West Cocoa Chat

Yesterday was a unique day for me. The activity that Barb and I went on including hanging out with good friends, being on a part of the Kennedy Space Center I had never been on, shelling, and fishing. A good friend of ours at church, Chuck, works on the “Air Force side” of the Space Center. Although his job involves working on the solid rocket boosters of the Space Shuttle and the upcoming Orion Program that has been called “Apollo on Steroids,” he works on the Air Force side of KSC where most of the un-manned launches take place such as the Delta Program.

This part of KSC borders the Canaveral Inlet where Cruise Ships and Trident Subs call home. It also has some of the most pristine beaches in the United States since very few people can get to them unless you’re an employee of the Space Center. We met Chuck in front of the Security Gate on the Air Force Side. Chuck took our licenses and helped us get a Visitor’s Pass to the restricted beach.

Driving onto this part of KSC is taking at trip through history. Chuck took us to the now deserted and mostly dismantled Apollo 1 Launch Complex. The tragic fire and death of the 3 Apollo 1 astronauts was especially personal to me. My Dad was working for KSC when I was in third grade when the accident occurred. With the delay of the Apollo Program following the accident, many workers lost their jobs including my Dad. This was the on-ramp for him to rejoin the military after a career in the Army. He went into the National Guard full time following his lay-off.

We also drove past the site of the Mercury launches which is even closer to the beach than the Apollo 1 site. If you’ve never been to the Space Center before, it is amazing how “wild” it is. Even when you take the Tour Bus or drive to the Visitor Center, you are more than likely to see your fair share of animal life in the form of gators, eagles, and the like. We actually saw a deer cross in front of us as we left the Beach.

Our main goal was to get some sea shells for Barb. She is a Kindergarten (God bless her) Teacher and it seems the little kiddies like sea shells. The first beach we went to was deserted except for the 3 of us. There were plenty of shells to find. We then drove to another beach on KSC that had a couple of folks fishing on it. This beach was in sight of the Lighthouse. We also met our good friend Monty who works just a few miles away from the beach.

Chuck used his cast net to catch mullet for bait. He set up a couple of fishing poles and it wasn’t too long before one of them was bending in it’s holder. Chuck gave me the honor of pulling in the first fish which was a blue. Another blue and a couple of jacks later, I had hooked into a red fish or snook. I had this delicacy of Cocoa Beach fishermen within sight when the worst feeling fishermen can feel hit my sensory system. Yes, the line went slack. Not only did the line go slack but I could see the little sucker roll in the water and then disappear into a wave. Chuck was fairly kind although he did say something about me losing a potentially really good dinner.

We ended our evening at Port Canaveral at a restaurant called Grills. Chuck’s wife Diane joined us. It was one of the best Thursdays I’ve ever had. Have a good weekend family.