🚀 go-pugleaf

Our family was in Florida and watched Atlantis launch on April 5.  We drove
from Winter Haven and took the "Bee Line" to the Cape.  We left Winter Haven
at 5 am and made it to the Cape with only 20 minutes to spare.  Be prepared
for traffic jams...the last 11 miles took us 2 hours to drive.  We watched
from Gate 3, across the bay.  What a wonderous sight!  If you haven't already,
take advantage of the day there and tour the NASA area.  Discovery was on
the launch that day, so we saw one on the launch pad as well as one go up.
My "guess" is Miami is a good 7-9 hours away, BEFORE the traffic jams come
into play.  Many people the day we were there were left on the highway and
had to watch the launch while still some distance away from the Cape.

Another tip if you're staying for the day is to pack a cooler w/drinks,
munchies, lunch, etc.  The parking lot is so near, we just went back to
the van for lunch, rather than pay the tourist prices for lunch.  The bus
tours and the movie prices are reasonable and worth the $.

Enjoy!

Holly Whitehead