The Rocket Garden features eight authentic rockets from the past, including a Mercury-Atlas rocket similar to the one used to launch John Glenn into space. Photos by Kennedy Space Center

By Deborah Williams

Dolphins, manatees, loggerhead turtles, miles of pristine beaches, surf, rockets and astronauts—all this and more beckon visitors to Florida's remarkable Space Coast.

 The Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach area is just 45 minutes from Orlando. It is a family oriented, moderately priced destination full of nature and space.

Port Canaveral is a port with a difference—it's one of the world's busiest cruise passenger terminals; home to rocket and shuttle launches; the surfing capital of the Atlantic; the largest sea turtle nesting area in the country; and a national refuge with more endangered species than any other.

No other area in the United States has sent men and women rocketing into space. The premier attraction surely is the Kennedy Space Center.

What is so exciting about a day at Kennedy is the opportunity to meet and talk with an astronaut. Officially called the "Astronaut Encounter," the program is held several times daily. The encounter consists of question-and-answer sessions, mission briefings, and personal stories of space travel as told by people who have flown in space.

For an even more in-depth encounter with an astronaut, there is the daily "Lunch with an Astronaut" program. Each lunch program begins with an introductory video highlighting lighthearted aspects of everyday life on the Space Shuttle. There's a tasty lunch, including the signature dessert—a milk chocolate Space Shuttle surrounded with whipped cream and topped with fresh berries and melba sauce—appropriately named "Chocolate Liftoff." All lunch visitors receive an autographed photo of the guest astronaut.

The Visitor Complex is home to the only back-to-back twin IMAX theaters in the world. The newest film is Space Station, narrated by actor Tom Cruise. Amazing 3-D technology enables audiences to sit inside the Space Shuttle during launch, experience a space walk, and float effortlessly through the Space Station.

Other highlights include the Apollo/Saturn V Center, the Rocket Garden and the newest attraction—the Astronaut Hall of Fame, six miles west of the visitor center.

The Hall of Fame houses the world's largest collection of astronaut memorabilia. In the Simulator Station, realistic astronaut training simulators allow guests to feel the pressure of four times the force of gravity, take a virtual moonwalk and ride a rover across Mars.

Walk on and explore the moon in the 1/6 Gravity Chair, located at the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

 This summer (through Sept. 4) the Space Center showcases a new exhibit, "The Lost Spacecraft: Liberty Bell 7 Recovered." It displays the 1961 Mercury space capsule recovered in July 1999 and includes a virtual ride into space and below the ocean's surface.

The center is in the midst of a $160 million makeover. The $60 million Shuttle Launch Experience, due to open in July 2007, is the centerpiece of the plan to create a one-of-a-kind space adventure that entertains and excites the next generation of astronauts. It will simulate liftoff, solid rocket booster separation, the effects of G forces and weightlessness.

 If you are lucky, you might be on hand for a rocket launch. For us, it was a magical night, with a full moon and a dramatic fiery rocket launch. The Atlas Rocket was carrying a communications satellite.

Edging the Indian River and overlooking Kennedy Space Center is the only riverwalk in the United States that preserves America's history in space through displays of memorabilia, interpretive plaques, art, sculptures and bronze markers. The waterfront terrace is a favorite viewing platform for NASA shuttle liftoffs.

The Space Coast boasts miles of pristine beaches and crashing surf that attracts surfers who wait patiently for the big waves. Surfers and water lovers flock to the massive 50,000-square-foot Cocoa Beach Ron Jon Surf Shop that has everything under the sun for beachcombers. It celebrated its 42nd anniversary in Florida this year and is open 24 hours a day every day.

Shopping hours follow the more normal 9 to 5 schedule in historic Cocoa Village along the shores of the Indian River Lagoon.

A variety of boutiques and shops line the streets of the five-block district. Its large trees and shaded benches add to the ambiance. Established in the 1800s in the center of the famed Indian River citrus region, the village is filled with history.

Many of the buildings, including the 1924 Cocoa Village Playhouse, are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The 1885 S. F. Travis Hardware Store is the oldest business on the Atlantic Coast from Jacksonville to Key West and is still operated by the original family.

Space Coast Nature Tours takes visitors on the Indian River lagoon aboard the electric-powered 49-seat Skimmer to assure a quiet cruise. While we were still in the harbor, there were a pair of dolphins playing alongside our boat, as well as a lone manatee.

These are rich fishing waters, with hundreds of miles of inland waterways. Opportunities include ocean pier fishing, surfcasting, river fishing and offshore fishing for the "big boys," including wahoo, white marlin, sailfish and tuna.

The Space Coast serves up some of the finest seafood and dining delicacies in Florida, with more than 1,400 "ready-to-eat" raw bars, eclectic eateries and gourmet bistros. The area's accommodations provide more than 9,600 rooms, ranging from popular hotels and spacious condominiums, to beachside cottages and five-bedroom bungalows, as well as more than 2,800 campground and RV sites.

Space Coast Eco-Tourism

Florida manatees are gentle creatures.

Florida's Space Coast is a fabulous place for nature lovers to visit. In the same place where you can see the world's most advanced technologies launch people into space, you can discover some of Earth's oldest living reptiles warming themselves in the sun.

And although the nation's space program has caused Brevard County to grow rapidly in the last several decades, it has contributed to the conservation and preservation of one of the nation's most fascinating natural areas: Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

 The Space Coast truly is a "water world," with the Atlantic Ocean on its east coast, wetlands by the thousands, and a large estuary system right in the middle of the county—a very special place called the Indian River Lagoon. Lying in a region where temperate and subtropical climate zones meet, each of the distinct ecosystems is in a dynamic state of change.

Animals and plants from the north and south overlap here and compete with each other, producing an area rich in species. Some species are plentiful, while others are rare or endangered. And some are endemics, which means they are only found here.

If you are a bird watcher, welcome to paradise! Being located along the Atlantic Flyways means well over 300 species of birds can be spotted throughout the year. Numerous threatened or endangered birds such as the bald eagle, reddish egret, crested caracara and wood stork live here year round. And Brevard also is home to one of the largest populations of Florida scrub jays remaining in the state.

You'll find other animals here as well.

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