Less than a month into our journey, we had driven the span of the United States, from the Pacific Ocean on the west to the Atlantic on the east. As always, we are here to challenge our preconceptions; the east coast of America, to us, sounded like nautical vibes, pseudo-European culture, former colonial hotspots, business capitals… but you never really know, until you go there yourself.
We had a go at manatee-spotting at Fort Pierce’s observation center – no luck, much to the dismay of the disgruntled gentleman who ranted at me about pointlessly paying his entry fee (the steep sum of $1). It was a lovely little marina town though, worth driving through if you’re heading up the coast.
Now, you might be surprised to read that we didn’t drop by Disneyland at all, even though we’d ventured all the way to the Sunshine State – the closest we came to theme-park-itude was the JFK Space Center…
Kicking off with a bus tour of the launch pads, we went on to see the old-school Saturn V rockets from the space-race days of the 60s, and then the more modern space shuttles. The main difference between these is in the return flight. If you were an astronaut on board a Saturn V rocket, you (hopefully) plopped into the ocean in a pod, thanks to gravity, but the pods in space shuttles are designed to basically be planes, so you can fly back and land on a runway instead.
Anyway, the people at the Kennedy Space Center certainly have a taste for the theatrical. The way that they dramatically unveil the spacecraft elevates the place from a straightforward museum to more of a show. If you ever go there, definitely leave plenty of time to see it (unlike us)… aim to spend the whole day there! Like on so many occasions on this trip, we got kicked out at closing time.
Not knowing much else about the east coast of Florida, we headed northwards, sponta-visiting cool-looking sites along the way. This neck of the woods was basically retirementville. Gated community after gated community of idealised pristineness passed by as we drove up through Amelia Island. Each with its designated slice of beach, we struggled to find a patch of sand that we were actually allowed access to. Finally we managed to find some, and a few pelicans as a bonus…
Fort Clinch State Park sits on the north end of Amelia Island. Although the campground was full, we took a dreamy drive up to the eponymous fort and toddled around the beaches, looking for shells and hoping for shark teeth.
It was a pretty glorious way to say farewell to the absolutely unique state of Florida. With its infinite supply of bugs, humidity, swamps, pelicans and loudness, it will forever stick in our memories!
The Big Adventure 