Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast again - the croissant was good and I skipped the tea. We started the long, straight drive to Kennedy which was only interrupted by repeated tolls at varying ridiculously low prices.

The area around Kennedy felt more like Florida - islands, swamps, streams and alligators. The Space Centre is a sprawling affair and without many people around it felt quite desolate. We took the full tour and following a hugely disappointing iced mocha (it took her an instruction manual and two attempts to make it) we boarded our bus.

The first stop was out to an observation platform where we could (apparently) see the rocket launch pads on Cape Canaveral and the retrieval ships. Frankly I couldn't see anything but a distant haze, but the tour guide was very interesting. It was a little disconcerting that on leaving the bus we were told that if the guide or driver told us to get on the bus fast, we should do so with enthusiasm as there was an alligator just off-shore.

Next stop was the space station construction facility where thanks to a nice glass viewing area allowed us to get quite close to the next parts to go up to the International Space Station including the transport pods. The small museum had some interesting walk through sections which showed the size of the elements bolted together to form the station.

We then took a drive out past the Vehicle Assembly Building over to the launch pads. It was disappointing not to get closer to any of them or to stop so we could at least take decent photos or peer into the buildings from the road or just catch things that are on the other side of the bus from you. But for all that it was still very cool and gave a much better idea of the huge scale of things like the crawler vehicles just from the size of their roads.

The final stop was the Apollo/Saturn V Center which was spectacular and all the information boards were very well written and interesting. We stopped here for a rather lovely lunch and I think Jane didn't quite understand how geekily excited I was by the whole thing.

The visitor area was a little less exciting, and although I felt a little guilty we actually skipped a few of the exhibits. The information boards just weren't as good as the ones in the Saturn V center and the lack of people made it all a bit cold and clinical. Magnificent Desolation in the I-Max was very good - both funny and moving and using the 3D to give a very immerse view of life on the moon. Then I spent a fortune in the gift shops. Oh well.

We took a quick drive down to Cocoa beach to see the ocean. I came, I got wet, I got sandy, I left. The sunset was absolutely amazing, but inconveniently located for finding a nice place to watch and take photos. Back to I-Drive for Pizza Hut which was good, plentiful and pretty much like home, including the ability to take leftovers home and eat them for breakfast the next day.