Kennedy Space Center, day 1

This park has a lot to see. It’s been majorly refurbished within the past few years; Dan had been here when he was young, and he would frequently comment on things that had been added since his visit. The “Maximum Access” ticket is actually a two-day ticket (days must be consecutive). If you have any interest at all in space exploration, you really should get the “Maximum Access” ticket and plan to spend both days there, unless you decide to wear yourself out trying to do it all in one 11-hour day (from park open at 9 am to close at 8 pm). The “Maximum Access” two-day ticket with one additional special thing (lunch with an astronaut, extended tour of the grounds, or another event) is about the same price as a one-day adult pass to a Disney park – about $55 – making it, in my opinion, the best attraction value to be found in Florida.

We purchased tickets for the “Lunch with an Astronaut” experience. It was cool, but there’s a lot of people there. We each got an autographed photo of the astronaut (today, it was John McBride) and had our pictures taken with him. He was genuine and friendly, despite the number of people he talks to during a day working at the park.

Lunch was buffet style: roasted chicken, seasoned rice, salad, steamed vegetables, mac & cheese, teeny corn dogs, and assorted desserts. Enough selection for any kind of diet to get enough to eat. The food was rather good, though my white-meat chicken was a bit dry. The corn dogs ended up on my plate, since I wasn’t initially sure what they were, but I made Dan open one to check : ) He got mine.