Spring Break with our homeschoolers
We take our Spring Breaks seriously! We really do. Why? ...because it's the one time everybody is off school or can take time off work to go and enjoy a nice, "relatively" warm place. Personally, I go all out, taking the whole week off when I was a working mom, and the hubs would take just a few days off to join us at the tail end of the vacation. We typically begin planning for Spring Break in August or September, almost as soon as the school year begins, so as to get the best deals. This year was no different...except for some additional perks.
This year, as we've done a few breaks ago, we opted for Orlando Florida. No, not to go to Disney World. Not even for LegoLand, which the kids absolutely love. We went for the STEM experience. As we were researching what to do in Florida this go round, we found out that SpaceX was due to launch on the very day we would land in Orlando. There was so much excitement build around the prospect of watching the launch and I was not going to let the boys down. We had an early morning flight...6 am to be exact...so we started out the day at 4 am. Keep in mind, these are 3-, 6-, and 10-year olds, so I already knew it would be an eventful day. In spite of our best efforts, we missed the 6 am flight leaving out of the closer airport by maybe 5 minutes. The next flight from that airport would not get us into Florida until after the 4:30 pm launch time, so I begged to be rerouted elsewhere. The airline (yay Southwest) rerouted us through BWI, a good hour drive in rush hour traffic, for a 1:15 pm arrival in Florida. I was nervous but still hopeful.
We beat rush hour and made the flight via the alternate airport and in fact landed a little earlier than the originally stated arrival time. I beamed inside and the kids were joyful. We got through baggage claim and the car rental service with some more time wasted, but we were still making good time, at least I thought we were. With tickets to see the launch in hand, we literally headed straight to the Kennedy Space Center. A few minutes into the 45 minute drive to the Space Center, the kids were hungry and began to complain a great deal. They were pacified (or rather bribed) with clementines and crackers we had packed when I reminded them that we're off to see the SpaceX launch and had no time to waste now that it was close to 3 pm. I figured that any moment we spend stopping to grab something to eat would only hold us back.
As we entered into the space center's vicinities, we were shocked by the sheer number of vehicles parked street side, awaiting the launch, but I was confident. I was overly confident that with the pre-purchased tickets in hand. We'd simply drive into the center, park the rental car, and head to the launching station at Cape Canaveral. To our disbelief, we were NOT let in. The center had "reached capacity," the police officer directing traffic informed us. Apparently, the center had reached capacity well before noon, so we had a slim chance had we even made the 6 am flight. Our tickets and the extensive planning was not going to get us up close after all. What a bummer! But wait...not all was lost. We graciously joined families on the street side to experience the launch. We were not the only travelers: there were people from many other states...surrounding states such as Georgia and Louisiana, and some as far away as Ontario, Canada, who also had tickets and had been waiting since noon and thereafter. After this realization, I had no complaints. We made the best of a beautiful launch day on the street side, with fellow space enthusiasts.
Our tickets were not obsolete. We returned two days later to experience the space center, and that experience was well worth it. The boys had a blast! Everything...the planning, rising up so early, the change of flight etc., was all worth the trouble. The flexibility of setting our own Spring Break schedule definitely has it's perks, and so far, this Spring Break as homeschoolers is the best they've had, ever! Now I wonder how to top this on our subsequent breaks.
Click here to see the official (April 2, 2018) SpaceX launch. The actual launch, post countdown, really occurs at the 19:45 second mark {https://youtu.be/BPQHG-LevZM?t=1182}
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