Chapter One: The Lazy Redfish

We left last Saturday to head to Florida. Again. This is our third trip to Florida in one year. Last year we went to Disney after Thanksgiving, this summer we drove through the Keys and then this past weekend we went to watch the space shuttle Atlantis launch. One element of the drive down our family particularly enjoys is the Florida Welcome Center. It is there we usually make our first pit stop and it is by far the best Welcome Center I have ever visited. Not because it is exceptionally clean or offers a wide variety of visitor information (which it does) but because they give you real, 100% Florida orange juice and grapefruit juice. Delicious!

After the orange juice, our next stop was Titusville. This is where you stay to watch the shuttle launch. Titusville is a small town but it is big on civic pride, its nickname is Space City and it is situated near the Kennedy Space Center and Canaveral. At the last minute we canceled our hotel reservations and opted to rent a small "cottage" on the Indian River. Brett found the listing on line and we talked to the owner over the phone before we left. When we arrived at the The Lazy Redfish, the owner Steve was there to greet us. He was super nice, gave us the tour of his renovated 2 bedroom, 1 bath place and told us to make ourselves at home. The cottage really was cute, nicely furnished and had a great view of the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) and launch pad. Steve relayed that for previous launches he has rented the house to CNN so they could take photos. We were very excited to have our little home away from home with a front row seat to view the launch. The property also had a huge yard and was fenced in, making it very private. Great for the kids to run around and enjoy.

And Steve. Boy did the kids love him. He never actually left the whole time we were there. He stayed in a separate house on the property and was always busy washing the dock or doing yard work. Chapel and Eli followed him around. Took his picture. Asked him questions. It was funny. If a baby was messing with a book or climbing on furniture in the house Eli would say, "Steve is going to be mad if you break that, baby." And when Chapel and Eli would wake up they would immediately look out the bedroom window for Steve. And they would usually spot him - washing off the dock. He really was quite the host!

Our drive down was superb. The kids were perfect travel partners. The accommodations were unique and it was nice to have a place with so much room. We are a large family. And the house was near to all of our points of interest. Stay tuned for Chapter 2: Kennedy Space Center.