Travelers enjoying the tranquiity of the beach; image by Austin Adkinson |
MELBOURNE, Florida – The sights along Florida’s Space Coast range from the tranquility of a beach umbrella and sand between your toes to the roaring excitement of a nighttime rocket launch. The Space Coast covers 72 miles of Atlantic Ocean coastline and features some of America’s best-known places, including the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Canaveral National Seashore and the popular Port Canaveral cruise terminal. It is due east of Orlando.
Space Coast launch; image courtesy of visitspacecoast.com |
You can look for manatees at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, watch well-balanced surfers at Sebastian Inlet State Recreation Area (considered on the East Coast’s best surfing locations) or even paddle a kayak among a variety of African wildlife, feed a giraffe or zipline through the trees at the Brevard Zoo.
Space Coast tourism officials advise you to have a flexible schedule if viewing a rocket launch is your priority. As we’ve all seen, launches can be delayed for many reasons – and as the Space Coast website advises, “While you may wonder if the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex can move a launch to accommodate your schedule, that’s not a possibility.” (The fact that advisory is posted proves that tourists will ask absolutely anything.)
Trip-planning resources: VisitSpaceCoast.com and VisitFlorida.com
(Travel writer Tom Adkinson’s new book, 100 Things To Do in Nashville Before You Die, is available at CornersOfTheCountry.com.)