Road Trip to Arkansas: Tesla Coil, The Crescent Hotel and A Trip through the Ozarks

A few months ago when I wrote about our first trip to Florida I mentioned that we couldn't stay longer because we both needed to get home for interviews. Well we both also got the jobs so naturally we decided to plan a celebratory road trip. First we picked a possible trip to Iowa. We have a friend there and Iowa has lots of interesting things to see. However as planning progressed and we researched more I began to fear that the weather would not cooperate. First it would be too cold to spend a night in the car, which would add expense to the trip, and then the bad weather would make driving conditions possibly hazardous. So I pulled up a map of the US and began circling my finger around TN trying to aim south and west where I thought weather would be more favorable. As I circled my finger around I waited for Meg to tell me to stop. When she did my finger sat firmly on Arkansas. So I saved my Iowa research for better weather and switched to looking up Arkansas.

I have to say, well done Arkansas! There was more there than I thought I was going to find and we are going to have to go back because we didn't actually get to see to many of the sights. I learned that one of the most haunted hotels in America was located in Arkansas and the trip began to take a whole different focus. Instead of stacking up interesting road side attractions I picked one that I couldn't pass up and then focused on going to the hotel for a night of ghost hunting.

We left Friday as soon as work was over and began driving west to our first destination. Our path into Arkansas took us into Mississippi for a quick moment before we crossed over the Mississippi river into Arkansas.  This now means I have driven over the Mississippi river in four states: Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Arkansas. Just over the border of Arkansas we reached Sulphur Spring Rd. in Helena, Arkansas. There we found my first ever experience of a Gravity Hill. A Gravity Hill is an optical illusion where a ball (or in our instance car) can appear to be rolling up hill, against gravity.

Why does this happen? Well one thing the hills have in common is that the horizon is usually mostly blocked. Our hill was a very narrow road surrounded by homes, trees and other hills. Without a good horizon to judge their accurate plane the things around us, like trees, could be tilted and we wouldn't notice. Now to me it looked like any regular hill. But that is the nature of the illusion; it looks like it is uphill but is not. I had brought a level with me but didn't count on a few things: 1 how narrow the road would be and 2 how dark the road was. I thought there would be a shoulder I could pull onto maybe to play around with the phenomenon but there was not. So we drove on it a couple of times and took two videos of us rolling 'uphill'.

This first video we are rolling forward slowly "up" the hill.

This video we are slowly rolling backwards.

Now we had a choice. We could either drive one hour out of our way to a spot I had found that would be an amazing dark sky location and do some star gazing as we fell asleep or we could drive to Hot Springs, Arkansas and park for the night at a Walmart to sleep before starting Saturday. The weather radar and app I was following showed clouds moving in but the sky where we were was totally clear. It was tempting to try for the dark sky but we decided to go straight to Hot Springs and end the night to get a little longer rest.

While driving on highways you see a lot of animals crossing roads or at the side of the road. Well I saw something ahead of me and hit the brake to not hit it. It was not a raccoon and it was not an opossum which began a discussion on what it could have been. My guess was a mink. Meghan's hope was for nutria. I argued that I thought nutria were only in Louisiana and the swamp areas but Meg googled it and found that they do in fact live in Arkansas. Which leads us to a discussion of Schrondinger and his cat. And that this was now Schrondinger's Nutria since it both was and was not a nutria until it otherwise could be proven.

Mink

Nutria

If you read the title of the blog you can guess what the attraction was that I couldn't pass up. Apparently in Hot Springs, Arkansas is a science museum, the Mid-America Science museum to be exact. And apparently in that museum is the official (according to Guinness Book of Records) most powerful Conical Tesla Coil.

We woke up around 7am and searched for some breakfast. We settled on I-HOP because pancakes are amazing. While we were there a little boy was having breakfast with his Grandfather and as his Grandfather began stirring coffee the little boy exclaimed, "Grandpa you're making a vortex." Then the little boy moved on to a bout 50 different topics until his Grandfather finally said "I want to know where you learned vortex because it wasn't in school." I'm going to go out on a limb and guess he perhaps had visited the museum.

Meg and I were at the museum at nine am when it opened. The first Tesla show was at 11am and I figured two hours would be enough time to explore so that right after the show we could begin making our way to Eureka Springs and the Crescent Hotel. The museum was a very pleasant surprise. There were lots of hands on displays and plenty to keep us busy. It was certainly worth the $10 entrance fee with another $3 to see the Tesla show.  We took the whole two hours and honestly could have spent more time. This was an early exhibit and one of my favorites.

And then it was time for the Tesla Show. I took a video of the coil in action but let me stress this: YOU DO NOT GET THE FULL EXPERIENCE WATCHING THIS VIDEO. There is more than just the sight and sound of the coil. Also they had a very informative and entertaining presentation about the coil and the powers of electricity.  Anyone near Hot Springs I seriously recommend you check this museum out. And anyone just looking for a good trip. Go. You won't be sorry.

So now it was roughly noon and we were about to start winding our way north and west to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I had a couple of small stops along the way to break up the drive.

The first was in Alma, Arkansas where we saw a monument to the town Marshall Henry D. Humphrey. He was killed in the line of duty by two members of the Bonnie and Clyde gang. The day before he was killed he had been ambushed, tied up, and had his gun stolen. The next day while responding to a separate call he and another Marshall saw the stolen vehicle and there was a fire fight. During the fight Henry D. Humphrey was shot and killed.

In Lincoln, Arkansas is a poultry supply distributer, not open to the public. There we found two large statues: one was a rooster and the second a turkey. Again a quick stop and stretch of the legs before resuming the drive.

Now if you have only opened this post because you are looking for the Crescent Hotel info I applaud you for reading this far. We had one more stop before the haunted hotel. Well not really a stop. Up in the Ozarks over the White River is a one lane wooden suspension bridge called Beaver Bridge. It is not a very old bridge as the current one was built in 1949, I believe there may have been a bridge before that one. The length of the bridge is 554 feet and it is 11 feet wide, so yeah, definitely one lane. As we drove over it we could hear the wood reacting to the weight of the car.

And then a few minutes later we were driving through the cute town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. We checked into the hotel and received room 325.

Now part of my road trip planning involved looking up the history of the hotel so I came pretty well versed in the history and I will give a brief version real quick. The hotel was built in the late 1800s as a spa and retreat for the 'carriage class.' However, the winters in the Ozarks proved hard for the hotel and so it began to serve as a college for girl's in the winter and a retreat in the summer. After a few years the hotel was purchased by a charlatan, crook, and psychopath named Norman Baker. Baker opened up a 'cancer hospital.' According to him he had found a cure for cancer that did not involve surgery. It was a mixture that was primarily healing waters from the local springs and a few odds and ends like boiled seeds. He claimed injecting that into the tumors would cure the cancer and that, further more, the medical profession knew about this cure but in the interest of job preservation they were keeping the cure a secret. Needless to say he didn't cure anyone and the exact number of people who passed away are unknown. Eventually Norman Baker was arrested for mail fraud. He later died of cancer, which seemed pretty fitting. Anyway the hotel was purchased by new owners in the 1990s and they have revitalized it as a Spa and ghost attraction.

Basic history out of the way let me introduce you to some of the most famous ghosts: First is Michael, a young Irish stonemason, who fell from the roof when the hotel was being built. The story goes he saw a pretty girl and was trying to get her attention. He landed on a beam that is now part of the floor of room 218. That room is the most requested room and has a lot of reported activity.

Second is Cliff Breckenridge, a four year old boy, whose mother, Mary, was a nurse at the school. Cliff died of Appendicitis shortly after his fourth birthday. His mother was heartbroken especially because she had an infant daughter who died shortly before Cliff. She eventually left and travelled to England to study midwifery. She returned to theUnited States and started a group in the Appalachian area that would travel and help the poor population, inspired, in no small way, by her own suffering.

There is also a ghost of a small girl, name unknown, who was the daughter of the cleaning staff when it was operating as a retreat. The child fell through the bannister of the fourth floor stairwell all the way to the lobby below. Along the stairwell visitors report seeing orbs in picture and video. Also devices which detect electro-magnetic energy often light up or sound at that time.

When it was a girls' school one of the young women was pushed or jumped from a third floor balcony and her ghost has reportedly been seen at the balcony around 10-11pm.

And then there are the ghosts of the cancer patients. One hall is known as the pain ward where the patients near death were moved so that other patients and any visitors wouldn't hear or see them.

Also said to haunt the hotel are Dr. Ellis, Baker's house doctor, Theodora,  a staff member when it was a hospital, other nurses and orderlies, and Morris the cat.

So we checked in and our room was one of the rooms located on the pain ward.













First thing we did was take showers because they had these really nice smelling soaps and shampoos from their spa. Meg went first and when she was done she looked at the mirror and saw a hand print as well as several other drawings on the mirror.

hand print and assorted figures 

hand print

We cleaned off the mirror and then I showered. The hand print showed back up again when I was out but not the other drawings. Weird and odd but there could be some kind of residue on the mirror causing it so I can't be sure about this.

Next was setting up some props in our room before taking part in the ghost tour. So obviously we did research into the hotel and the ghosts. We brought some objects with us to aid our investigation. First we went to a Nashville Good Will and got some toys since there are several stories of children. I also found a commemorative stamp that was released in the early 1990's in honor of Mary Breckenridge. And finally we brought some Jack Daniels whiskey for Michael. Mainly because I had seen other people put videos on youtube of them doing that so I figured why not.

Now for each of our little set ups we recorded a sound clip explaining what we were doing and why. The level with the toys was to be sure that the ground was level. No good having a ball and having it roll on an uneven floor. For the stamp I explained who it was and invited the ghost of Cliff Breckinridge to come take a look at it. We also invited Cliff, the little girl, or any children ghosts to play with the toys. For the whiskey we spoke to the ghost of Michael and invited him to come for a drink. Now part of that video included me telling Michael that while I poured a drink for him I left some in the flask because Meg and I are Catholic and for Lent we had given up alcohol and beer. However, now-a-days people are allowed to cheat on Sundays. So we explained to the ghost that if it were after midnight, so Sunday, we might join him for a drink. 

Then Meghan took some random shots of the room. Just to get a few different angles. One picture had an orb in the upper left of the picture. 

Once that was set up we went outside to take some outside shots of the hotel. Full disclosure while we have always believed in ghosts and have had some very strange experiences and stories we have never gone looking for it before. And we were hoping to get something amazing. That being said we wanted it to be good. So one thing a lot of people caught in pictures are little balls of light. Well while taking the outside shots we realized small green balls of light kept appearing in the pictures. However it didn't take Meg long to realize they were reflections from the exterior lights. The same thing happened inside I think because of the ultra glossy paint on the ceiling fan blades that reflected light back at the camera lens. Also the combo of the curved balcony roof and the light fixtures caused a bunch of false positives of figures in windows. 

While outside I took some pictures of the front of the hotel and one immediately caught my interest because of the lightning strike above it, there was a small storm cell that never amounted to much.

As I was looking at the picture I noticed a figure in the front of the hotel and closed in on it. It appears to be a headless body standing on the exterior front steps of the hotel. 

When we came inside we went to the fourth floor for the ghost tour. The tour was good. My earlier research made a lot of the information redundant to me but it also assured me I knew all the stories.

After the tour we went outside to see if we could catch a glimpse of the girl who jumped or was pushed. Meg took pictures of the front of the hotel while I scanned my video camera around and took some photos with my I-phone.

I took several videos of the hotel while I was watching one playback I saw a shadowed blur move inside past one of the windows. Once home I slowed it down twice. I have no editing software so could not remove the sound. You may want to mute it since it will be horrible sounding slowed down.

This was the best I could do to freeze on the figure in the lobby. He is centered in the window. Is it a ghost child or an actual child who just ran through at the right time? I don't know. But  I am leaving it here as something odd. 

I mentioned earlier  that we figured out the green lights were from reflections of the lights. Well as we were looking for the ghost of the girl who jumped/was pushed from the upstairs balcony there were several times when I thought I saw the figure of a woman in white. However it was the slant of the stairway and the different colors of the wall. 

As we were outside a boy had come over to Meg to show her some pictures he had taken. Meg explained to him that what he thought were reflections were actually him. She pointed to the faint outline of his arm and elbow as he held the phone up to take a picture. She also told him to stay to the side of the halls rather than in the center so he would have as much of an open space without being in the way. And she told him about the reflected lights of the ceiling fans and suggested how he can avoid that. Basically every photo or video I post here can be explained away as nothing. What we wanted to do and what Meg was trying to explain was to give as little obstruction as possible.  

We spent some time exploring the building during the ghost tour and on our own. One thing I had noticed was how it seemed like every time someone put an EMF detector near the bannister it would go off. I mean without fail. I had a magnet with me that I held to the post to see if maybe there was some kind of magnet or magnetic residue on the post. There was nothing there to explain why the meters kept going off.  

Meg took tons of photos to try and see if we could see anything. And she did catch some strange shots. 

I'm going to start with one of her shots that got us super excited when we first saw it. What we initially saw was an outlined figure in the doorway on my right. Standing in a hall between two door ways. Unfortunately while we can't see anything other than the reflections of people in the room that was a glass door to a display case, not a hall. And the reflection of the man was another member of the tour who we have found in other photographs. There is also a very tall shadow figure in the back whose head is actually to the ceiling and behind the exit sign. However by looking at other pictures of the group and that area we confirmed it was just forced prospective. 

Forced perspective of tall figure and reflection of man

Meghan also got what looks like an image of a face in a window pane of the window in our hall. She had other pictures of this window at the time and it had the face. At later or earlier times it did not.

The face is in the third pane. We know it isn't Meghan because she was at the side of the hall to stay out of the reflection. 

The picture on the left is the original picture and then on the right Meg closed in on the dark figure reflected from down the hall. As we were looking at it we also saw the image of a girl just to the right of the hall. To us it looks like she has her hair in braids. Only Meg and I were there and it isn't either of us.

I also got some photos on my I-phone that I think are worth sharing. In the first photo you see me on the left reflected in the mirror. To the right it looks like a strange figure peering around the corner. 

I closed in and to me it looks like someone in a white shirt with black pants on.

We couldn't explore all night because we needed to drive 10 hours home the next day so while we slept we left a night vision camera on the toys to see if any moved. Over the course of the night the video captured a little over two hours. Now I have watched and listened to it several times and let me tell you the majority of those two hours are really boring. The toys never move; I was very disappointed with that. At points it looks like my camera moves but I think that is more because the video is a little jumpy being only a $50 hunting camera. It is meant to be screwed to a tree to watch for wildlife. Once it senses motion it turns on and records for 30 minutes or so before stopping until it senses motion again. So it recorded a little over 30 minutes when I first turned it on. And then on three separate occasions something I can't see triggered it to turn back on. Pretty neat, huh? At one point I saw some small orbs floating around the toys. It could be dust but there wasn't anything moving to kick dust up and it wasn't constant it just came happened for about a minute and then stopped. There was thudding throughout the night as well. 

In the second video though I hear something very strange. I clipped the video down to a little over 8 minutes. It has the time on the bottom (but it is off by an hour so while it says 1:30am it is really 3:30am. Anyway at around 1:32 you hear a thud which is pretty much what I was hearing all night on the camera. I slept through all this. Over the next 4 minutes from 1:32-1:36 I hear a breath and murmur. Starting around 1:35 there is more murmuring and it builds and builds. There is also more thudding. Towards the end of minute 36 and all of minute 37 it builds and I think I hear someone saying "Help Me".

We did have some strange experiences during the night and we have it recorded on the night vision camera. First I hear a loud thud that wakes me up. I say "Yo, did you hear that?" but Meg did not hear it. About ten minutes later Meg felt something touch her neck as if taking her pulse. She immediately began snapping pictures but we didn't see anything on them. And whatever made the noise is not on camera. Also on this video we try and ask questions if anything is there and what is keeping them back.

 

At one point we both woke up to the sound of metal rattling. There was a pipe in the room and a radiator in the hall outside our room. So we thought it was just the pipes rattling and went back to sleep. Well in the morning when we got up and were packing the room up I picked up the flask and moved the little ring at the top of it and we both paused. That was the noise we had heard during the night. Maybe a ghost was trying to wake us up to have a drink on Sunday?

Also at various points I tried to record EVP, electronic voice phenomenon, I did catch one strange sound while we were sleeping. You can hear snoring in the back ground and then there is a quick sound. In order to upload the audio only file to youtube I needed to add video. I added a random part of the toys video because they never moved so I might as well make use of them. Also the time doesn't correspond to anything but does allow me to tell you the noise is when it reads 1:15 53-55 seconds.

Other than that we had a few things move around in the room. Of course nothing that was on video. Early in the day while we are on the ghost tour some things in the bathroom were moved around including Meghan's pony tail holders which were moved to the back of the sink and a towel was picked up and draped on the shower curtain holder. Now the ghost, Theodora, is rumored to clean up after people who leave a mess. But we weren't in the room and we didn't catch it on video. We just came back to find it moved. I had the camera on the toys and am certain they didn't move though I don't know what was triggering the camera. I wish I had a larger memory card because the battery lasted all night it just ran out of time on the card or else maybe it would have recorded more. I was happy with it and may get a second camera since it was only $50. Then I would have had a camera on more of the room including the whiskey and stamp. Especially since we think we heard the flask moving and the stamp did move. I had been careful to put the left corner even with the line in the table so I would see if it moved. 

It isn't moved much but the corner is no longer lined up. We had the air conditioning off so that there wouldn't be air moving through the room, mainly to avoid possibly kicking up dust. I don't know. Maybe it moved all over the table maybe if I had a camera on it I would have seen it picked up and put back down. Or maybe I would have seen it just slide a tiny quarter of an inch away from where I put it. Maybe all the pictures and sounds I have are just pareidolia and our minds are just making connections that aren't there. Or maybe there is something there. I think it is the latter but nothing here is going to convince a skeptic. it's ok.

Keeping in mind this was our first time doing anything like this I think we got some strange photos and sounds. I'm happy with it but I was definitely frustrated during the night. At one point I woke up and tried an EVP where I basically was saying that I had felt more uneasy in places that weren't famously haunted. I don't know what I expected. I think I thought I would get a bad feeling about things and freak myself out more. I remember several nights in NY where I would be outside simply taking out the trash and all of a sudden have a feeling of dread. That never happened. We did feel very drained during the night. My alarm at one point went off to wake us up to do more ghost hunting and we just could not get up. And I should have been able to. I had much longer days and nights with less sleep than that and functioned with no problem. 

There are a few things we will do differently in the future. With the first thing being just focus on the ghost hunting. I wanted to put too much into the trip. Check in time was 4pm and I should have just gone to the hotel se we could have napped before the ghost tour. But then we wouldn't have seen the Tesla Coil. Which brings me to another thing we learned. Remember the video above with the Tesla Coil? Well the neon sign next to it that was lit up was not plugged in. The free electricity from the coil is what caused it to light up. So while my test of magnets near the post and rail for the little girl didn't work if there actually was loss or free electricity maybe it would light a neon bulb. Another thing to keep in mind for next time is making sure the date and time stamps on all the cameras and video recorders match. I know times are accurate on my i-phone photos but Meg's camera and all the recording devices show different times.

Sunday morning when we got up we felt really refreshed despite being so tired the night before. Now I had added breakfast to the room for only $10. This proved to be a great move. It covered either the breakfast buffet or any $16 item on the menu. So we went with the buffet. 

There was a freshly made steak and egg bagel with hollandaise sauce, amazing parfait with fresh berries and granola, fresh salad, eggs with spinach and pepper, potatoes, sausage and biscuits with gravy.  Well there was more, that is just what I tried plus- and this is strange for breakfast- I had a piece of mango raspberry cheesecake. Which at first sounded like a lot going on but it was delicious. 

We had one last stop to make in Eureka Springs. Apparently after the Berlin Wall came down sections of it had been spread around the world. A few minutes away from the hotel was a small chapel with a 10x10 section of the wall next to it. 

"Ich habe kein angst" translates to "I am not afraid." a powerful message on a wall that has seen some terrible pain. 

Also right by the Berlin Wall was the giant Christ of the Ozarks statue which we could see from the Hotel. At 67 feet high is is the third largest Christ statue in the world. It sits on Magnetic Mountain, maybe named so because of magnetic spring which claimed to cause items dipped in its waters to become magnetized. 

And then we began driving home. We stopped in Ravenden, Arkanas to take a picture of their Raven statue; which apparently has had a tough time as people like to vandalize and break it. 

And then our route took us up through Paducah and onto highway 24 from Kentucky into TN where we ran into the very weather I had gone to Arkansas to avoid. Our drive home was slowed by a pretty good snow fall, at times causing us to slow down significantly but eventually we made it. Actually we drove through the storm and beat it home so when we went to bed there was no snow in TN and when we woke up we were a bit surprised. 

02-06-2018 The Launch of The Falcon Heavy Road trip!

After driving 12 hours to FL just to see the rocket sitting on the launch pad my desire to see its actual launch was multiplied by 100000000000000%. After the successful Test Fire Elon Musk sent out a tweet that the launch would be "in a week or so."  I checked a calendar and tried to figure out when that might be.  I thought the fifth was a possibility. Meg and I figured he would want to do it before the 8th when the government might have stupidly shut down again since the earlier shut down had effected his test fire. He wouldn't want this to possibly force a delay in the launch. With that in mind we started looking at work schedules. The 3rd and 4th were supposed to be our weekend off. Now in retail weekends are really important because you don't get many off (one a month at our job). Not only that but this was Super Bowl weekend. We had previously requested Monday off because we planned on having a Super Bowl party. Well we let our friends know the party was cancelled and then swapped the weekend for Tuesday and Wednesday off. Thursday we would have to be back at work by 10am. That gave us as much time as possible to see the launch.

Next was figuring out where we would see it from. We had explored Titusville and Space Walk Park and had driven around the Wildlife refugee. But for this historic launch I really wanted to be some place with experts: people who would be able to give us info on the process, what was happening, where to look, and what to expect. So I went ahead and spent the money to buy tickets to a viewing spot at the Kennedy Space Center. I bought tickets to the "Closest Viewing" Area. We had missed "Feel the Heat" which would have had us a mere 3 miles from the launch but was out of my price range anyway, though Meg was willing to buy them until she saw it was sold out. But, man, those folks that got those tickets were lucky!

"Closest" had us 7 miles away from the launch pad on the lawn in front of the Atlantis Display building. It would get us a commemorative item and buffet lunch provided. Plus someone on hand to direct us and provide info like I had been hoping. Also obviously we were allowed parking at the Space Center and 2 days admittance.

KSC understands the packrat in my soul because on the back of the parking placard they politely informed me that I could keep it as a souvenir :-) to which Meg and I both responded "you don't have to tell me that!"

It was January 26 when Chris from NASA Spaceflight somehow got the word earlier than anyone else and tweeted out that the launch date was Feb 6th with the 7th as a backup. Our planning had worked we had the right days off and we were ready to go. We just needed the day to come.

And it came quick. Before I knew it Super Bowl Sunday was here and we planned to leave directly from work, like we had done the last time. In the morning we packed the car up with everything we would need which for a trip like this: which was a lot of really cool equipment. Meghan had a tripod and her trusty Canon rebel. She brought several lenses including her "super zoom" which gives her a magnification up to 300 and her fish eye lens. I had a tripod and my new binoculars. I also had a monocular that could attach to my i-phone and just a regular video camera.  The goal was to have options for how we wanted to record this event.

After work it was basically half time in the game and the roads were pretty clear as we started south/east. For Sunday night the goal was just to drive as long as I felt comfortable and then pull over and sleep for a few hours. We didn't have very specific plans for Monday but I wanted to arrive around noon. I was concerned that there would be a lot of other people traveling for the launch and so I didn't want to get stuck in traffic. I forget exactly how long we drove but I know we were through most of Georgia when we finally took a rest.

One of my coworkers asked why we were driving rather than flying and I told him it was much cheaper to drive. See Meghan has a hybrid Ford C-max and I want to say the whole trip only cost about $160 in gas. The other benefit of having the car was that it served as our hotel room for trip.

The Hab

I told Meg we should rename her car, currently called Ice, to the Hab but she sadly declined.

I don't know why but the rest stop we pulled over at had all the lights off. Which is probably a little unsafe and generally not my normal experience but it made it a great spot to sleep. When we finally got up we decided to drive for about an hour and then pulled over at exit 101 off Highway 75 for breakfast at Chik-fil-a. Then we were a hop, skip, and a jump away from FL.

We reached Titusville at around noon. First we went back to Space Walk Park because we hadn't actually gone through the whole park last trip only the Mercury memorial.  Now we saw the Apollo, Gemini, and Space Shuttle memorials.

 Along the walk way are tiles for each of the various launches. These are two of my favorites. The Gemini 5 covered wagon pays tribute to the desire for exploration that caused settlers to travel across the United States.

Meghan got to play with her fisheye lens for this shot of the statue of Kennedy in front of the Apollo memorial. I can only imagine the joy and pride it gave many Americans to hear his speech telling us we were going to the moon. I love the idea of choosing to go to the moon even though it is hard because we choose to do it. It is a beautiful speech to read and to hear. The challenge was hard but it was the one we wanted. And the challenge was met. Talk about doing anything you put your mind too. He put the best minds in several fields on the task. They did what some doubted could be done. Think about that the next time you face a challenge someone says can't be done. Because that is what they said about putting a man on the moon and they were wrong. And that's what they said about rockets re-landing themselves and they were wrong.

We went to Jetty Park at Port Canaveral to see the beach. I have to say, and this surprises me, I miss the ocean. Its not that we went often but we had the option when we wanted too. A landlocked state makes it harder. I remember right before Meghan moved we went whale watching off Montauk. At one point we were leaning on the rail and remarking to each other that "we were going to miss this." Another patron asked how often we went whale watching. And we said we hadn't been since we were little. He was confused and said, "well then there isn't anything to miss." That missing something implied you did it often. I disagree. I guess maybe knowing I could go anytime was comforting.

At Jetty Park I set up my binoculars on the tripod just to play with them and look around while Meghan took pictures of the wildlife.

I was just having fun bird watching or looking at the cruise ships and fishing boats in the distance. It gave me a good chance to get more comfortable with them since I had only used them a few times. At one point I attached my i-phone to the binoculars to see how well the attachment piece worked. It took me a bit to get it lined up correctly but I got it and I look forward to doing the same thing with my telescope eventually. Maybe at some point I can get some pictures of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars.

Apparently around 5 or 6 is when all the brown pelicans start flying inland for the night because they kept coming in waves of 8-10. And they flew in nice and close for Meghan.

And then there was this little fellow who kept popping up and down. It was a little boy excitedly calling to his parents that he had seen a turtle that made us stop where we did and set up. We did end up moving a bit down the boardwalk  when another boy who was fishing said he had seen two come up. They certainly were elusive but Meg is a good photographer and managed to catch them a few times.


When it was getting dark we started thinking about finding something to eat and so left Jetty Park. As we were driving away we saw Peacocks crossing the road. So I had to stop so Meghan could get some pictures and she got some marvelous ones!

Now I discovered something very important at this moment. I have seen peacocks before, but never loose. Well apparently I have an innate fear of peacocks. I pulled over and Meg got out and started taking pictures I began walking around looking at the beautiful birds. Then one started walking towards me. Not aggressively, not even on purpose, he was just eating and walking. I know that. But I ran! I ran back to the car got inside and closed the window. Eventually I got out again but if they started coming towards me I was gone again. I don't know it's not like the feathers were up or they seemed annoyed but I am apparently terrified of them.  

Once the photo session was over we decided to head back to Port Canaveral to the Florida Beer Co where we had done some sampling last trip. When I walked up to the bar the bartender smiled and said "welcome back where is your friend!" Which basically cemented the fact that whenever I go to see a launch in the future I will be stopping by their brewery. Nothing better than being recognized.  We each had a pint and we ordered pizza from a local pizzeria, Zarrella's. The pizza was good but I wish I had asked them to make the crust extra crispy.  One thing I noticed was that everywhere we stopped people were talking about the launch. The people at the Burger King, and gas stations, and Space Walk Par,k Jetty Park, and the runners at the Florida Beer Co. were all talking about it and excited for it. It was nice. I had been talking about the launch with coworkers and showing videos of the Falcon 9 rockets re-landing themselves as well as the SpaceX simulation of the Falcon Heavy and now here we were the eve of the launch and everyone was talking about it. Everyone was excited!

When we finished our beer and pizza we went to the Cape Canaveral Walmart and parked at the back with the RVs for night two in the Hab. When we went to sleep there were two other RVs. When we woke up there were closer to ten and several other cars had joined our area. We got up before our alarms went off. Partly I think because of our own excitement and partly because sleeping in the back of a car is not very comfortable. I left the Walmart and pulled into a gas station that had a Dunkin' Donuts attached so we could get some coffee and breakfast. Then we were on our way to the Kennedy Space Center. Now according to our parking pass we needed to be there at least four hours before launch time which was 1-4. We were on line to park at around 6:30am. And I mean on line behind several cars. The people who had the "Feel the Heat" package had to be there I think six hours before launch mainly because they were going to be boarding buses to take them to their watch site. The line moved fast enough and we had a good parking spot. Now it was time for the real fun! We were at Kennedy Space Center and it was Launch Day!

Kennedy opened the gates at 8 and we went inside and straight to our viewing area to pick a good spot, only to find that our viewing area wouldn't be opened until 10:30. We could have gone exploring but since we had just been there we didn't have much to explore and we had all our stuff with us which would have been annoying to carry around. So we started a line for the viewing area. This resulted in a very enjoyable two hour wait. We ended up watching the belongings of one family as they went inside the Atlantis exhibit with their kids. And we were reunited with our parking neighbor who had pulled in to the parking lot just before us. There was also a couple from England and some folks from Texas. Earlier we had meet some people from Germany and even some locals from Orlando. Basically people from everywhere had come for this launch. It was an enjoyable wait but it was a long wait. We checked out each others equipment and I played with the i-phone monocular some more. After seeing some examples of pictures and video taken with a samsung phone and 360 camera I think my next phone might have to be a samsung. Though to be fair I have an old I-phone and I bet the cameras are better now.

These photos were taken with the monocular attached to my i-phone.

As we waited our parking neighbor pulled up google earth on his samsung phone and we tried to figure out where the launch pad would be to plan a good viewing spot. I was pretty sure I could see the VAB, Vehicle Assembly Building, in front of us which meant that 39A would be a bit to the right of it. We couldn't see the launch pad because of the tree line. When we were finally allowed to enter the viewing area we went straight to the bleachers and set up at the right side of them. 

There was a large tv screen set up as well as a count down clock. The DJ told us that the rocket should be launched from somewhere behind where he was so we pointed our equipment in his direction. Now we were in for a long wait.  The lunch buffet was an awesome awesome taco bar and the commemorative item we each received was a pin that showed the Falcon Heavy and said "I was there."

As we watched the count down clock it seemed like every time it got close to going under two hours the clock would jump back up. The launch kept getting pushed further and further back due to high level winds that could cause issues for the launch. The Kennedy Space Center definitely did their best to keep us entertained. On the screen they showed an informational video about the rocket. 

The video included a view of the Falcon Heavy's 27 Merlin engines, pretty impressive. 

We also had the broadcast of Bill Nye from the "Feel The Heat" viewing area as he spoke about the Planetary Society and sending solar sail vehicles into space. He spent an appropriate amount of time making fun of Flat Earthers as well. And then said, "Space exploration brings out the best in us." And it is so true. It is a result of human creativity, ingenuity, exploration, persistence and more. It is unifying. It is the International Space Station because it is shared. When Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon he talked about 'mankind'. Newspapers around the world celebrated the event. 

Many of us in the crowd were checking the twitter feeds of SpaceX, Elon Musk, and NasaSpaceflight for updates about the launch. I found one report that had the launch aiming for 3:45 with the last weather ballon going up at 3:30. That was it. If it went any later then we were all going to be doing the same thing again tomorrow. The end of the launch window was quickly approaching and then we got the word: they were fueling up the rockets. A cheer went through the field. Fueling the rockets meant we were getting closer to launch time. And the launch was going up today. 

Then John came on the giant screen with the best news we could ask for:

You can just hear the beginning of the crowd cheering before I cut the video camera. This was actually really good timing. I had just taken my camera out to check the battery and make sure it was all good. I had my i-phone with the monocular on the tripod but I knew that if it was not lined up right there was going to be no way I would be able to move it fast enough to get the rocket and still enjoy the launch. I had learned that earlier when I was trying to take pictures of the helicopter circling. 

We were 17 minutes away. Meg did last checks on her camera as well. Others in the crowd began to get ready for the launch checking equipment and getting better position. At this point Richard, our Kennedy Space Center representative got up to urge anyone here for their first launch and even those who had witnessed launches before to maybe forgo the cameras (though he also admitted he didn't think anyone would listen). He told us to take in the experience. First we would see the rocket and then we would hear the rocket. You could feel the anticipation in the crowd. I turned on my video camera again a little more than a minute before launch. The clock we had been watching was about 10 seconds faster than the actual launch clock which caused a funny moment and two count downs. I did kind of listen to Richard because while I was videotaping the launch I wasn't watching through the camera. As a result when the side boosters returned after their initial burn I was able to follow them but you will hear me telling people where to look and that I can see them but my camera could not. 

Direct link to my video

The whole video is 12 minutes long but here are some key moments. 

At 2:14 you will hear the rumble of the Falcon Heavy engines.

At 7:52 you will see the rockets return.

At 9:39 is when you can hear the sonic boom and the crowd reacts.

Over the speakers they were playing the sound from SpaceX launch Command Center. I started by filming the screen to show the progress with a plan to turn to the rocket as soon as it was in view. Now remember how I said we were trying to figure out where the launch pad was with Google Earth. And then we were told it would be behind the DJ (to the right of the screen). Well it turned out our calculations were a little bit better. So in the video you will see us all looking towards the screen and then in the bottom left the rocket will appear. And then it was pure amazingness. The rocket came up slowly as it arched across the sky. We see it come up before we hear it. Then the side rockets separate I catch them real quick on the camera when they do a burn to slow themselves but then they were just two white lines easy to miss against the sky. I was able to watch them come down but I can't see them in the camera at all. But the most amazing thing for me was the fact that the rockets returned and landed and were sitting stationary before we heard the sonic boom and their engines. I have never ever experienced such disconnect of sound and visual before. 

Fuzzy screen shots from my video of the launch and two rockets returning.

Meghan's shot of the Falcon Heavy with her Canon Rebel and 300 zoom.

And like that it was over, 12 minutes of pure wonder and joy. Except it is almost two weeks later and I am still thinking about the launch. It was historic and we were lucky enough to have witnessed it. This launch is the promise of so much to come in space exploration. Like the Apollo launches before it this is a new era. SpaceX is preparing for Deep Space exploration and reaching Mars.  To me it has become a moment that years from now I will be able to look back at proudly and say I was there. I will remember the details ingrained in my photographic memory. It joins the Total Solar Eclipse and David Cone's Perfect Game as special moments in my life. 

Also I can't not mention the fact that Elon Musk launched his car into space, making the Tesla the fastest car in the universe. Now I have seen some people complain about 'space junk' and it being a gimmick. But hear me out, or read me out, on this if that gimmick got a few people who wouldn't have heard about it to care then I think it is worth it. And there was always going to be space junk. If it wasn't the car it was going to be  a chunk of concrete. And the car did turn heads. It made people stop and pay attention. And also Starman floating around the earth in a red Tesla roadster is an awesome shot. Musk in an interview commented that you know it's real because it looks so fake. We have better CGI then that. It was fun and it got attention. 

View of Earth from Elon musk's Tesla Roadstar SpaceX

And now it was time to head home. I looked up a few points of interest to see on the way back to break the drive up a bit. The first was a Veteran owned brewery in Jacksonville called Veterans United Craft Brewery. We stopped for a bit had a pint each and brought a growler of their Scout Dog 44 home with us.

We drove for a little longer and then slept again before continuing to Americus Georgia where at a small airfield there is a statue honoring Charles Lindbergh wing walking. 

It was still dark when we got there and wasn't well lit. I think we surprised one employee who was pulling up to the main building. He saw us at the statue and asked if we needed help. We told him we had just come to see it and he said ok and finished going down the drive way. I guess not many people take the detour or most have the good sense to get there during day light hours. 

From there we were headed to Kennesaw, Georgia to see where "the General" was kidnapped. Now maybe I learned about the General in school and forgot about it or maybe it never really got mentioned but apparently 22 union soldiers during the Civil War slipped behind enemy lines and stole a Confederate train and began trying to ride it north to the Union Side and destroy tracks as they went. The plan didn't work as they were pursued by the train's conductor William Fuller. But they did almost make it to the Union side. If not for Fuller's determination they may have been successful. 

There are matching stones marking where the General was kidnapped and where it was recovered. The chase covered 87 miles from Kennesaw to Ringgold Georgia. Originally we were just going to stop at the spot where it was kidnapped and then go straight to were it was recovered but because there was heavy rain we decided to spend some time in the actual Civil War Train Museum located around the corner form where the train was kidnapped. 

Inside the museum was The General. 

I need to learn more about the Great Locomotive Chase because there is nothing better than a good behind enemy lines story. And the focus at the museum and on the markers was the persistence of Fuller but let's take a moment here. Twenty men in groups of two or three snuck over 90 miles into enemy territory. Got on to the train as if they were passengers. And kidnapped the train right in front of an enemy camp. Then almost made it to their own lines on the train. It brings to my mind one of the greatest lines in one of my favorite movies when in the Great Escape Roger explains that it is his job  to "harass, confound, and confuse the enemy."

I think the best thing about finding random places to stop and look at roadside attractions around the United States is the growing list of random towns that I know in different states. Basically I'll eventually have a lock on US geography trivia because of researching towns and points of interest. 

And then we drove over the mountains of Chattanooga and took highway 24 all the way home.  

By the way during the last tip to FL we had to get back in time for job interviews, which was why we couldn't explore all of spacewalk park. Well we both got the jobs we were interviewing for and are now planning some celebratory road trips. . . so more to come :-)