same as the last time we were here, with a few new condos.


Our next destination was Tarpon Springs, a Greek sponge fishing town about 20 miles north of Clearwater Beach. It is very interesting with the active sponge fishing fleet still working. For linner (dinner nearer lunch time) we went to Hella's Bakery & Restaurant. It is a popular and busy spot, but the service was quick and good. And the food was excellent. It is on the main street by the sponge fishing harbor, which has become more touristy since we were last here.

 Our next stop in Tarpon Springs was a city park with a channel which connects to the gulf. It is a favorite spot for Manatees to gather and stay in warmer water in the winter. We found the area where several Manatees were lazily swimming around. Since they are mammals, they do need to come up for air regularly--and they can't hold their breath as long as whales. There were about a dozen in this group. It was very interesting to see them, the first Karen had seen. Dick saw a few a couple days ago at the Space Center, which were brown. These were dark gray mostly. A very interesting addition to our wildlife sightings list.

Manatee tail fluke

pair swimming

coming up for air

pair swimming

 After the Manatee viewing we headed "home" to the hotel in Redington Shores. This time we took the highway instead of the scenic route through all the towns. It was a much quicker drive.

Back at the hotel we headed out to the beach to watch the sunset. It was not spectacular, but interesting. Then we had a "snacky" supper on the patio.

Another day in the Florida sun. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain. We'll see.

Florida, February 24, 2012

Today was moving day. Karen finished the last morning of the ECC conference, while Dick packed and put most of the stuff in the car.

When the conference ended, Karen called and told Dick to come to the restaurant where they had finished to meet someone he hadn't seen since Oakland days. Linda Ruebke Kennell, who is the daughter of Walt Ruebke, the Dean of Students when Dick was a student at Concordia, Oakland. It was fun to re-meet her and reminisce a bit about the old Oakland days.

Beach behind hotel

enjoying the sun

We then headed out on the drive back to theTampa area for the next four days. We are staying at the Isis Hotel in Redington Shores, a bit south of Clearwater Beach. It is a small hotel right on the beach (although our room is at the other end of the building).








 For lunch we walked to Wahoo's and had fish tacos. It's an interesting local joint, and the food was good.

We did spent some time on the beach, and we even waded in the water. There was a bit of surf, more than expected for the Gulf. It was very warm on the drive, in the upper 80s. The beach was also warm, but with a pretty good breeze.

We ventured out to do a little shopping for supplies and came back to the hotel area for dinner at a Thai restaurant a few blocks away. It was good.













Tomorrow we will begin exploring the area.

Florida, February 23, 2012

While Karen was in her meeting all day, Dick drove over to Cape Canaveral to visit the Kennedy Space Center. We had been there only once before, nearly 20 years ago. Much has been and is being added.

Rocket Garden

I chose to take an extended tour for which the first opening was 12:30. That gave me a couple of hours to wander the grounds and see exhibits. The first stop was the Rocket Garden, and interesting collection of rockets and space capsules.

The Shuttle Launch simulator duplicates what was actually used for training of astronauts. It is smoother than the Flight to Mars ride at Epcot! It does give a very realistic feeling of g-force and noise and was very interesting. After walking through a couple of exhibit areas, I took the tour explaining the use of robotics in the NASA system. Although a bit cutesy, it was informative.

It was then time to start the long tour of the facilities, including the only access to the Assembly Building. We first drove out to view the location of the Air Force base in the area. And from there we saw the other destinations across the "river" which isn't really a river. By that time several on our bus had seen a few alligators. I was always on the wrong side of the bus. But there were manatees in the water, and one very large alligator lying along the shore.

Alligator on shore

Manatees near the edge

The next stop was the Assembly Building, which at one time was the largest building in the US by volume. Now there are a couple larger, but they claim the title as the largest one-story building, since it's all open to the roof.

Inside the Assembly Building now there is only one Shuttle being prepared for public display at KSC. We got quite close.

One of the shuttles on the grounds waiting to be
moved somewhere for permanent display

Looking up to the top of this one-story
building about 500'

We spent some time in the building being carefully watched by several armed guards.

Launch Pad

From there we continued our tour of the facilities, going out past the two mane launch pads which had been used for most of the Gemini and and all of the shuttle launches. One is still operational. And they are building a new launch tower which can be moved to a pad as needed.

New Launch Tower

Lunar Module

Control Room

There was one more brief stop before heading to the Saturn 5 building and the tour of things related to the moon landings. We had seen a Saturn 5 rocket at NASA in Houston. So this was familiar to me. The labeling was better here. Then there are three or four more theaters with information about the first moon landing, including the actual control room, a lunar module, and films of the event. It was all very interesting.

Saturn 5

The drive back to Orlando was quick and easy. We then went over to Downtown Disney for dinner and a little shopping. When grandparents travel, they must bring something to the grandkids! We ate at Bongo, a Cuban restaurant. It was quite good. While wandering through the area, we met some fellow attendees of the ECC conference. Julie invited us up to her room to watch the fireworks from Magic Kingdom at 10. It was another good show.

Bongo, a Cuban restaurant

Florida, February 22, 2012

Today is Ash Wednesday, and Washington's Birthday (though not when it's celebrated). LCMS School Ministries chose to begin the ECC conference today. Not sure the reasoning. But it caused us to move from the Hilton resort to the Buena Vista Plaza Hotel & Spa across the street from Downtown Disney. We are on the 19th floor with a good view.

Downtown Disney from our room

Hotel pools, etc

We had a late breakfast in the hotel restaurant which served as lunch also. Then Karen began her meetings in the early afternoon. Dick wandered the grounds and worked in the room.

There was a reception in somebody's room before dinner (hosted by LCEF), with good conversation. When we all were ready to head to the restaurant for dinner, a very heavy thunderstorm hit the area. Locals were happy to see the rain, since it has been very dry here. But it delayed our return to the main hotel building for dinner till it let up a little. Dinner was quite good and elegantly served.

Hotel yard & Downtown Disney from our room

After dinner we returned to our room in time to watch the Epcot fireworks from our little balcony. It's nice to have a room that overlooks some Disney stuff.

Epcot fireworks from our room
(not too clear)

Downtown Disney at night

Florida, February 21, 2012

Today we spent all day (and evening) at Epcot. It was our first time back for at least fifteen years. Much is still the same, but several things have been added and some have been updated and changed. It was not as crowded as the other times we've been here in the summer, which was nice. Not that the place was empty.

The young man in the ticket booth had grown up in the Portland area, which made for a bit of interesting conversation. And the whole entry process didn't take too long.

The first thing you come to upon entering is the big globe, the symbol for Epcot.

Canada

From there one walks all over the grounds. We headed first to the national pavilions, starting with Canada. We had to wait a bit till they opened at 11. Their presentation was one of several good films in the national pavilions.

We then made our way around the lagoon through the countries with a stop for lunch at a Fish 'n Chips place in the England area. When we reached the U.S. pavilion, there was a very small fife and drum corps playing in the front (two fifes, two drums, one flag). In the U.S. pavilion a small singing group performed before we all went to the animated presentation of US History. Amazing robotics.

China

Italy

After a couple more films and short rides in Norway and Mexico, we finished our world tour by mid afternoon. Then we headed back to the exhibit pavilions of Future World. We were able to visit all the exhibits and rides we hoped to except "Soarin'" which had a wait time of up to 2 1/2 hours. Maybe next time if we come back. The most adventurous ride was the spaceship to Mars. Pretty good.

After dinner at one of the many eating establishments, we found a place along the lagoon to watch the fireworks show. Actually, it's called "IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth" and includes fireworks, lazars, fountains, and music. We had a pretty good spot.

 After the show, it was exit time. Getting out was not as much hassle as we thought it might be, since the crowds were smaller. By the time we got to our car in the parking lot, it was fairly empty and no real trouble getting out. On the way out of the park, we got one more good view of the Globe, lit up.