FLASHBACK #52: Floridian Adventure (Part 2)

Day 5 – April 12th – (Easter Monday) Cocoa Beach → Cape Canaveral → Orlando 79ºF – Rainy turning pleasant

At 8am in the morning, the rain was STILL falling! How annoying! Breakfast was over by 9.30am and rain still fell. Not disuaded, we headed for Cape Canaveral, north of Cocoa Beach. Our intention was to visit Kennedy Space Centre. We found the signs and, within half an hour, we pulled into the nearly-empty car park. It was already 11am and we were in the queue for the Kennedy Space Centre, the place I had wanted to visit – but hadn't had the opportunity – during my first visit to Florida in 2000.

We got our Maximum Access tickets costing a whopping $40 + taxes and headed straight to the I-MAX theatre for the 11.30am screening of "The Dream Is Alive", an amazing programme about the space race. The footage was shot by astronauts themselves and some of the filming was just mind-blowing! After the 40 minute screening, we headed to the Astronaut Memorial, a fitting observation deck paying tribute to those who lost their lives during the quest for space exploration. From there, we went to an area where a replic of the Space Shuttle Explorer lay, complete with gas tank and twin booster rockets. Amazing!

After the impressive sight of the Space Shuttle Explorer, we headed towards the Rocket Garden, a collection of replica rockets each with its own story to tell.

On our way back to the I-MAX theatre for the 1.30pm screening, we popped into the sourvenir shop. I couldn't resist buying my six month old neice a NASA emblazoned babygrow!

We made our way to the 1.30pm screening of "Space Station 3D", an awesome 3D presentation about the piecing together of the International Space Station (ISS). After the presentation ended, we had an encounter with an astronaut which seemed like a good idea at the time! Bree and I posed with the bulky astronaut; what kids we must have looked liked!

I have to admit that, by this time, I was starting to flag. It had been a long day taking in lots of information; a trip to the Kennedy Space Centre is no joyride. It's a serious place to be with lots of exhibits to get through.

We forced ourselves onto the bus tour that would take us to the LC39 Oberservatory Gantry – housing the launch pad that is used to launch modern day Space Shuttle missions – followed by a visit to the Apollo/Saturn V Centre.

We left the Kennedy Space Centre visitor complex and headed to the Astronaut Hall of Fame, - included in the price of the ticket of the Kennedy Space Centre – five miles away. Again, it was information overload with even more exhibits of old launches, astronauts experiences, all the tragedies and triumphs relating to Space Exploration etc.

We went on a simulator ride that put people through their paces with 360º turns. The amusing thing was that those waiting to embark on the ride could see the people inside the capsule; some bore faces crunched up with fear, hair all over the place as they were suspended upside down while others grinned from ear-to-ear, clearly loving the thrill! And soon we would be in their shoes and the public would have their turn to point at us on the TV screens and laugh.

We left the place about 7pm, filled the car up with petrol and headed towards Orlando. Within an hour, we were cruising along International Drive, the main throughfare for tourists. We pulled up at the Rodeway Inn and paid $60 for the night! We were impressed with the price and, after dumping our stuff in our room, headed to the nearby Pizza Hut.

During dinner, we were served by a black waitress who oozed with wit and charm. I can actually recall what she looked like, the way she walked and the way she talked. She was lovely! We were both exhausted, but it wasn't physical, it was mental. We had overdosed on information at the Kennedy Space Centre so we headed back to the hotel – it was nearly 10pm – and watched Cosby Show and Roseanne repeats on TV. In bed by 11pm.

Day 6 – April 13th – Orlando → Fort Lauderdale 74ºF – Warm / Overcast

After a later-than-usual start of 9am, the sky still grey and much cooler than ever, we headed for breakfast at the nearby Sizzlers. As I got into the car, I noticed how much the humidity had reduced; for the first time since our arrival, we could really breathe. Over breakfast, we decided that we would not – as we had planned – visit one of the huge Disney water parks on the basis that: a) the weather; and b) the cost when the weather was nothing special.

Instead, we headed to one of the nearby Outlet Centres where goods are sold at lower prices than usual. At Belz, the huge Outlet Centre at the end of International Drive, the spending began. I bought three pairs of Reebok sports trainers for $127, a Nike rucksack and cap for $50 and a Levi's branded shirt for $19. Not major savings, but with no sun on offer and no interest in the usual tourist-trail attractions, shopping seemed like a good idea before we moved on.

About 3pm, we headed towards Boggy Creek, a place where you could experience the thrill of an Airboat and perhaps see a real life alligator – and other wildlife - in its natural habitat. I had found their website through a search engine on the internet and the content conjured images from Gentle Ben, a program I used to watch after school as a kid, about a father who was a cop in Florida and used an Airboat as a means of going about his daily work. Other characters included an oh-so-perfect mother and a cute young son – who I wanted to be – and, of course, Ben, the huge grizzly bear they kept as a pet. If any of you remember it, I'm sure you'll agree it was good entertainment and believable at the time! Did I say a huge grizzly bear?!

It took over an hour to find Boggy Creek, located just 15 miles south of the Belz retail Outlets. We managed to get booked onto their last Airboat tour of the day; as we waited for our airboat ride, I was surprised by how isolated the place was, just outside of Kissimmee.

The half-hour tour of the marshy Floridian lakes was setting us back $20 per person, a bit pricey perhaps, but what an experience it would be. And a great time we had too! When the huge rear propellor jerked into action, I was surprised by the sheer noise.

Within minutes, we were gliding over reeds at lightning speed; the Airboat felt surprisingly smooth and the driver made some mad but exhiliarting moves over the water and mud. Unfortunately, we wouldn't see any alligators, but the experience of moving over water, mud and flora was well worth the outlay.

People whooped with delight, although not much else could be heard through the ear muffs. When we returned to base, I asked the driver to take a picture of us and he did us the pleasure of suggesting we seat ourselves in the Captains seat and having our pictures taken there. What tourists we were!

The frustrating thing about the Airboat experience was that, like good sex, it was all over too quickly. We left the centre and headed South on Route 441 before rejoining the I-95 to Fort Lauderdale, our intended destination for the evening.

We stopped briefly at West Palm Beach for dinner, but the grease-pit we had chosen to dine at put me off food completely; everything tasted of oil. By the time we got back on the road, it was completely dark and careless drivers veered from lane to lane on the I-95; there was a race going on before our very eyes!

About 9.30pm, we saw the signs for Fort Lauderdale; we exited at East Sunset Boulevard and saw a Holiday Inn. We stopped at a few places, but rates quoted ranged from $129 to $140, even this late at night. The lowest we came across was $75, but I have to say it looked somewhat like a brothel and quite unsafe.

It was getting late, I was getting cranky and we were getting nowhere. I suggested we drive North along the seafront and see what was there. Within minutes, we both noticed the Best Western Pelican Beach Resort Hotel. The best they could do was $120 + tax for a room with a sea view. Parking was included and so was breakfast so we took it.

The hotel room was huge – double the size of any we had stayed in so far – and the view (from what I could discern in the darkness) was that we were less than 25 metres from the sea; I could hear the crash of the waves and could see the whiteness of the surf as it reached the shore. The light emanating from the hotel room lit up nearby palm trees and I couldn't wait till morning to take in the view.

I was in need of a bath after another long day. I remember laying in the bathtub, just dozing.. I had a shave and watched a Golden Girls repeat on TV. About midnight, I fell asleep and, unusually for me, I don't even remember turning in.

Day 7 – April 14th – Fort Lauderdale → Little Havana → Key Largo. 75ºF – Warm / Sunny

I woke up at 7am, the sun on my face. It was my birthday and I couldn't think of a better way to wake up than the way I woke up that morning in Fort Lauderdale. I stepped out onto the narrow balcony and nearly blinded myself with the early morning sun which my tired eyes were not prepared for. I grabbed my sunglasses then went back outside. What a sight; the view was AMAZING! I had never stayed this close to the sea in my entire life and, as soon as Bree woke up, we headed for a walk along the beach.

Compared to Miami, the beach was very narrow. When we returned to the hotel, we ate – al fresco – the usual fayre: bagels with cream cheese, cereal, coffee and juice. Yummy! As we ate, a flock of pelicans hovered over the sea nearby; such strange looking birds.

By 10am, we had checked out, but took advantage of the hotel's sunbeds on the beach. Next door, they were in the process of putting the finishing touches to the NEW Best Western hotel which, I could tell, would be a huge improvement on the already more than adequate current establishment.

I got myself oiled-up on Factor 15 and laid in the sun for a while. The water was crystal clear and not too cold; it's funny how humans acclimatise to the weather considering it had been -3ºC the day we had left Finland. The beach was very low-key, not densely populated like that of Miami.

About 1pm, we left the beach and decided to head towards the City of Miami and 'Little Havana'; from there, we would get as close to the Florida Keys as possible, weather and traffic permitting.

We got to Miami later in the afternoon and tried desparately to locate Calle Ocho otherwise known as SW 8th St. As my Lonely Planet Guide states: 'Little Havana is an elusive bugger'. Calle Ocho is the reputed heart of Little Havana, home to masses of Cuban exiles. Most people blame the influx of Cubans on the rise of Fidel Castro in 1959. Many people immigrated when Fulgenicio Batista, whose regime controlled Cuba for more than 30 years, set out on terrorising the nation. At this time, the best alternative was to back Batista's adversary, Fidel Castro.

In late 1958, President Eisenhower of the US announced an arms embargo against the Batista government. This was seen as a sign of support for Castro and his revolutionary coalition. The Batista government abdicated on January 1st, 1959, and Casto made a promise to hold free elections as soon as possible. Castro broke his many promises and the US responded by cancelling its Cuban sugar quota. Pressed for cash, Cuba turned – and allied itself - to the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War.

As we slowly drove along Calle Ocho, we finally came to the elusive Bay of Pigs Memorial. Admittedly, I had known nothing about the Bay of Pigs incident until I consulted my Loney Planet guide.

Apparently, after a revolution in Cuba in 1959, Miami and South Florida became flooded with immigrants who didn't agree with Fidel Castro's regime; they continued to gather and managed to arrange a 'counter-revolutionary' (CR) force. Over time, they managed to establish a permanent cuban society in Miami.

A group of exiles formed the 2506th Brigade, sanctioned by the US Government which provided weapons and CIA training for the purpose of launching an attack on Cuba. On April 17th, 1961, the CRs landed on the beach of Playa Giroin, a town on the Bay of Pigs.

Somehow, the Cubans knew of the planned landing.. In fact, a New York Times worker
claimed to have heard about the impending attack weeks before it had even happened; the badly executed attack found itself up against forces who were waiting in a virtual ambush.

To add insult to injury, when the magnitude of the botch-up became clear, President Kennedy, in the name of plausible deniability, refused to send air cover or naval support. The first wave of counter revolutionaries were left on the beach with no reinforcements or supplies; they were all captured or killed although all prisoners were released by Cuba three months later.

The Bay of Pigs Monument is one of many monuments erected to commemorate Cuban patriots and freedom fighters. This particular monument is dedicated to those who died in the botched Bay of Pigs invasion.

We walked down the street and noticed an old-style greengrocer-like store selling fruit and vegetables and light refreshments. I asked if they sold Guarapo, a drink I had read about in my Lonely Planet guide. He nodded and proceeded to prepare me a class of the pure sugar cane extract; it's sweet, slightly bitter and a but too much. I can still taste it when I think about it. Urgh! I'm sure that if you can be arsed to look, you'll find culture in Little Havana. For us, it was elusive and quite a disappointing find.

We left Little Havana, intent on heading towards the Keys in the South. We stopped at a garage for some petrol. Sorry! We stopped at a service station for some gas! I tried to operate the petrol pump, but it wouldn't work. The driver waiting behind us got frustrated, sounding his horn. A friendly old guy dressed in a white suit came up to me and explained that I had to give the person working behind the counter in the station a deposit before petrol would be dispensed. I thought he was taking the piss for a minute, but realised that nothing was happening this way so I went inside.

True enough, in this particular petrol station, customers had to pay a $50 deposit which was deducted from their credit card. When you finished drawing petrol, the $50 deposit would be paid back to your card and the actual spend would be debited from the card. Obviously, in Miami and/or Little Havana, there's been a case of people helping themselves to petrol then driving off!

We worked our way out of Little Havana and onto Route 1. Within minutes, there was a traffic jam of some kind and, after a while, we reached the scene of what looked like a hit-and-run incident; there was a stationary civilian car ahead with a solitary running shoe on the tarmac. Police rushed around nearby, taking what looked like statements from people who may have been nearby at the time of the incident. As we passed the scene, the traffic sped up once again.

We cruised along the highway and I could feel my shins and feet burning from too much exposure to the sun. Before long, Route 1 split into two, North and South. We took the South exit and, within minutes, were whisked away to a land of palms. We realised that we were passing a palm tree farm and were now on US1, otherwise known as the Overseas Highway.

The Overseas Highway is 126 miles long, stretching all the way from Florida City to Key West. We passed Homestead, a small town with a piece of recent history; Hurricane Andrew ripped through this area in 1993, bringing unprecedented economic devastation with it. Damage was estimated at $25 billion, making Andrew the most expensive natural disaster in U.S. history.

Time passed and we came to a bridge that seemed to soar above the first stretch of water separating Key Largo from the Continental USA. For a minute, I thought it was a drawbridge. As we came over the bridge, we were greeted with a massive expanse of rich green vegetation; we were flanked by trees, trees and more trees, but then civilisation slowly began to re-emerge with the odd smattering of souvenirs stores and camping grounds. We saw a sign for John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, our trip for tomorrow.

We stopped at the tourist office, got some advice about hotels, then made our way. We stopped at four hotels in Key Largo. Prices ranged from $149 - $269, but a bit further on we managed to get into the spacious Ramada Inn for $99! We quickly checked in and were please with the view from our hotel room.

I soaked in the bath tub, then showered off, feeling all clean again. I poured us some Bacardi while watching an episode of The Nanny, a comedy I hadn't seen before. Darkness arrived quickly in Key Largo so I pulled on some jeans, shirt and a jumper – it was windy and cool by this time. Bree had noticed a marina-side restauarant nearby called Spicy Coconuts. I feasted on Spicy Chicken Wings and a Seafood Pasta, washed down with a strawberry margarita.

Later on, I was woozy from the birthday drinks and starting to feel the cold. It was nearly midnight and my birthday has seen me travel from Fort Lauderdale to Miami, onto Little Havana and Key Largo. What a day! What a birthday!