It’s a breezy sunny morning here at the beach. The rainstorms over the weekend have freshened the air, and the birds are happily singing their songs. The recent cold snaps have left the palms in tattered and brown array. Most will take years to return to their statuesque beauty, if at all. But the oaks are abloom in budding greenery, waving their gorgeous branches in the onshore easterly breeze coming from our beach.
Later today, a Space X Falcon 9 launch is scheduled for 5:15 pm. We’ll be on the beach to watch it soar.
On Wednesday, (April Fool’s Day! ) NASA’s Artemis II mission around the moon is set to go at 6:24 pm. Artemis II is the first crewed mission as part of the Artemis program. The crew of 3 Americans and one Canadian will orbit around the moon and return back to Earth.
Officially, this mission will test the core systems of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, including the critical life support system among other systems that weren’t tested during Artemis I due to the lack of a crew aboard.
Artemis II will ride aboard the Atlas rocket, a beast that will rock the Space Coast and beyond. Local officials predict traffic will be very heavy on our roads and highways. 100,000 expected to come out and witness the launch.
https://www.wesh.com/article/nasa-addresses-safety-concerns-for-artemis-ii-mission/70148964
Magazines (Town and Tourist); Florida Back Roads Travel; Arts & Culture; VIATOR; Travel & Leisure (https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas-best-small-towns-florida-11926399)
We’ve been discovered. And I’m pretty sure I don’t like it. We’re being featured in magazine articles. With each spotlight, more of you want to come and partake.
We welcome you with open arms if……. you’ll only stay a few weeks. We know you’d like to be here permanently. Can’t blame you for that. The weather is absolute heaven most of the time. And right now it’s the time.
But come and stay? It feels like we’re already choking. Cape Canaveral is rapidly becoming a Ft. Lauderdale. Heavy traffic (especially during snow-bird season and spring break time), crowded parking lots at the local Publix, crazy confused out-of-state drivers unused to our middle of the A1A highway suicide-turn-lane crazy roads (no thanks to FDOT). And vast tracts of cleared land heading west from here to Orlando reveals thousands of homes in hundreds of developments being built. It’s heartbreaking. Truly. It doesn’t life my spirits when I see the Florida I call home disappearing. A wall delineating the rail tracks for the “Brightline” bullet train from Miami now obscures our view of the St. Johns River, the most natural pristine example of this beautiful exotic place.
A bustling Port immediately to our north, with mega gigundo cruise ships at least dozens of times larger than the biggest/tallest condo buildings lining our beach and river/lagoon. Brand new chain hotels galore (1500+ rooms) and more on the planning board… We have evolved from that sleepy laid-back beach town into a resort mecca.
It’s a marvelous place to be, and that’s what’s got me so wrought. Too many people moving in are changing the entire reason why they want to be here in the first place… a backwater little seacoast town with walkable neighborhoods, a beautiful beach, maritime and aerospace beehives of activity, and joie de vivre at seeing the most indescribable sunrises and sunsets every day. And each month, a full moon reflected on the ocean waves. Yes, plenty of diversions to keep one engaged and happy.
So for my sake and those who share my love for this community and are fighting against the steady change that’s turning us into just one more crowded Florida enclave, please, come and visit. But don’t stay too long. Thank you.
❤️
😎
🙏🏻
