Hubby and I both had some work for Monday the last day of our trip. I had to finish a lengthy document on a tight deadline and he was scheduled to be on a Zoom call with three of the NASCAR drivers in the afternoon. He headed out in the morning to go to the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge and I worked on my document for a while, then went for a walk. There is a lovely park close to the resort that leads to what I think is a municipal beach and jetty. That’s one of the popular places to watch the launches, but it was a full 20 minute walk. The timing of the launch on Sunday is why we didn’t go there. Anyway, for geographic reasons I don’t recall, this is one of the few places in Florida for surfing. I did have to get back to w.ork more on my document and I didn’t want a lot of sand on my shoes, so I didn’t go onto the actual beach, but was close enough to see the water before I went back. Hubby did take some photos of surfers although I haven’t seen them yet. That was a first for him.

We did go back to the Cove to Rusty’s Seafood for dinner and while we would have been okay sitting outside, the weather was still looking tricky and we opted for inside. The only drawback was it was a place where the AC was cranked up to an uncomfortable amount. I had worn long sleeves and I still had to give in when Hubby offered to go get a rain jacket. That made it tolerable. The other part of the solution was to have a cup of gumbo for appetizer. It was good; not great. I finally had my grilled lobster as my post-birthday dinner and Hubby did the grilled grouper with a mango salsa. It was dessert night, too, and the white chocolate cheesecake was delicious.

We did make it home without rain and traffic was moderate. The trip is right at four hours the way Hubby drives.

This was our early morning as the telescope launch was set for 7:30. The weather was potentially a problem again and when Hubby checked the status at 6:00, the chances had improved. He’d scouted a spot for us close to the hotel. As it turned out, there was an even better spot with a two level parking garage close by. The app he had on his phone was providing step-by-step updates. There were several other people around as the countdown from “10” started, the sky mostly blue with scattered clouds. Since we were sixteen miles away, you don’t see the actual rocket – that was showing on the telephone screen. The very bright, big light was in the sky with a large white trail as it arced up and out of sight, the announcers explaining the trajectory. It was pure excitement. The other thing to see was the boosters coming back. That was a slight delay with the announcers again tracking. The big white clouds of the two could be seen first, then the two loudest sonic booms I ever heard. It was all over in about 20 minutes and we came back for the hotel breakfast.

We did have some business to attend to that took longer than expected and I had put some packs of nuts and a Kind bar in my purse just in case. We were scheduled for the 1:00 bus tour at the Space Center. It looked like maybe rain and then we decided not to bring the umbrellas. We didn’t get very wet as the hardest part of the rain came while we were in the bus. The two-hour tour was some behind-the-scenes places and Hubby got a lot of great photos.

The packet of nuts did come in handy and we went to dinner a bit early. This time is was to Grills, another in the row of restaurants. A good band was playing on the deck and having been in and out of rain all day we opted for inside. It would have been okay as it turned out. We shared a terrific bacon wrapped shrimp and shared a salad. Hubby went with cobia in some kind of sauce and I had a second appetizer of a fried shrimp in a Thai chili sauce. Good stuff.

Note: I was going to post this early, but timing didn’t work out, I will post again the the morning about today (the 30),

We are in Cape Canaveral for a few days. This is one of those pitches for the Holiday Inn Vacation Club which we probably won’t sign up for. Our experience with these type arrangements in the past haven’t worked well for us. My sister, however, has been with Marriott for decades and loves it. Anyway, we’re here because there is supposed to be a telescope launch in the morning and this spot is one of the places to see the launch.Hubby is out now scouting the best spot. We will also go to the Space Center tomorrow for the afternoon bus tour. It’s been a long time since we were here and I imagine lots of things have been added. Since the only other time we came for a launch Mother Nature did not cooperate. Keeping fingers crossed for this time.

Not sure where we’re going for dinner tonight. I looked up different places and was going to make reservations. Then I realized it looks like there is kind of a “restaurant grouping” which is not unusual. I think we’ll go to the area and make a decision after we look around. Of course, being a Saturday, all the really good places might be crowded, but I think we can take a chance.

They were crowded. The Cove must have 8 restaurants; most seafood with upstairs views of the water. We missed the parking lot for the first one we were going to and it was easy for the second one – Fishlips believe it or not. Multiple good things on the menu. I did lobster bisque and then crab cakes. Not really Lump, but basically no filler and pan fried, not deep fried so all was good. Hubby had jerk mahi with mango salsa. Friendly staff and we’ll going back to the “row”. It’s only a six-minute drive and all those choices.

A day for recovering. With granddaughter in school, kids took a little extra time and we met them for a later lunch at Stratford Garden, a place in Falls Church they have been wanting to try. It was previously an old, small motel that apparently had been empty for some time. A large interior, a fairly large covered terrace where we dined and a beer garden to the side with appropriate picnic type tables, benches and umbrellas. A range of cuisine with some raw bar options. Daughter-in-law had the burger, son the crispy chicken salad, Hubby the battered cod sandwich and I yield to baby kale Ceasar with grilled shrimp. The array of beers was excellent although I did stick with Chardonnay. Son and Hubby braved double espressos, plain coffee for me and a cappucino for daughter-in-law. Oh yes, the dolce lecho cheesecake with fruit to share.

Granddaughter hadn’t decide yet where we would be dining for the evening. Our friend was going to be able to join us and as it turns out, the pick was Longhorn. Here’s the main reason. I agree their chicken tenders are very good, although the cheeseburger was granddaughter’s choice. They do make a good cheeseburger, even when just plain- only meat, cheese, and bun. The kicker is the chocolate lava cake. The meal would have started with firecracker chicken wraps – son’s favorite – and they had run out, so it was the hot cheesy spinach dip. With full meals and that, the adults didn’t quite carry the load in sharing dessert which meant their was some left on the plate.

Flight is supposed to be on time today; will see how it all goes.

What a day. Really long, but good. A quick reminder about why we’re here. The kids’ Spring Show closes out their regular studio season and all the different classes perform. That’s kinderballet through their seniors (five of them graduating this year). The longest segment is always a ballet – this time it was Aurora’s Wedding – then the intermission and the other dance forms of modern, jazz and tap follow. Granddaughter was in one part of Wedding, then the next to the last number of tap. She had also done two numbers; the same ballet and one modern at the Friday night show. The place was almost full and the older students are quite talented. The younger range from adorable to just fun to watch. It was about 5:30 when everything was over and of course there was some close-out to be done.

Oh, backing up to lunch, Hubby and I went to a Five Guys. We don’t have one in Homestead yet, which makes it kind of a “must” when we’re here. As it turned out, it was a good thing we had a heavy lunch. The close-out tasks for the kids took a lot longer than expected and we brought granddaughter back to the hotel where our good friend and the two of us hung out in the hotel breakfast room while Hubby went upstairs. As 8:00 was getting close, we decided to walk over to The Casual Pint where the kids were to join us. It’s a tap room with a limited “bar-plus” menu and we ordered drinks and their version of nachos  – “bratchos” which meant sliced bratwurst for the meat. The kids made it a little after 8:30 and we decided what to order. Now for the “Say what?” moment. The guy behind the bar didn’t usually work Sunday afternoons and didn’t know the kitchen closed early In other words, at 8:45, we find out we can’t get food. As son called a couple of other places, it was the same story. Friend had to break away, but at least we’d had plenty of catch-up time.

We then proceeded to drive over to a nearby town to the Silver Diner which is a place they often go to. We now understand why. Yes, they do have diner food, but also farm-to-table, an extensive menu, and serve beer and wine. Son and granddaughter went with breakfast dishes, Hubby had a chipolte turkey sandwich, daughter-in-law  had shrimp scampi and I had crabcake sandwich with lobster sauce. Of course it was nearly 10:00 by the time we got food into us. Ah well, we all survived. Oh yes, and a decadent bourbon pecan pie to share around.

Granddaughter does have school today and we’re meeting the kids at a fancy place for lunch to treat them. Granddaughter gets to pick where for dinner tonight and we’ll see what that is.

The flight was full, but landed on time and next time I book us into t hotel near the airport, it won’t be this one. Issues getting the shuttle and some other things, but it is comfortable, the towels are nice, and there is a coffeemaker in the room.

Our friend picked us up to go into Old Town Alexandria and boy did the drive bring back memories. Lots of familiar places still around; others changed out of course. One of Hubby’s favorites, Murphy’s Irish Pub is doing well and in fact, that was where our friend and her husband had their first date and returned specifically for their first anniversary.

Parking is always difficult, but the weather was pleasant so we used one of the garages and walked the three blocks seeing the usual crowd, folks with dogs, aromas wafting from the different restaurants. We were dining early so it wasn’t too crowded yet. The Warehouse is very historic and has an extensive menu. One of their “signatures” is New Orleans cuisine as well as other seafood and dishes. Since Hubby will not be able to make the trip in November with me to the dive show, he did a dish with two fried oysters, shrimp, and crawfish in an etouffee sauce.  I had crab topped pecan crusted haddock with a sauce and our friend had salmon with some kind of sauce. We did share a flourless, dense dark chocolate cake although we had to leave some of it on the plate.

It was great getting caught up and we’ll relocate to Falls Church this morning after we pick up the car and then all meet at 2:30 at the theater for the dance performance.

No, I don’t mean we’re going on a hunting trip. A Wild Fork store recently opened here and we’ve made about three trips already. (https://wildforkfoods.com/) They have an incredible array of meat and seafood because it’s all frozen. That way they can stock more for longer without spoilage issues. Anyway, Hubby picked up elk last week. He had it back when he did the photography workshop in the Grand Tetons. I like bison and venison so it was a pretty good bet I would like elk. Yes, although it is so lean, it does need some kind of sauce. We’ll work on that for next time.

We leave tomorrow for the short trip to see the kids and there is an extra bonus. A dear  friend of mine – she’s known son since he was three and she’s been a “surrogate aunt” – lived in North Carolina, but frequently comes up for business. She is often able to schedule to see the kids’ shows and she’s coming a day early this time to coincide with us having dinner tomorrow night. We aren’t going to see the kids until the Sunday afternoon performance because they’ll be running around like cray tomorrow with pre-show prep. The first performance is this evening and I think it’s a full crowd, too.

We will play Sunday by ear. If everyone is up for it, we’ll go out for an early dinner. If everyone is dragging, we’ll do some kind of carryout (probably BBQ) and go back to their place. Monday will also be flexible because we don’t know if granddaughter will have school or not. The school year ends next Wednesday, so not much important is likely to be going on for Monday. On the other hand, they may have some fun activities planned. As usual, I will post each day of travel.