Day 77 -21 miles north to Titusville

Our trip today was a leisurely 3 hour trip (20 miles) from Merritt Island to Titusville. We basically went from the south to the north end of the Kennedy Space Center, which is on the barrier islands to the east of the IntraCoastal Waterway. The massive Vehicle Assembly Building was a landmark for the entire trip. It was the largest building in the world (by volume) for many years. Now it is number 6 (?), but it is still the largest one story building (by volume). The bridge in the first picture was on a NASA canal from the Waterway to Port Canaveral, which was/is used to deliver large engines, fueltanks, etc. Our marina was on this channel, and shortly after passing under this bridge, we saw large swirls all around the boat. Due to manatee warnings, we were only going 5 mph in the canal, but I put the engines in neutral so that we could "drift" slowly through the manatees. 

It was difficult to count, but

there were at least 7 adult manatees plus several calves. This friendly "fella" came within 10 feet of the boat and had a look around. Then as he/she wandered off, we had an open path to slowly motor past the herd. The rest of the trip was pretty quiet, and the weather was really wonderful.  For over 40 miles, which includes all of the past two travel days and most of another, we have been traveling between Merritt Island and the mainland. Technically, most of this has been in what is called the Indian River or more appropriately, the Indian River Lagoon. It is brackish water and is fed by many small rivers and streams. another "world's capitol" is claimed by Titusville. They lay claim to eing the Redfish Capitol of the  World. As they say, "That's our story and we're  sticking to it." The city marina in Titusville is on the edge of the old, partially restored downtown and is boardered by parks. This scenario for the marina seems to be a reoccuring theme, which is fine with us...
    late in the afternoon we went 4.5 miles to a theater complex to see "Grownups 2". The movie had some wonderfully funny scenes, but overall it was too much slap stick comedy with no real theme. Special thanks to the Admiral for putting up with my choice of a movie! However, it may be a while before I get to choose again...

     Tomorrow? Who knows what we will do. Stay tuned...