Every semester the Corps conducts a field trip to historical places such as Gettysburg and Williamsburg. Every trip is different and always proves to be an exciting learning experience. This semester we went to St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest continuously inhabited town in North America. While there, we visited the Kennedy Space Center, historic town of St. Augustine including the antiquated Spanish fort, Castillo De San Marcos National Monument. The cadets enjoyed a dinner cruise on one of the oldest paddle driven boats still floating. A special treat was when the Captain allowed a few of the cadets to steer the boat from the Captain’s top deck.
The cadets enjoyed their time at The Kennedy Space Center were they got to see two I-MAX theatre movies that were 3-D and HD. A number of the braver cadets took a ride on the shuttle simulator that took the cadets through the take-off and launch sequence—Wow, what a cool experience. The cadets were also able to travel to each launch pad viewing station on the tour buses. They enjoyed launch pad thirty nine where they got to see the original site of the Saturn Five rocket.
St. Augustine is where the cadets learned about the Tumuquan Indians, the first people the Spanish encountered arriving on the coast of Florida. We toured their burial site and saw a demonstration by an Indian on the tools of war used by this tribe. We then visited Castillo De San Marcos which was protected with cannons that used 6 pound cannon balls and could fire cannon balls up to a mile and a half away. The Fort was put together with the sand and shells they found near the beach, which after it dried was very strong and resistant to cannon fire from the English. In fact, the Spanish would dig out the cannon balls fired into the fort walls, and fire them back at the English ships. Our last stop in St. Augustine was Flagler College, which used to be a grand Hotel for the “rich and famous”, and charged up to six thousand dollars a night just to stay there. We found out that visitors had to be invited, and payment was paid in full prior to being allowed to check in to their room. The hotel was later converted to a girls only college, and recently opened up to males. The buildings and campus are very beautiful. The ceilings in the foyer are covered in twenty-four karat gold, and the foyer is surrounded in 12 foot oak carved columns.
The cadets enjoyed their time at The Kennedy Space Center were they got to see two I-MAX theatre movies that were 3-D and HD. A number of the braver cadets took a ride on the shuttle simulator that took the cadets through the take-off and launch sequence—Wow, what a cool experience. The cadets were also able to travel to each launch pad viewing station on the tour buses. They enjoyed launch pad thirty nine where they got to see the original site of the Saturn Five rocket.
St. Augustine is where the cadets learned about the Tumuquan Indians, the first people the Spanish encountered arriving on the coast of Florida. We toured their burial site and saw a demonstration by an Indian on the tools of war used by this tribe. We then visited Castillo De San Marcos which was protected with cannons that used 6 pound cannon balls and could fire cannon balls up to a mile and a half away. The Fort was put together with the sand and shells they found near the beach, which after it dried was very strong and resistant to cannon fire from the English. In fact, the Spanish would dig out the cannon balls fired into the fort walls, and fire them back at the English ships. Our last stop in St. Augustine was Flagler College, which used to be a grand Hotel for the “rich and famous”, and charged up to six thousand dollars a night just to stay there. We found out that visitors had to be invited, and payment was paid in full prior to being allowed to check in to their room. The hotel was later converted to a girls only college, and recently opened up to males. The buildings and campus are very beautiful. The ceilings in the foyer are covered in twenty-four karat gold, and the foyer is surrounded in 12 foot oak carved columns.
On the last day, we let our hair down and went to Universal Studios amusement park, The Islands of Adventure which was very exciting. We enjoyed fun rides like The Hulk, a great roller coaster that really challenged us and that put riders through the ultimate danger test. All the cadets enjoyed good food and entertainment. The cadets could honestly say this trip was priceless due to the education, fun and excitement, and none of us was ready to return home. It was an experience of a life time.
