Kennedy Space Center

It takes about an hour to get to Kennedy Space Center from the Davenport villas but it is an easy drive and it is well worth the journey.

It would probably take more than a day to do everything justice and you can go on two consecutive days for the price of the single ticket so you might want to consider staying over and also visiting Cocoa Beach.

You enter at the Visitor Complex, and there is plenty to see there, but it is probably a good idea to go directly to the first tour before the queue for the coaches grows. This will take you at least 2 hours and possibly 3 depending on how long you stay at the different stopping points. This tour shows you the launch gantries and covers the Apollo programme. You actually see an Apollo craft with all the stages mounted above you. It is very impressive and it is almost impossible to believe that something that size could take off. You are taken through all the stages of the space programme, including the difficulties that beset the American programme in the early days, but concluding with the moon landings. I had not realised that it is now 33 years since the Apollo programme ended and man last walked on the moon.

After a break for some lunch you will probably be ready to take the second tour which takes you to the area where the work is being done on the space station. It is fascinating to walk through the mock ups of the various modules that exist in space and to watch work being done on modules that will be launched in the future.

When you return to the visitor complex you should make sure that you visit at least one of the shows in the IMAX Theatre. This is a 3D show and it is the nearest we will come to being on the moon. The special effects are truly stunning.

The best part for me was being able to go inside a space shuttle. You enter at two levels, the living accommodation and the flight deck and you can also see the cargo hold.

There is a rocket garden where you can see a range of rockets that show the development of space travel and get into a Gemini capsule.

I found it awe inspiring to think that all this has happened within my life time and think that a visit here will inspire many young people with a sense of adventure and wonder.