Family Getaways 2008 - (Page 30) Clockwise from top left: John Glenn plaque at the Space Walk of Fame, photo courtesy of Space Walk of Fame. The Mercury 7 crew, photo courtesy of NASA. John Glenn handprints on the Space Walk of Fame, courtesy of Space Walk of Fame. 4 RIVERSIDE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH In 1962, John Glenn and his family worshipped at this church at 3400 Atlantic Ave. on the A1A. It was here that Glenn was mobbed by autograph seekers; Glenn also spoke from the pulpit of what is now the church’s Knox Hall. WHEN YOU GO Florida’s Space Coast, www.space-coast.com Holiday Inn Cocoa Beach, 321-783-2271, www.hicocoabeachhotelsite.com Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, 321-449-4444, www.kennedyspacecenter.com La Quinta Inn, 321-783-2252, www.lq.com Space Walk of Fame Foundation and Museum, 321-264-0434, www.spacewalkoffame.com The Surf Bar & Grill, 321-783-2401 5 SPACE WALK OF FAME This riverwalk at 4 Main St. in Titusville (which includes a Mercury monument with a giant “7” and astronaut handprints) includes interactive displays and plaques that celebrate the achievements of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo astronauts, as well as the hundreds of engineers, mechanics and others who made the space program possible. Head to the accompanying museum to see launch consoles and Titan memorabilia. The museum even has Soviet space memorabilia. Look across the water and you can see the mammoth (and historic) Vehicle Assembly Building in the distance. For more information, see VISITFLORIDA.com/Cocoa_Beach 6 HOLIDAY INN COCOA BEACH This Holiday Inn was run by Henri Landwirth, a Holocaust survivor and friend to the Mercury 7 astronauts. The pool was the scene of astronaut hijinx; at the dining room Landwirth once served Gus Grissom a meal made with cardboard as a joke (Grissom ate it). Once next door to the Holiday Inn and now subsumed by it, a Ramada Inn housed Wolfie’s Deli, famous for its part in Grissom’s in-flight corned beef sandwich fiasco (Grissom violated NASA’s rule that he wasn’t to eat anything during the flight). Much updated, you can still swim in the pool where the astronauts swam. CBS News producer Don Hewitt, in his biography, recounts that he and Walter Cronkite stayed at the hotel with the astronauts’ families before each launch. 7 LA QUINTA INN COCOA BEACH (FORMERLY CAPE COLONY) In 1962, the original Mercury 7 astronauts invested in this hotel, which was originally called the Cape Colony. You’ll find a plaque commemorating the 7 in the lobby; it is now a La Quinta. 30 VISITFLORIDA.com/family http://www.space-coast.com http://www.hicocoabeachhotelsite.com http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com http://www.lq.com http://www.spacewalkoffame.com http://VISITFLORIDA.com/Cocoa_Beach http://VISITFLORIDA.com/family
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