We went to Miami airport around 9:25 am to pick up rental car. We could still feel that we are in cruise and in middle of the ocean. We never felt even slightest jerk while sleeping. It was a very smooth sail. we took brand new Ford Expedition which has only 6 miles on it. The SUV is big and has 8 seats but little conjust in the back. It was 11:30 am by the time we got rental car and packed our luggage in it. We then set off to Keywest. The road from Miami to Keywest is awesome having backwaters, bay waters on one side and ocean on the other side. We had our lunch around 3:30 pm and then continued our journey. We could see so many small jet boats, finishing boats on the waters as we are reaching Keywest. Having lot of traffic it took us almost five and half hours to reach Keywest. we reached our hotel in Keywest around 5:45 pm. It was drizzling by the time we reached and so we could not plan any activity for that day. The hotel room was very spacious, well maintained and could see the ocean from the balcony. we then gossiped about the cruise experience, about the hotel room and then ordered dinner from a Chinese restaurant. The food was ok and then discussed what to do for the next day. We thought of many activities and finally decided to wake up early and go to different tourist centers to see what better packages were available and then went to
bed. Woke up around 6:30 am in the morning and then got ready, had breakfast and then around 8:00 am went in search of the tourist guides. We could not find the correct locations of the Guide's Offices and then returned home but still trying to reach them by phone. Around 11:00 am we got one of the guide, Sunset Water Sports and we reached there by 11:15 am and confirmed to do Dolphin tour along with Snorkel and Para-sailing. We then came home, checked out the hotel around 11:30 am and rushed to the yard from where we started our Dolphin tour. The tour started around 12:00 noon.
we sat on the outer seating off the boat. The boat raced into the ocean waters and we could hear the sound of splashing waters and also experienced water drizzling while the boat is cutting the waves of the water. The captain of the ship was humorous and knowledgeable and shared his knowledge about Dolphins and other sea creatures. Soon we reached the spot where we can see some Dolphins. We were looking all over the waters to see if we can find one. To our luck we could see couple of dolphins swimming very fast . The Dolphins were swimming near the boat as thought they are playing by ducking under the boat. It was very delightful to watch the real natural Dolphins swimming faster than the boat. We could see the round black eyes of the dolphins and their grey fins and waggy tails. We then sailed further to shallow waters and the boat was halted for us to Snorkel. They gave us the equipment for Snorkeling. The water was cold but we still went to see the life under water. We could see various small fishes, sea urchins, crabs under the water. It was wonderful experience Snorkeling in ocean shallow waters and watching the life under it. we then got into the boat and headed for the yard. On our return we met the family of the captain along with his two cute dogs who live on a boat near the yard. We saw many other islands and private villas which are on water. Around 1:30 pm we reached the yard. Our next activity, Para-sailing is around 2:00 pm. we quickly had our lunch at one of the restaurants on the yard and then set out for Para-sailing on another boat. The captain of the boat took us very far into the ocean and then we started Para-sailing. WOW it was amazing to fly so high over the huge ocean. We could see the vast blue waters of the ocean. It was thrilling to do and could experience the rapid winds. We were dipped into the waters in between to get even better experience. We completely got drenched in the waters. We took turns and did Para-sailing, took the cd of our Para-sailing, having video and pictures, from the captain as memory and then returned to the yard. Finally happy that we were able to do some activities and then set off to Orlando. We started around 4:45 pm from keywest and reached our hotel in Orlando around 12:00 midnight. We took break couple of times and ordered dinner from one of the Indian restaurants at Orlando. We planned to visit Kennedy space center next day and slept for that day.
Woke up around 6:30 am , got refreshed , packed our breakfast and left for Kennedy Space Center around 8:00 am in the morning. There was huge traffic at the entrance of the space center. We reached there around 9:00 am. We took a two hour shuttle ride which took us to the Atlantis shuttle launchpad and also through the various centers where the parts of the Rocket are manufactured. It was great to see those gigantic and excellent structures and the huge carrier vehicles used to carry those to the Launchpad. We saw many alligators in the ponds on the way beside the road during the tour. We then saw the Atlantis discovery show and then had our lunch around 12:30 pm. Then we went to the movie theater which gave us the real experience about how the Shuttle was launched and how the controls are checked. After that we watched a 4D show about the Shuttle which showed us the life of Astronauts in the shuttle and purpose of shuttle. It was a spectacular show and really felt great to know about the evolution of technology in aeroscience. We then took the Simulator ride of the Shuttle. It was fantastic ride, we felt as though we are going into space. We then went to the Rocket Garden where there are prototypes of various rockets. We took photographs over there and then then went to the open air theater where there is a Rocket prototype and a video was projected on the rocket. The video is all about how the rocket went into space and how it ignites. There were visual effects as well and at the end of the video there were fireworks which were amazing. The fireworks lasted for 10 minutes. With that we finished our Kennedy space center tour and left around 8:30 pm for hotel and picked up dinner from one of the Indian restaurant near to our hotel. We had dinner around 9:30 pm and then discussed about our next day's plan i.e Disney World. Then retired to bed around midnight. Had a Wonderful trip so far and everything went as planned. Stay tuned for last and wonderful part of the Tour !!
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