Aaron's blog

Thursday I arrived in Miami at 3:30. I took a toll road this time so it was a pretty quick trip to right downtown where Walter lives. I met him and we headed up to his apartment on the 23rd floor (50 Biscayne is the building if you want to find it on a map). Then we headed up to the 54th floor to check out the view even though it is very nice from his own balcony, and to check out the infinity pool and view of the bay from nearer the ground. It is a pretty classy building and a great way to spend a few days in Miami.

We took the MetroMover around a loop and stopped to look at all the fancy open air restaurants and bars near the marina and Heat stadium. After that we drove over to near Midtown to a biker bar called Wood and had a beer and some tacos. Lots of bikes there, and a good variety of them. Then we drove to Ocean Drive and walked along there checking out all the restaurants and clubs--almost all of them have tables out on the sidewalks and it was a very lively atmosphere.

On Wednesday I walked over to Fort Zachary Taylor State Park and looked at the fort stuff there. There is a beach there too so I took a look but didn't have my swimming suit with. Then I went to the southernmost point of the continental USA where there is a big marker saying "90 miles to Cuba." According to the maps I've looked at the Navy base is further south but I guess it is close enough. I put on my swimming suit and swam at the southernmost beach but the water had poor visibility so I didn't stay long. I drove over to the state park with my swimming suit on this time and jumped in the water but quickly realized I should be snorkeling if the water has 30+ foot visibility.

So I rented a snorkel set and saw many different bright and colorful fish. It was like a real life Finding Nemo. The biggest I saw was maybe 30 inches long but it is tough to tell because everything looks magnified. I also saw some live conch shells.

Then I went back, cleaned up, and walked to the Sunset Celebration that they have nightly. It is a street-fair sort of thing with some jugglers and stuff, and a great view of the setting sun. That was on the far side of town so I stopped in a few bars for drinks as I worked my way back home.

My feet feel like they are at their limits with the combination of being in soaked boots for two days in a row, walking around more than normal, and walking on the really rough beach. Not bad yet but close to blisters in a few spots and they are sore all round.

Tuesday morning I did laundry and checked out the nifty outdoor hot tub with a waterfall. Then I departed at 11:00 for Key West. The drive was pretty uneventful except for when I really wished I would have taken a toll road instead of taking a highway through town and hitting a bunch of stoplights. Oh and rode through rain twice and quickly dried out except for my boots.

The sun was setting and the sea was nearly glassy as I drove through the Keys which made it a very beautiful drive. I got a motel room in the old town area and walked over to the main road to check out the nightlife. I saw many interesting things…

Monday was an early morning. To make it to Orlando at a reasonable hour I departed at 6:40. It is 160 miles there and I met Nick on the Epcot end of the monorail by 10:30. I remember when I was probably 8-10 years old my dad had gone through the Epcot sphere thingy and absolutely would not tell me what was in it. Now I know and it is pretty cool! So that was the first ride, and the rest I did included: around the whole country lake thing, Mission Space, Splash Mountain, People Mover, the paddle-wheel ferry, haunted something, and Carousel of …Innovation? Oh and also it rained constantly from about 2:00 on. For some reason we did not spring the $5 for a rain poncho; I think we got a little bit wet at first and decided to deal with it, and then when we started really getting wet we didn't want to give in. After thinking that maybe my jeans were finally wet enough to pose a risk to my phone, I put it in Nick's backpack.

All the rain and it being a weekday in the off-season meant that I spent a grand total of about 10 minutes waiting in line. That and having and experienced guide meant I was able to pack a lot in but I really barely scratched the surface. I had to leave before the parade and fireworks so I could meet Dan so I said goodbye to Nick and walked out the gate while he went back a different way. 50 yards out of the gate I reached for my phone and realized it was still in Nick's backpack. Hurrying back, I could not see him. So I ended up in guest relations calling all the numbers I have memorized-Mom, Dad, and their landline. My mom has Nick's number so it would have worked great but there was no answer on any of them. So I walked back outside to see if Nick had thought of my phone and come back, and I remembered that I knew my sister's number too (she would have had to think of someone she knew that had Nick's number so I wasn't real hopeful on that) but as I was going back to try that Nick came walking up waving my phone around. So here's to Nick's memory--it is pretty darn good. (At one point I was planning how I might have to call 1-800-MEDORA1 and persuade someone there to give me some numbers such as Sarah or Kinley.)

Then I dried out, found Dan at his hotel, and got him all caught up on my trip. It is pretty silly that he and I both live in Fargo and don't see each other much besides an annual hunting trip, and then we meet up in Orlando. But it was great to see a familiar face. Two for the day actually, because Nick counts for that too.

Another late start on Sunday morning--they should just make motel check-out times 8:00 so that I am forced to enjoy the morning. Or I could not stay out late at the karaoke place but hey it was a lot of fun. Anyways, I spent pretty much all afternoon cruising down A1A to West Palm Beach. It is sort of a difficult road to follow because it jumps between mainland and the barrier islands several times and sometimes I missed the turn signs.

West Palm Beach was part of Walter's must see list, including checking out Peanut Island and Clematis Street. For Peanut Island all I could do was look at it from a bridge. If you plan ahead and have some time to spend there I think you can take a boat out to the island and camp. Then I got a place to stay near Clematis Street, which is the nightlife part of WPB. It was a neat old hotel and the clerk said that most of the rooms are continuously rented by the same people, some going back 10 years.

There is a free trolley that drives around the Clematis Street area so I did a loop on that to get the feel for the area. I stopped at a few different places for drinks and food and had some good conversations with a couple people. There were a surprising amount of people out for a Sunday night. Back at the room by midnight, I heard from my godfather Dan that he was going to be in Orlando the next evening. So, remembering that Nick LeTang had offered to take me around Disney World and had Monday off I quickly made plans to head up there the next morning.

I went surfing today! I did a two hour lesson rather than struggle through learning on my own. I quickly became exhausted from all of the paddling and fighting my way back out against waves. The instructor said the conditions were really good as the waves were bigger than normal (about 4-foot swells), and of course the weather was beautiful. I managed to get a few decent runs in but most of the time I fell over right away or missed the wave so there is plenty left to learn. Also she totally used the word gnarly a couple times which really made the experience authentic. :)

After that I swam in the waves and laid on the beach for a while. I had some fish tacos for supper and then hung out at a bar that had karaoke for the rest of the night.

I arrived at Kennedy Space Center shortly after 9:00 and spent the whole day seeing so many cool things that I didn't even stop to eat. On the bus tour we drove out to the Vehicle Assembly Building and walked inside of it. This is where they assemble the external tank and boosters to the space shuttle (and assemble other rockets). After that we drove over to one of the shuttle launch pads and looked at it from maybe 600 yards, and then drove around and walked right up to the flame trench at the base of the pad. I had never imagined I would stand that close, or walk in the VAB either.

I also saw the Saturn V rocket display and the shuttle Atlantis. Both are enormous. Also I checked out the shuttle launch simulator, ISS IMAX film, multiple museums, and the rocket garden. And there were still a few things I missed. It is a very cool place.

I am spending the weekend in Cocoa Beach. So tomorrow should be a full day doing beach related stuff.

I headed south on Florida State Road A1A ,and if I knew any other words to the Vanilla Ice tune it would have been nice but I was stuck just thinking, "A1A, beachfront avenue!" all day. The lyrics are no lie though--the road pretty much follows the beach for a decent amount of what I have driven so far.

First I stopped about 25 miles south of St. Augustine because the waves looked really big, I couldn't see the beach itself from the road, and there were walkways down to the beach about every 1/3 mile. So I pulled into the sandy area next to the road by one of the walkways (opposite side of my southbound lane) and immediately saw a sign, "No driving on dunes and vegetation." Looking down, I saw some tire tracks where I was, but it seemed like maybe I shouldn't park there. I looked back up just in time to see a cop pull up in my mirror with his lights on. "What the heck are you doing on this side of the road?" he asked. "I just pulled off and now I see the sign and I'm guessing it means don't park on this side at all?" I said. It was true and he took off. If they would make the signs face a direction other than straight south I would have been able to see that before I stopped. Or maybe my pseudo U-turn wasn't exactly legal. Anyways, it was a good bit of excitement. I parked across the road and walked to the beach. The waves weren't as big as they had seemed from the road (15 feet higher).

Then I got to Daytona Beach. Walter had been quite insistent that I drive on the beach though I was leery of how well that would work. Some reading I did indicated that the sand was pretty well packed so I was going to try it. Unfortunately all the ramps to the beach were closed when I arrived because the tide was up. At this point a decent rain storm was developing so I decided to stay dry and had lunch. After lunch the ramps were open so down I went. I rode 5 miles to the north. Keeping control wasn't really a problem, so yes the sand is quite firm. It was pretty early on a weekday so not many people were out but I bet that is quite the deal on a summer weekend.

From there I headed south on the real road again. I zipped down to Kennedy Space Center but got there around 3:00 and realized that I wouldn't have enough time to really enjoy it. So with that thought, and in addition the words of a few people who keep urging me to take my time and enjoy the area as this trip is a very unique opportunity for me, I decided I would camp nearby and then for most of tomorrow I can fiddle around KSC.

I got a campsite 100 yards from the water and out my tent door I can see the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC and a couple other things. I think that is pretty awesome! It is about 10 miles away. Since it was pretty early when I set up camp, I had time to go for a swim in the pool. Then I walked down to the water and talked for about an hour to a fisherman. He told me how the local economy was crippled after the Challenger disaster ("former NASA engineers were looking for jobs at the 7-11") which I did not know, how I had missed a 3:00 AM missile launch the previous morning from the nearby AFB, and how his dad died of a heart attack in the Apollo 11 capsule (tall tale alarms were going off on that one, but maybe). Anyways, he was fishing with a rod and reel and caught a small catfish while I was watching, but he also taught me how to use a casting net to catch the surface fish. I think they were called mullets, and they are vegetarian I guess and jump out of the water a lot.

It was raining for most of the morning so I didn't get into town until 11:00. First I went south of town about 10 miles to Fort Matanzas which included a short boat ride on a big pontoon boat over to the fort itself. On the way back we saw some dolphins about 100 yards away.

Back in town I parked downtown and walked for the rest of the day. First I went to the Ripley's Believe it or Not! Museum. There were a lot of dumb African skulls and skin and carvings that I didn't really care for but a ~20 foot tall Ferris wheel built using Erector set pieces was among the things I did like.

Then I went over to Castillo de San Marco and walked around the outside of that but didn't go inside because it was about to close. I ate and then walked around town for a while, including across the lifting bridge from which I could get a good look at big boats in the marina.

I went over to the beach for about an hour this morning to walk in the waves and enjoy the sand between my toes. The water was pretty comfortably warm. Then I packed up my campsite and headed south. My parents' friend Walter who lives in Miami had recommended that I spend some time in St. Augustine and it was about 250 miles south so that is where I am tonight. I went through some heavy rain on the way here but now the weather is nice--cool and breezy.

So I am at Anastasia State Park, where there is a very nice campground (the sand in my campsite was raked!) and a public beach area. I decided I would stay two nights here so that I can do some tours or museums in town, do some laundry, and enjoy the beach.

There are lots of nice cars and big jacked-up pickup trucks in this area which I like looking at.

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I wrote that using the Wi-Fi from the restaurant they have near the beach. Afterwards I walked ~300 yards out to the ocean and it was cool to see part of it lit up brightly by moonlight. Then the clouds moved and I was lit up and it seemed bright like daylight for a moment. Very fun.

Then I looked closer at the clouds and noticed what definitely looked like a rain cloud out over the water...straight in the direction from which the wind was strongly blowing. So I set off at a brisk walk back, threw my helmet on, and zoomed away. Of course I missed my turn so took longer than I should have, and just barely made it into my tent before it started raining.