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Kennedy Space Center

On the way back from the cruise, the first stop we made was at Kennedy Space Center. At the last visit there back in August, we upgraded to the annual pass (which you can do for an extra $5 or something like that with your regular admission). I’ve visited KSC before, but it’s always a fun place to go back to. This time we got to use our annual pass, which also includes free parking (apparently they started charging for parking not long after our last visit). Totally worth the price of the upgrade.

The main entrance has changed quite a bit since the August visit, and there looked to be a lot of progress made on the new exhibit building for the Space Shuttle Atlantis (which I was told is supposed to be opening in July now). There’s a new building for purchasing tickets, and some automated ticketing kiosks. With our annual pass card, we just walked up to the turnstile, scanned our cards and walked right in. Easy peasy.

Inside was mostly the same, although there were a few new things. We only planned to spend a couple hours there so we skipped the bus tour this time. The rocket garden is one of my favourite places to wander around.

Panorama of the Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center

Spent some time at the Astronaut Memorial. I love how quiet it is there.

Astronauat Memorial at Kennedy Space Center

New this visit were these ST:TNG LCARS panels decorating the side of one of the buildings. A neat and fun surprise.

LCARS panels from Star Trek: The Next Generation decorating the side of a building at Kennedy Space Center
LCARS panels from Star Trek: The Next Generation decorating the side of a building at Kennedy Space Center
LCARS panels from Star Trek: The Next Generation decorating the side of a building at Kennedy Space Center. The panel shows a schematic drawing of the Galaxy class USS Enterprise.

We’ll probably go back again in February either on the way to or coming back from the Orlando Hamcation.

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Cruising

This past weekend I got to experience my first cruise on Royal Caribbean‘s Monarch of the Seas (henceforth known as “Connie’s Ship”). Since the ship is being sold, this was our last chance to cruise on her ship before it left Royal Carribean’s fleet.

Getting on the ship is a lot like getting onto an airplane. You check your bags, check in, wait for boarding and then get on board. On the cruise ship though, you can unpack things and relax while it takes you places. On a plane, you’re just cooped up waiting to get to the other end. On the ship, there’s always something to do, or you can just sit around and do nothing.

Food on the ship is plentiful, to the point where no matter what time of day it is, you can find something to eat somewhere on the ship. Lots of places to explore on the ship and the staff make sure there are lots of activities going on. In addition to being a first cruise, I got to climb a rock wall for the first time, had a first taste of caviar, sampled some new foods, and visited a new place. Food was pretty decent and the buffets offered a nice variety of food, snacks and desserts. I definitely ate more than was probably good for me.

I think what I like most about cruises is the forced disconnect. There’s no cell service out in the middle of the ocean, and using the ship’s satellite internet service is too pricey to make it worthwhile.

Looking forward to going on more cruises.

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A tale of Three Crowns

Crown Royal Original, Black and Reserve

Three bottles of Crown Royal. The left bottle is regular Crown Royal with the distinctive purple bag. In the middle is a bottle of Crown Royal Black with a black bag. On the right is a bottle of Crown Royal Reserve with a gold bag.

I’ve never been a huge drinker, but the bottles of CR Black and Reserve were just calling out to me at the duty free liquor store on the ship, so I figured “What the heck”. It is, after all, the nectar of Hoo.

Some time soon, I’ll do a side-by-side taste test and see what my not so discerning palate thinks about these three varieties of CR. I’m really interested in seeing how Black and Reserve compare to the original.

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Vacation blogging to come

The past week was a pretty great vacation, starting with a cruise on Royal Caribbean, a quick visit to Kennedy Space Center (yay annual pass) and finishing with touristy things in the historic part of St. Augustine.

There are a few hundred photos to go through and several cruise and vacation related blog posts tumbling through my head. Lots of stuff to do over the next few days as I get used to non-cruise life again (can’t seem to find that buffet anywhere, and Ronald has stopped bringing us bread!).

Stay tuned for photos and blogs.