Vacation 2007 Pics

[CaptainXeroid]

Last week, Brandy & I made our annual pilgrammage to Daytona Beach. It's not the most exotic locale, but my parents own a place on the beach, so if we can arrange to go when it's not rented to paying customers...let's just say we get a darn good rate.

Anyway, we're not professional photogs, but some of the pics turned out kinda' neat, so I thought I'd share 'em..

Subtropical storm Andrea gave us gale force winds, choppy surf, and outrageously high tides.

For comparison, here's a normal low tide taken. The first pic is facing south, this one north, from points about a mile apart.

As my wife says, "Aren't pelicans neat? "

 

[jacquie4000]

I think it is just nice to get away. Nice photos too. My son and I go to Sarasota Florida quite often because my mom owns a home there. I hoped you enjoyed your stay.

 

[CaptainXeroid]

Though we mainly go for rest and relaxation, we do a touristy thing or two some years.

To get this pic of a third order Fresnel lens:

I had to climb the 203 steps:

to the top of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse.

It was mid morning, so it was pretty comfortable, and the views from the top are very nice. Those are on another SD card, so maybe I'll upload a few tonight.

 

[jacquie4000]

Wow that is alot of steps to climb. Did you eat to much the night before and feel you needed some extra excercise? The other year Kyle and I did Parasail while in Florida I really enjoyed that. We could see the big sea turtles and fish, and some sharks too. Thank goodness we didn't crash.......lol

 

[CaptainXeroid]

Wow that is alot of steps to climb. Did you eat to much the night before and feel you needed some extra excercise? The other year Kyle and I did Parasail while in Florida I really enjoyed that. We could see the big sea turtles and fish, and some sharks too. Thank goodness we didn't crash.......lol

Eat too much....on vacation...never! The lighthouse is at the south end of the Daytona penninsula just 5 miles from the condo, so we drive past it often. The Lighthouse was built in 1887, and the buildings on the grounds have been restored and serve as mini-museums. It's a great destination for history buffs. Cool on the parasailing. I bet it was cool, but I've yet to build up the courage to try.

On Wednesday, with the weather not so good in Daytona, we traveled south to the Space Center near Titusville. Talk about a nerd's paradise!

They had a guy walking around in a spacesuit and he was glad to pose for pictures.

We even got to shake hands with a real life astronaut! John Fabian served as misision specialist on Challenger's first mission in 1983 with Sally Ride the first female American astronaut, pilot on Discovery in 1985 with the first 2 non-American astronauts (from France & Saudi Arabia), and was scheduled to pilot Atlantis in May 1986, one of the missions canceled following Challenger's loss.

He shared pictures from his missions of the shuttle itself and of earth as well what being part of NASA means to him. His resume reads like 'what smart guys do', but he really connected with the crowd and conveyed his passion for sharing what he has learned.