We checked everyday for an open lot at Jetty Park for March 1, but nothing came available. It is the perfect place to watch a rocket launch and no one was giving up their space. So to Titusville it was. We parked downtown by a park and walked around. It was hot and humid. Saw some horseshoe crabs – kind of ugly creatures that are related to spiders, scorpions and ticks, not to crabs at all. And they swim upside down. Their shells look like outdated army helmets and they have a tail. We scouted out different spots to watch the launch of the Space X Falcon Heavy rocket. The rocket launched the Arabsat 6A communications satellite which will deliver TV, internet and mobile phone services to the Middle East, Africa and Europe. It is a reusable rocket that generates thrust that is equal to eighteen 747 aircraft. On the road to the Kennedy Space Center (we tried to drive in, but the official at the gate would have none of it!) was a great spot that already had a few RV’s parked in anticipation. The launch was scheduled for 2:50am March 2 so we went to bed early and set the alarm. When we awoke the area was filled with observers. Blast off was right on time. We didn’t see the rocket, but saw the blast as it was propelled into space and heard the roar. Definitely a highlight of our trip. The space capsule splashed back to earth in the Atlantic near Jetty Park on March 8 and was sailed into Cape Canaveral. Wish we could have seen that!
We were scheduled to meet Sandra and Danny Wesley at Little Talbot Island State Park to camp together for the first week of March. We arrived at the same time. They flew from home and rented a camper van. And to our pleasant surprise their daughter, Laura, flew in for a few days – hoping to find a reprieve from the freezing north. The weather was warm and then freezing, so it wasn’t everything for which she hoped. But we had a great visit – hope our company made up for it! Chiggers (actually chiggers’ larvae – grass mites) found Sandra’s feet early on – left nasty, extremely itchy bites all over both feet.
Sandra and I enjoyed being in the surf on two occasions. It was cold, but couldn’t feel it after we got numb! A fishermen told us later that he had a 5 foot Hammerhead shark on his line that got away! I guess what you don’t know can hurt you. The day we took Laura to catch her flight back home we all went downtown Jacksonville for supper at Golden Corral (affectionately referred to as “The Trough” because of the vast and varied opulent food buffet) and to take in Art Walk Festival – local artisans showcasing their goods. Us girls found refuge from the cold in the library and missed the 1 minute parade (a 5-man horn band, someone on stilts and a bicycle).
The next day we visited the Kingsley Plantation situated close to our campground. It was built in 1798 with the remains of 25 slave cabins made of Tabby (a cement-like substance made from cooking crushed oyster shells that were found in massive piles as high as a house – Timucuan Natives loved them and they grow in abundance in the salt marshes). There were many owners but it is named for Zephaniah Kingsley who married a slave girl, Anna, that he had bought from the Spanish. She became his business partner and she also bought and sold slaves. Under Spanish rule a slave could buy or earn his/her freedom. Slave conditions were still very horrible and not many were freed. When Florida was taken over by Americans Kingsley moved his family and 50 freed slaves to Haiti to start another plantation.
There was a musket-firing demo at the plantation. Did you know that we get many euphemisms from a musket? It takes 3 things to make a complete gun – the “lock, stock and barrel”; there is a wee pan that ignites gunpowder in order to fire and if it misfires it is called “a flash in the pan”; the lock that is pulled back has 2 positions – a “half-cocked” position (not quite ready) and a full cock; and in a firing line if one soldier shoots prematurely, he has “jumped the gun”.
The Gopher Tortoise is plentiful in that area. Aptly named, they dig burrows that average 15 feet long and 6.5 feet deep, are 9 – 11 inches long and have a lifespan of 60+ years.. They live in well drained sandy areas and share their dwellings with over 350 other species – snakes, rodents, insects, owls etc – making it a “keystone species” because they support others. We enjoyed a short visit with the traveling Verhuels as they made their way to their winter-avoiding destination in central Florida. It was a great week of visiting with family and friends.
The weather looks good for traveling home and we decided to make haste. We are definitely ready to be home and to see our people! Most of whom are “keystone species”!
Let's Do The 180! 