Brevard County has plenty of alligators and you’re likely to find them anywhere. I recently spotted these alligators at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge catching the sun and warming themselves from the recent cold weather.

There’s a scene right out of Pirate’s of the Caribbean playing at Port Canaveral. The first ship to enter the ghost fleet was the Liquid Vegas in May of last year. The company filled for bankruptcy and the ship has been sold, however its still docked at the port.

Then SunCruz Surfside Princess was the next to enter the abyss, it last set sail on Dec 13 and its parent company Ocean Casino Cruises also filed for bankruptcy.

Then two more ghost casino ships appeared out of nowhere, the SunCruz VIII from Myrtle Beach and the SunCruz VI from Jacksonville. We’ll keep an eye out for Capt. Jack Sparrow and more casino ghost ships.

Yesterday I photographed the Liberty Star at Jetty Park towing one of the solid rocket boosters (SRBs) from the STS-129 mission in which Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Nov 16 at 2:28 p.m. EST.

The way the SRBs are retrieved from the Atlantic after a launch is pretty cool. The SRBs themselves will be refurbished and readied for a future shuttle launch from KSC.

The SRBs are 149.16 ft long and 12.17 ft in diameter, weigh 1,300,000 lb at launch.

The possible next generation manned launch vehicle, the Ares 1, launched today from Kennedy Space Center. The Ares 1-X test launch was spectacular. Go NASA!

Here’s my view from my place at the beach in Cape Canaveral .

Today and yesterday I had a chance to watch the Cocoa Beach Air Show. One of the best pictures I took was of the F-16 from the Viper Team East Heritage Flight with a Korean War era F-86 Sabre.

Here is the F-16 alone as it streaks downward.

A C-17 with it’s landing gear down.

These two are of a F/A-18 Hornet.

Here a HC-130 performs a refueling exercise with two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters from the 920th Rescue Wing stationed at Patrick AFB.

The Geico Skytypers were lighting up the sky with messages.

The show opening featured the Skytypers, the Golden Knights and a Biplane.

Kite boarding has become a popular sport on Space Coast Beaches and these pictures show why.

The couple above were awed by this kite boarder catching air.

Now he’s just showing off.

This is the Disney Wonder sailing out of Port Canaveral. The Disney Wonder is 964′ long, 106′ wide, has a tonnage of 83,000 and a top speed of 24 kn. The popular cruise ship can accommodate 2,400 passengers and 1000 crew and built in 1999.

Last week I shot these photos of the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation has opened the restored second and third floors of the lighthouse and is conducting limited tours.

Short History of the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse

The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse was originally built in 1848 and was only 65′ tall. The original lighthouse was powered by whale oil.

In 1868, a new lighthouse was build an equipped with a first order Fresnel Lens. The new lighthouse was 151′ tall and the light could be seen for 22 miles.

In 1892, with erosion within 70′ of the lighthouse base, the decision was made and the lighthouse was moved one mile inland to its present location.

In 1939 the Coast Guard took ownership of the lighthouse.

In 2000, stewardship of the lighthouse was transferred to the 45th Space Wing, Patrick Air Force Base, making this the only operational lighthouse owned by the US Air Force.

In 2004 restoration began, then on April 29, 2007, the lighthouse light was re-lit and is visible throughout Cape Canaveral.

Tours of the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse

If you want to view the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse yourself, tours of the lighthouse are available on a very limited basis, A tour may be arranged by contacting the 45th Space Wing Public Affairs at 321.494.5945 or 321.494.5949.

More Florida Lighthouses

This guy was having a little fun on Coco Beach as the waves kicked up last week.