OUR FAMILY TRIP TO FLORIDA

WHEN OUR SON WAS ABOUT 12 WE TRAVELED TO OUR RELATIVES NEAR JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA. MY HUSBAND'S WIFE AND THEIR TWO TEENAGE DAUGHTERS HAD A HUGE HOUSE AND WE STAYED THERE FOR LESS THAN A WEEK. DURING THE WEEKEND ALL OF US WENT TO SEE AN HISTORIC SITE BY THE OCEAN WHERE THEY HAD AN OLD PLANTATION AND OLD CHINESE NEWSPAPERS ON THEIR ADOBE-LIKE HOUSES. IT WAS QUITE INTERESTING. WE ATE SOME CLAM CHOWDER AS WE WAITED TO GET ACROSS A BRIDGE.

OUR FAMILY RENTED A CAR AND TRAVELED TO THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER WHERE WE SAW VIDEOS OF VARIOUS SPACE LAUNCHES. THE HUGE SIZE OF SOME OF THE AIRCRAFT AMAZED US AS THEY WERE IN HANGERS. THERE WERE SO MANY TOURISTS HERE THAT ONE COULD GET LOST IN THE MAZE. THEY EVEN HAD A SMALL SPACECRAFT FOR KIDS WHERE YOU COULD FEEL WEIGHTLESS AS IN OUTER SPACE. THEY HAD SOME INTERESTING EXHIBITS ABOUT HOW ASTRONAUTS FEEL IN OUTER SPACE AND HOW THEY PREPARE FOR THEIR FLIGHTS.

YOU COULD GO OUTSIDE AND CLIMB UP TO THIS TOWER TO SEE HOW HIGH THE ROCKETS ARE AS WELL AS SEE WAY OUT TO SEA. IT GAVE YOU A GOOD VIEW OF THE IMMENSE SIZE OF THE BUILDINGS WHERE THEY BUILD THE SPACECRAFTS.

WE ALSO HAD PLANNED A TRIP TO THE KEYS WHERE MY SON HAD NEVER BEEN. HE SELECTED A NEAT B & B FOR US TO STAY IN FOR A COUPLE OF NIGHTS. IT HAD STORMED SO BAD THAT WE COULD NOT SWIM OR EVEN RIDE OUR BIKES. THERE WAS A TERRIBLE WIND. THE KEYS TURNED INTO A CRAZY TOURIST TRAP IN THE LAST 10 YEARS. ONE DAY WE DID RIDE BIKES AROUND THE TOWN.

THE BEST THING WE DID ON THIS TRIP WAS TO GO TO THE BUTTERFLY NATURE CONSERVATORY. THEY HAD SO MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF BUTTERFLIES AND BIRDS IN THIS LARGE CONSERVATORY THAT MANY OF THEM LAND ON YOUR HAND OR ON YOUR HEAD! THEY HAVE FEEDING TRAYS WITH FRUIT AND MANY TYPES OF BIRDBATHS. MY SON LOVED THIS PLACE. YOU COULD WATCH THEM RAISE THE LARVA. PEOPLE BUY MANY MOUNTED BUTTERFLIES IN CASES. AND THEY HAVE NUMEROUS GIFTS FOR TOURISTS RELATED TO BUTTERFLIES.