Almost

We came within nine minutes of seeing a launch but we were pretty sure before the official "no go" that it wasn't going to happen. You see, our location was west of the launch pad and all those encroaching clouds the NASA officials kept talking about had already reached us. And we knew were were within that 20 nautical mile zone that needed to be clear. Despite the ending, the day was a great experience.

The launch wasn't the only thing we "almost" saw. I thought more than once we were going to see people come to blows. The park isn't very large and quite a crowd was there when we arrived around 1pm. Chairs filled the width of the park at the water's edge where the view would be unobscured. Needless to say, those people were not very happy when late-comers wanted to squeeze in and sit in front of them, dangling their feet off the seawall. And I'm not sure who was ruder...the street ministers who came with their podium to preach to a captive audience or those in the crowd who were vocal with their displeasure. I feel sure no souls were saved by those efforts though.

And apparently I was on television. A television crew was making the rounds interviewing people waiting for the launch and they were intrigued by the fact that we were from Florida but had never seen a launch. I don't think the reporter knew how far it is to Pensacola...we can't just run down to Kennedy Space Center in an hour or two. We've tried finding the video online but haven't had any success yet.

Getting this close only made Wayne more eager to see one through to the conclusion. Almost just wasn't close enough.

Comments

[Jeanne]

Dang...what a let down, huh? But you have an amazing experience to remember, none the less. Thanks for sharing with us all!

[Charlene]

I did get the privilege to see a launch once when we were visiting the Kennedy Space Center. I will never forget it and feel very blessed because we did not plan our trip around the launch. While waiting for the launch I happened to accidentally take this really cool picture of the Space ship in it's upright position just as a bird flew across the picture so they are both in the same photo. I was so excited when it was developed and I saw it. That was before digital and scrapbooking for me (must have been before "98. But I will never forget that photo.

Don't give up hope, Wayne.