Must be some residual fatigue from yesterday's Disney excursion because it's 10:30 and we're wiped.

Not having plans for today, it dawned on me as I lay in bed this morning that a drive to Cocoa Beach or perhaps the IMAX version of Apollo 13 would be a low-key way to spend the day. So we went for both. On the way down to Cocoa I spotted more gators and armadillos out on Merritt Island and would definitively call those canals "gator infested." Armadillos are metal bunnies, Robo-bunnies. They are scaly and cute. All along the Space Coast church and business marquees continue to express their sorrow and support for "the Columbia crew and their families" and "all at KSC," etc. Even those at the Cocoa gentlemen's clubs. Seriously. "Showing our sorrow. And our tits."

Wandering around the colorful surfwear at Ron Jon's Surf Shop, I spotted a sign explaining the store's history. Turns out the one on Island Beach in NJ is the Original and this one in Florida is the Flagship. Both prestigious, but in different ways. I'm sure the NJ location didn't see the business the Cocoa one did today, not with a foot of snow in the parking lot.

And speaking of the weather, it makes for boring newscasts down here. Up north, the weather report could bring snow, sleet, a "mix" in the winter (or perhaps a nor'easter!). In summer, there's always the chance of those exciting summer storms, flooding, droughts and whatnot. Here, it's all Pretty, Pretty, Pretty, some rain, Pretty, Pretty, etc. ... And then those newscasters on the Orlando Fox affiliate � one who spells her first name "Milissa" � who whine about the 60s being cold and good thing we're not up north and give me some 75. They wouldn't last a day in the real world.

Not that I don't enjoy this respite from the winter. If you think about it, oftentimes people make winter vacation plans for warm climates expecting to take a break from the cold and snow. But to have the good fortune to fully and completely miss out on the biggest storm in seven years in the process is quite an accomplishment. So to be sitting at the outdoor tiki hut of Aw shucks Oyster Bar on the Cocoa Beach Pier drinking Amber Bock out of the taps and into plastic cups while admiring the Cutest Puppy Ever (a weeks-old black lab barely bigger than the plate of food in front of me) was, at that moment with Casey at my side, the perfect presentation of "grateful."

Lunch and our earlier brief walk on the beach (where we just missed seeing a pair of whales offshore, as we discovered this evening on the news) were followed by another visit to KSC, where we headed straight for the IMAX theater and did see Apollo 13 from a different perspective. It was poignant to watch knowing what we know (so far) of Columbia's final flight and how close Jim Lovell and his crew came to a similar fate. I think I may have been more choked up at the happy ending than usual.

Outside, we again walked through the Columbia parking lot on our way to our car beneath Endeavour's sign.