Red wine & Sugarland

Today's totally random thought.....ever notice how many times Jennifer Nettles references red wine in Sugarland's songs. lol! It's not a bad thing at all, just funny to me.  We all know how much she loves her red wine.  I still laugh at the fact that she replaced her dishwasher in her first house with a wine cooler....priorities!!! The pic below is in honor of her and all of that red wine :)

Space Shuttle Endeavour's final launch

The Space Shuttle Endeavour made it's final trip into space on May 16, 2011 and I was lucky enough to be at Space View Park to witness it in person.  It's hard to describe how amazing it is to see the shuttle lift off and travel through the Earth's atmosphere.  Then to hear and feel the rumble from it's liftoff go through the core of your body is just intense.  Below are a few of the pics I took this past Monday of it.

sunrise over the cape

liftoff of Endeavour

Fun Adventures just about anyone can do...Adventure #4...attend a Food Truck Bazaar

Food Truck Bazaar

A food truck can also be called a mobile kitchen, mobile canteen or catering truck.  A food truck bazaar is a recurring event bringing select food trucks together in a specific area for people to come out and experience.  Food trucks are located all over the world but have become really popular here in the United States over the past couple of years.  NYC & Miami (as well as Orlando now) have them all over the place (mostly stationed outside local businesses) everyday for residents to eat at whether it be during a break or for an actual meal. 

This month I decided to check out one of these food truck bazaars to see what all the hype was about and let me tell you I was not disappointed. The event ran from 7pm until midnight and featured around 15 trucks from all over the Orlando area as well as Miami.  Food ranged from BBQ to waffles to fish to cupcakes.  There was something for everyone no matter how picky of an eater you are.  What's really fun about this type of event is you don't have to just pick one truck and have that as your meal.  You can bounce around from truck to truck and sample everything that jumps out at you. For someone who is a germ freak I was a little hesitant at first to attend but I was glad I got over it and did.  From what I saw all of the trucks I walked up to, they were very sanitary and I had no problem eating from them.

Just a couple of quick tips when attending a food truck bazaar are: bring cash most trucks don't have credit card machines, be prepared to wait in long lines for those popular trucks, make friends while waiting in line (I met an entertaining group of ladies while waiting for my waffle) and lastly just enjoy yourself.

So if you have never attended a food truck bazaar before or heck even thought about eating from a food truck in general, I highly recommend you!

apple pie waffle sandwich from one of the food trucks

Fun Adventures just about anyone can do.....Adventure #3...Shuttle Launch

I know it's a little late to be writing about this adventure as there are only 2 shuttle launches left but hey better late than never!  Attending a Space Shuttle launch has always been on my "Bucket List".  I was lucky enough to attend a night launch of Discovery back in 2009 and last week I attempted to attend they final launch of Endeavor.  Unfortunately the Endeavor launch was scrubbed due to technical issues.  Keeping my fingers crossed I can make it for NASA's second launch attempt of it whenever it is scheduled. 

For now though here are a few tips for attending a shuttle launch.

1. Know that it's a risk attending a shuttle launch....there is always a 50/50 chance of it being canceled due to weather or technical issues

2. Research where you want to watch the launch...there are several great options (we chose Space View Park for this most recent one).  You can even just park your car along A1A should you want.

3. Plan to get there REALLY early...it will be packed no matter where you go!!  For the Endeavor launch we arrived 9 hours early and probably could have gotten there even earlier as it was already filled with people.  The diehards camp out over night.

4. Bring a cooler of drinks and snacks

5. Be prepared for there to be minimal bathrooms around

6. Bring beach chairs, blankets, umbrellas, tents to sit on and under so you are prepared for the weather

7. Bring things to entertain yourself but know that you will also make lots of new friends while there so that can keep you entertained as well

8. Having a camera is a MUST - if you have an SLR bring it....point and shoot works as well though

9. Just remember it's going to be a long day and to not get frustrated

10. After the launch either make a mad dash to your car and try and beat traffic or hang out for a couple hours at the launch site and then attempt your way home.  Traffic is going to be horrible and you will be sitting in it for quite some time

11.  Remember to have fun and know that this is a once in a lifetime thing for most people

View of NASA Vehicle Assembly Building from Space View Park