Florida Spring Break

NASA has faced stiff competition from other theme parks (Disney, Universal) that have offered thrill rides that the kids of today seek out. To counteract that, the Kennedy Space Center has created a ride that simulates a space shuttle launch, and I would have to say that it is easy the most kickass thing here. I wish that I could describe it, but any words that I would type here just couldn't do it justice. It was a motion simulator, but somehow they made you feel like you were traveling with enough G-Force to break though the Earth's atmosphere, then once you reached space, the vibrations stopped and you got a sense of total weightlessness. It was one of the most awkward feelings that I have ever felt in my entire life. It was more awkward than when I was 19 years old and I told this girl Jeanie that I loved here. The worst thing about it was that I meant it, and I still refer to her as the "girl that got away." I still have a picture of us together, and I often glance at it because in that picture I have the look of true happiness. That is the only thing that could compare with this ride.

All of the years spent hanging out in the parking lots outside of Miller Park and Milwaukee County Stadium have made me the man that I am today. Every time that I am standing around in a giant parking lot, I just want to sit in a lawn chair or lean against the car and crack open a beer. Since I was in that giant parking lot, I did just that. And I enjoyed every last drop of the stuff. To me it didn't matter that I was in the NASA lot and not a stadium lot.

The 2nd greatest part about the NASA Space Center is the Rocket Garden. In it are replicas of the rockets that they have sent into space over the years. I went inside one of the Mercury capsules that astronauts like John Glen flew into space in. These were only big enough for one person, and it was a rather tight fit. There was no room at all in which to move around, and I could only imagine how rough it would have been to spend 4 hours in here orbiting the Earth. I guess it wouldn't be too bad...

The Apollo capsule was designed for 3 people, but it still looked like a tight fit. I couldn't imagine me and my 2 best friends in here. If you were to put big teddy bear Joey Kanz and gangly Aaron Spiering and myself in here, then it would be a rather uncomfortable 8 - 10 days. Don't get me wrong, I love those kids to death, but I don't love them enough to be that close to them for an elongated period of time. I tried it out for size, but even I wasn't man enough to handle the rigors and hardships of an Apollo mission.

This photo is pretty sweet. Not only does it fully capture the entire rocket garden and my Dad and myself, but I was able to get this shot on the first try without using a tripod. I set the camera on a garbage can, but needed to prop something up (I think it was either the camera case or the NASA facility map) underneath it to get the whole picture in. I've said it before, but I can take some pretty sweet self-timer pictures when I'm faced with no other choice.