Orlando, July 2007 − Travels − Captain Tom

Orlando, July 2007

This time I go to Orlando together with my collegue Björn. We fly via Atlanta - the biggest and busiest airport of the world. And Atlanta is home of Coca Cola

Find below an overview of the locations visited or mentioned

Map 2007_07_orlando

1 Flight to Orlando

Manhattan shows in best wheather on departure from Newark

Statue of Liberty
Verrazano Narrows Bridge
Approaching Atlanta
Approaching Orlando
Orlando greats with crazy things
2 Kennedy Space Center

The birth place of American space travel. Wonderful park. We needed a complete day from 9 in the morning to 7 in the evening. There are so many things to see. Most things are history but there are active parts as well. Unfortunately no "real" Space Shuttle was there.

NASA logo at the entrance
In Rocket Garden you find old rockets from Mercury, Gemini, and Saturn/Apollo era including the capsules.
View over Cape Canaveral, an upstream island where the launch facilities for unmanned flights are located
Launch Complex 39 (LC39) contains the two Space Shuttle launch pads 39a and 39b. The photograph shows launch pad 39a
Vehicle Assembly Building - this is where the Space Shuttles get prepared for their flights. The get mounted onto a mobile launch platform and will then be dragged to the launch pad. The building is huge and according to the guide the second biggest building in the world with regards to the volume.
Saturn/Apollo complex. On display are the remainings of the moon program
Launch Control for the manned Apollo missions to moon
A left-over Saturn V rocket. This is really big.
Another left-over: a moon landing vehicle
ISS components get prepared Inside the ISS Assembly Facility
The European module Columbus
A  Japanese Module
Explorer never made it into space. Now you can have a look into it
Cargo Bay
A thunder storm shower comes down on the Explorer
3 Daytona Beach

We decide to append a trip to Daytona Beach. The city is very calm and dead backwater.

Beach Street
Nice evening mood on the water
A posing squirrel
The atlantic beach. You may drive a car here during the day
Even the trucks have wings in Daytona Beach. The City is home of the Daytona 500, a very popular NASCAR race
4 Disney World Resort Epcot Center

The Epcot Center is a must go but quite disappointing. The rides are not very thrilling and the exhibitions are somewhere between silly and outmoded.

First impression
World Showcase Germany - Oktoberfest, of course
Siemens presents the history of communication in Spaceship Earth. This is rather irritating
Fishes on display in The Seas with Nemo and Friends
Numerous Nemos
Mine!
We were there
Nice bird
Fireworks in the evening
5 SeaWorld

Another must go and worthwile. Nice animals in nice enclosures and some nice rides

Pelicans
Dophins
Manatees
Björn grants himself the Journey to Atlantis. It is too wet for me.
Barracuda
A shark above our heads in the shark tunnel
A ray
Sea Lions
Bird fight at the sea lions bassin
The winner
Shamu Show with killer whales (Orcas) - very worth seeing. A great show of about half an hour. Dont go to the lower audience area.
The audience in the lower area gets a lot of water
6 Flight Back

The flight back is delayed. We see several 4th of July fire works from the air plane. But prior this we see other things

Fernandina Beach at the border between Florida and Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Approaching Charlotte, North Carolina
Interstate 77
Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte