cbrandt
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
|
Rodolfo Paiz wrote:
Headed out to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center with the family for this long weekend, starting Friday. We're also hoping to do some walking around the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge and other places around there.
Since I know several of you have "been around" the area extensively, what would you suggest as far as places to stay and things to do? Also, how much time should we budget for the KSC with a rocket-loving 10-year-old and a 4-year-old? One full day? More? Less?
Thanks for any advice.
I did this trip your doing a couple of years ago - shooting Merritt Is NWR every other day ...... did a day at Merritt then the next at Universal for the Blue Man Concert in Orlando - then Merritt and the next at Cape Canaveral ( took the $$ bus tour - thought it was worth it - never in my life dreamed I'd open and close that place, but we did -- it was wonderful !! ) did Merritt again and then Cypress Gardens the next day which I understand now is like Leggo Land or some crazy thing like that ........ when I was at Cypress, do any of you folks remember sitting down to TV in the evening and those skiers would come on your television screen standing on top of each other pulled by a boat holding the American Flag ...... They were still presenting that 20 minute ski routine free in the grand stands when I was there in 2011 or something like that ...... it was GREAT !!!!!
So you have the Merritt Is where everybody goes on the known commercial Wildlife Drive, and THEN YOU HAVE the other WD / wilderness drive ..... If you go to the visitor center, when your leaving, turn right and go up like an 1/8 of a mile ( Peacock Lane ) I believe it is called - they don't advertise it at the visitor center, but it was open to the public in 2011, and you can ask them about it too. It is a right turn onto a gravel road that leads to the maintenance buildings .. but goes right past them out into the wild .. the large 8 foot fence gate opens at 8am ..... The morning I turned onto the road an 8' alligator high on it's legs was crossing the road in front of me ... being from ND now in MD, that was a 1st for me !! So the road takes you way back in the back country on road and trail -- giving you up close !! 5 feet away alligators from 3 feet to 15 feet in length, Wood Storks, Ibis, Herons, Rosettes, Anhingas, mud hens, white pelican and coots -- THAT MARSH IS ALIVE !!!!! 14 times better than the regular WD when I was there .. and when you come out a couple of hours later if your shooting at all -- your right back on that highway that if you make a right turn and go up a 1/4 mile, is the entrance to the normal WD and a bit farther the refuge office.
I've been under the weather so am catching up, so your trip might of already of happened, but I really enjoyed it !!
I hope you folks do too !!
curt
|
