Merritt Island and NASA, Cape Canaveral

The Space Coast of Florida has hundreds of miles of protected wildlife refuge.  NASA itself is 220 square miles, all of it wildlife protected.  Part of Cape Canaveral is Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and National Seashore.
I've got to stop here for a moment.  We hear a lot of negatives about our country but if you need some encouragement to feel proud, go to Cape Canaveral.  First of all,  the national park/refuge area is free to us senior citizens or is available to all at a nominal fee.  To see how the pristine areas of refuge are kept clean, natural yet kept in a fashion that viewing and learning can take place is something we should all feel good about.  We have yet to meet a ranger that was not super friendly and informative.  We have yet to be at a national park that is not clean and beautiful.  We have yet to be disappointed in how the wildlife is being managed.
When you add the phenomenal accomplishments of NASA and the wonders that man has created for space, a person cannot help but be proud.  Rather than dwell on the negative (promoted by the media) why don't we change to the NASA mindset, one of pride and protection.  Pride for what they have accomplished and are still accomplishing, and protection and pride for the land around Cape Canaveral.
OK, off my soapbox.
Merritt Island Refuge cannot be seen in one day.  Plan a week or two.  We have gone three times and just seen a tenth of it.  Below are photos of some of the wildlife, but I did not do justice to all the birds/reptiles etc. we actually saw.  And the quiet.....how do I tell you about the lack of human noise, out in the wilderness.  It is better for the soul than anything I know.
The landscape of Merritt Island is varied from seashore, to savannas of grass, salt marshes and brackish waterways, swamps and lake shores.  Beautiful and serenely mysterious.

Roseate Spoonbills

Pygmy rattlesnake - small but mighty!

One of over 5000 alligators on NASA/Cape Canaveral property.  I guess you could call them part of the NASA Security system.

One of the many rockets in the "garden".

NASA Rocket garden - Titan 2

Entrance to NASA.  If you go, it takes more than a day to see it all.

This building is soooo big.  The flag on it is 27 stories high!

This NASA engineer was so informative and fun.  He worked on the shuttle and other launches.

Just a small part of the Saturn 5 rocket.

More Saturn 5 - so intricate yet enormous!

More Saturn 5.  I only captured a few parts of it.  

And NASA.  I cannot say that I have ever been a fan of space.  My fondest memory of a space exploration was watching the TV in 1969, very pregnant with Michele, and thinking " Will she ever visit the moon?".  Well, I am now a BIG fan of NASA and space exploration.  Visiting the rocket garden at NASA, seeing a FANTASTIC 3 -D movie about the launch and use of the Hubble telescope, visiting the huge launch pads and seeing the NASA building is something everyone should see.  What man has done/created is spectacular!