See video of the launch here.

The original plan was to load up the little sunfish sailboat , throw some sandwiches and drinks in a cooler, and go spend the afternoon sailing and goofing off on the Banana River causeway before watching Discovery lift off at 5:02 pm. But after a delayed departure (by us - not NASA), we decided to leave the sailing for another day and just go "hang" and watch the launch. Good decision, although we missed out on a beautiful day of sailing out on the intracoastal with scores of other sailboats.

From Orlando, the trip to Port Canaveral can typically be made in about 45 minutes. We got caught in launch traffic however, so it was more like 1:20 by the time we found a spot and got unloaded.

It amazes me how many folks who live in the Central Florida area have never gone over to witness this spectacle first hand. Sure - you can see the launch from here in Orlando, but you can't feel it or hear it like you can over there. And its so darn simple to enjoy.

It works like this: You get in a your car. You drive east (SR 50 or the 528 Beachline Expressway will work). When you find the crowds along the Banana River causeway, find a place to park, head down to the water - preferably on the north side of the causeway. The next part is critical - goof off and watch your kids play while thousands of onlookers listen to the NASA audio countdown feeds on the radio, adjust telephoto lenses, and generally mill about, talk, eat, drink, and socialize until the time comes to watch that bird blast off into the sky. Its a festive atmosphere indeed. Similar to a huge tailgate party, but a bit more scientific.

The energy builds until the final 60 second countdown begins... then ten, nine, eight, seven.... and right about now you can see the giant plume of smoke across the water (about five miles away), envelope the orbiter that still sits buckled to the launch pad, and then...

You see a giant roman candle - like image shoot up out of the smoke plume and soar into the sky. It is nothing short of amazing. It was amazing when I saw my first live launch when I was probably 10 or 11, and its still just as amazing all these years later.

If you ever get a chance to view a shuttle launch, I highly recommend it. If you've got kids - you owe it to them to go see it. They'll never forget it.