365RVLiving.com

Kennedy Space Center

2026-02-19 by Martin

There was so much to see at the Kennedy Space Center that we bought a two day pass and visited twice in early February 2026 during the week we were staying at the nearby Space Coast Encore RV Resort in Rockledge, Florida.

On entering the complex, you are met with the Rocket Garden with its collection of rockets from various eras of space exploration. There were lots of photo ops in front of the various rockets that were mostly mounted in the launch orientation, as well as a Saturn V rocket that was mounted horizontally.

On our first visit we took the bus tour that was included as part of the general admission. The tour had two main stops. Stop one was “The Gantry at LC-39”. This was primarily a viewing tower with 360° views of iconic launch pads just 1.5 miles away, surrounded by the enchanting wildlife of Merritt Island. The viewing tour also had a simulated engine test fire of a reproduction rocket engine every 30 minutes with appropriate sound effects. We were interested to see the Artemis II, NASA’s Space Launch System rocket on the launch pad before it carries four astronauts to the Moon’s orbit, scheduled for launch sometime in March.

Stop two was the Apollo / Saturn V Center, with its Saturn V rocket suspended above the viewing gallery. This is the rocket that made the Moon landings possible. The tour started with a video presentation in a recreation of Mission Control Center with some of the original computer terminals. After the video presentation we were given a short guided tour along the length of the Saturn V rocket which had been separated into its main stages for display purposes. The guided tour was very informative and helped with understanding how the entire Saturn V rocket system worked. This building also had a theater presentation of the first moon landing in July 1969, complete with a movie with original NASA footage and a full size moon lander that descended onto the stage in front of us.

The highlight of our second day visiting the Space Center was the Space Shuttle Atlantis Experience which displayed the real Atlantis orbiter that flew 33 missions and also celebrated the entire Space Shuttle program. After watching a couple of introductory movie presentations in a lobby area we entered the main display hall with its Atlantis Shuttle mounted in its orbiting configuration with its payload doors open and robot arm deployed. This was a very spectacular display that allowed the shuttle to be viewed from all angles. On our arrival in the display hall, we were given a very informative guided tour around the space shuttle before exploring the display on our own. After looking at the Atlantis we visited the Tribute to the Crews of Challenger and Columbia shuttles. This tribute memorializes the 14 brave astronauts who perished during the loss of orbiters Challenger and Columbia. The exhibit displays personal items from each astronaut and recovered hardware from both orbiters, including a section of Challenger’s left fuselage with American flag and the framework of Columbia’s cockpit windows.

As part of the Atlantis Experience, we also rode the Shuttle Launch Experience, a dramatic simulation ride of the space shuttle’s eight-and-a-half-minute ascent into orbit. The entire simulation ride moved and vibrated to simulate the extreme experience of the solid rocket boosters during the initial launch sequence.

We visited the Heroes and Legends display which gave a great insight into the history of space exploration and some of the key figures involved. It covered the early days of space travel in depth and the astronauts who made it possible. We also enjoyed a movie called Deep Sky in the IMAX theater that told the story of the Webb Telescope and presented some amazing images captured the Webb.

We really enjoyed the two days we spent at the Kennedy Space Center. This allowed us enough time to see all of main displays that were of interest to us. For those interested in seeing even more, there are additional displays that we did not get to, and also opportunities available for more in depth tours and experiences that can be purchased.

There are more photos from our visit below. Click on the thumbnails to see the full size images.

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

2026-01-21 by Martin

We visited Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia in mid-November 2025 while staying at the Thousand Trails Williamsburg RV Park about 10-miles away. There was so much to see on the 300-acre site we visited twice about a week apart. We started our visits at the visitor center which is located about a mile away from the historic district, with both a shuttle and walking trail that takes you to the historic district and back. During our visits we took both the walking trail and the shuttle bus on different occasions.

Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in Williamsburg, Virginia. Its 301-acre historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, when the city served as the capital of the colonial era Colony of Virginia. The district also includes 17th-century, 19th-century, Colonial Revival, and more recent structures and reconstructions. Costumed employees work and dress as people did during the colonial era. The costumed employees provide tours and presentations at the various major buildings as well as working and demonstrating in the various trades shops scattered throughout the site.

Both the shuttle bus and walking trail enter the historic district near the Governor’s Palace at the north end of the site. We took a guided tour of the Governor’s Palace which included most of the main rooms. The guide provided interesting historical context about the building and its history, particularly in relation to the events around the revolutionary period of the 18th century. We walked south along the green belt known as the Palace Green towards Duke of Gloucester Street which is the main East-West thoroughfare through the historic district. It is bounded at the West end by William and Mary College, and at the East end by the Capitol Building.

There were a lot of things to visit along Duke of Gloucester Street including historic homes, stores, and workshops. We made our way to the east end of the street, visiting various places along the way. At the east end of the street, we reached the reconstructed Capitol Building. We took a self-guided tour of the building that included period-costumed presenters in various rooms who talked about the history of the building and the events that took place there. Most notably, this building was the home The House of Burgesses, the lower branch of colonial Virginia’s General Assembly, elected by property-owning voters throughout Virginia. Having first met in Jamestown in 1619, the Burgesses gathered in the Williamsburg Capitol from 1705 until 1776. Many of Virginia’s leading revolutionaries, including Peyton Randolph, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry, served as Burgesses.

Allen remembered visiting Colonial Williamsburg on a 7th Grade school trip. He had some general memories of the town and buildings, and a specific memory of having beef and barley soup for lunch at the Kings Arms Tavern. We decided to have lunch there on our visit some 45-years later, and enjoyed a good lunch based on colonial era recipes. During lunch, we were entertained by a minstrel who sang and played a period guitar as well as telling stories about some of the period songs and tavern-life from the 18th century.

The Historic Trades and Skills community at Colonial Williamsburg uses 18th-century tools and techniques to apprentice in and eventually master more than 20 historic trades and skills. The trades shops help produce materials and equipment that are used in the ongoing restoration of Colonial Williamsburg and demonstrate their skills in period workshops scattered throughout the site. We visited several trade shops including a furniture maker, tinsmith, and blacksmith. They all talked about how the shops would have operated in the revolutionary era, and showed examples of their work, all prepared using period tools and equipment.

There was a lot to see and do at Colonial Williamsburg, and you could easily spend several days visiting multiple buildings and taking tours. We were able to see all of the main buildings and walk around all of the historic district during our two visits.

Pictures of our visits are provided below. Click on the thumbnails for the full size images.

National Corvette Museum

2025-05-30 by Martin

We visited the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky while staying at the nearby Thousand Trails Diamond Caverns RV & Golf Resort in early May 2025. Bowling Green is the home of the Chevrolet Corvette with the manufacturing plant located nearby the museum.

The museum traces the evolution of the Corvette – Americas Sports Car – from its origins in 1953, through its eight major model updates (C1 through C8) to today’s spectacular mid-rear-engine iteration. The museum includes many corvettes from each generation and also several prototype and concept versions that showed design ideas over the years that may or may not have made it into production.
We particularly liked the classic 1963 split-window Corvette stingray, the only year with the split rear window design; the 1968 Jim Lovell Corvette that was an example of the Corvettes that were driven by many NASA astronauts during the 1960’s space race; and the 1962 Gulf Oil racing Corvette that dominated US sports car racing in 1962, winning 12 of the 14 races it entered.

In 2014 a section of the floor of the Skydome display hall collapsed into a massive sinkhole, taking 8 cars with it. The cars, ranging from unique prototypes to iconic classics, were recovered in a dramatic effort, with some restored to their former glory while others remain in their damaged state as a testament to the event. We saw one of the “unrepaired” sinkhole cars on display in the museum.

After we toured the museum, we visited the Stingray Grill restaurant attached to the museum for lunch. The museum had an excellent choice of food with some very nice vegetarian options included.

A selection of photos from our visit are provided below.