We took a day trip to Cape Canaveral to watch NASA launch an Atlas V rocket with a NOAA Weather Satellite payload. We looked into watching the launch from within the Kennedy Space Center, but it was going to cost $50 per person to visit. If we wanted to watch from the observatory we were going to have to pay another $50 per person.
Playalinda beach at Cape Canaveral
The internet came to the rescue and I found a beach on Merritt Island that is directly north of the launch pads. It cost us $10 for a carload to go to the beach. The beach had a big berm you have to cross to get from the parking lot to the beach. There are some bridges that go over the berm and that is where everyone was 10 minutes before the launch. But the beach was pretty empty and I would highly recommend Playalinda Beach as a viewing point to see a launch.
Launch Pads from Playalinda Beach
The launch itself was amazing. The acceleration is hard to describe. Stephanie had the binoculars and could see the first stage coming off the rocket.
Contrails after the launch