Day 28 Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral. A big trip highlight (for Tony) planned for today. The day dawned grey and damp. Took a short walk down the road to collect the bus shuttle and transferred to the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral on the East Coast about an hours drive away.

Took pictures of the many rockets lined up at the Rocket Garden then made a bee line to the Space Shuttle Atlantis which was displayed suspended from the ceiling in its entry attitude. Far more striking in appearance than the shuttle Enterprise displayed in NYC. We both enjoyed the "Shuttle Launch Experience" which was an interactive experience that simulated a space shuttle launch. We strapped ourselves into our seats, and then were rotated backwards for launch. Intense vibration and noise occurred for the first few minutes until the booster rockets were ejected. Space Shuttle astronauts have commented that the simulator is as realistic as the real Shuttle launch.

Our ticket included a sumptuous buffet lunch with a astronaut who had been on 6 of the 135 shuttle missions and he gave a very informative presentation on some of his missions and experiences.

At 1:30 pm we took a premium access tour, which took us on an extensive route around the KSC to launch pads, the vehicle assembly building, and the 3 mile long space shuttle landing runway. The runway is made of concrete, 18 inches thick and no joints that with a 24/7 continuous pour that took around 2-1/2 years to complete !

We concluded the tour at the Apollo/Saturn V Center which featured a 363 foot moon rocket - very impressive stuff ! Plundered the gift shop and left KSC very satisfied !

Returned back to Orlando for an enjoyable swim (finally) as the day had turned out sunny and wandered down the road - brimming full of souvenir shops snapping up a few bargains. A 12 out of 10 day !