Things To Do In SW Florida

No decision has been made yet, but NASA detailed Wednesday an option to get Boeing’s Starliner astronauts home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon if needed.

NASA’s Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams ar+rived on Starliner on June 6 a day after launching from Cape Canaveral on the Crew Flight Test mission for what was supposed to be about an eight-day stay on the International Space Station.

Issues with thrusters and helium leaks on Starliner’s propulsion module, though, led Boeing and NASA to try to figure out if it would be safe enough to fly home with humans on board — going through a series of ground tests and on-station hot fires — but the exact problem has yet to be nailed down.

“When we started this mission, it was a test mission. We knew that it potentially had a higher risk than a flight on a vehicle that has more experience, more flights on it,” NASA’s Ken Bowersox, associate administrator of the Space Operations Mission Directorate, said during a press conference. “So we’re at the point now where we see additional risk.” read more

After 1,781 restaurant inspections across Central Florida in July, only 159 had no issues for the entire month, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Brevard had the highest percentage of restaurants with zero violations during routine food inspections at 12.4%. Orange and Seminole tied for second at 10.3%. Volusia ranked fourth with 7.4%.

Osceola and Lake ranked near the bottom at 6.7% and 2%, respectively.

Orange County had the most restaurants with no violations at 88 out of 857. Volusia was in second place with 23 out of 310 and Brevard was third with 19 out of 159.

BREVARD

El Fogon Venezuelan Grill, 3280 Suntree Blvd., Melbourne
La Caribena Kitchen LLC, 1780 Croton Road, Melbourne
Buffalo Wild Wings Go, 1270 N. Wickham Road, Suite 7-8, Melbourne
Radisson Resort at the Port Catering, 8701 Astronaut Blvd., Cape Canaveral
Sandbar Sports Bar, 4301 Ocean Blvd., Cocoa Beach
Charlie and Jake’s Barbecue, 490 E. Eau Gallie Blvd., Indian Harbour Beach
Al Baik Kabob House, 1288 Sarno Road, Melbourne
Fish Bellies Food Truck, 1240 N. Highway A1A, Vin 6186, Indialantic
Big Roman’s Pizzeria, 7960 US Highway 1, Suite 4, Micco
Shenanigans, 120 Merritt Island Causeway, Merritt Island
Delicias Conchita, 2447 N. Wickham Road, Suite 114, Melbourne
Jason’s Deli, 1509 W. New Haven Ave., Melbourne
Francisco’s Mexican Restauranat, 2916 Aurora Road., Melbourne
Munchies En Ruedas LLC, 600 North Dr., Melbourne
Kelsey’s Pizza, 2845 Garden St., Titusville
Zachary’s Restaurant, 8799 Astronaut Blvd., Cape Canaveral
The Soup Shop, 4100 Wickham Road #104, Melbourne
Mangia E. Bevi Pizzeria Napoletana, 218 W. Cocoa Beach Causeway, Cocoa Beach
Bakery Delights, 660 E. Eau Gallie Blvd. Unit 103, Indian Harbour Beach read more

Once the world’s largest cruise ships, Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas shined on its debut in 2010 on the heels of the original Oasis of the Seas.

As more Oasis-class vessels debuted and the original ship was revamped, some of what have become hallmark features of the popular class of ships have been sorely missing from Allure of the Seas.

The line is sinking more than $100 million, though, to dress up the ship so it fits right in with Oasis, Harmony, Symphony, Wonder and newest sister ship Utopia of the Seas, which debuted out of Port Canaveral last month.

Those features include the introduction of the 10-deck dry slide The Ultimate Abyss, the three-slide water park The Perfect Storm and water play area Splashaway Bay as well as a pool-deck makeover and the introduction of some of the line’s newest popular restaurant and bar concepts.

The upgrades won’t debut until Allure of the Seas goes into dry dock in spring 2025, and then will be on display at first for the ship’s European sailing season in the Mediterranean beginning in April, but will be back in Florida sailing out of Port Everglades from November 2025-March 2026 before moving to Galveston, Texas. read more

Thirty-seven years ago, a young lifeguard named Peter Leo went for a swim near Jupiter Inlet.

To his surprise, he discovered an anchor and a cannon about 100 yards offshore. Leo and his friends determined the artifacts had likely come from a Spanish galleon that sank near the inlet in the late 17th century.

The find touched off court battles with the state and federal governments over the rights to salvage treasure found at the wreck site, and how that salvaging could be done. Nearly four decades later, the salvage company that Leo formed with his partner, former marina owner Dominic Addario, has filed another federal lawsuit that accuses the Army Corps of Engineers of illegally withholding renewal of a “dredge and fill” permit that the company has been required to obtain for the past 33 years.

After discovering the anchor and cannon in 1987, Leo and Addario then found Spanish-minted silver coins, some gold coins, two gold bars and an 80-pound silver bar marked with the date 1669.

Suspecting that their retrieval of the artifacts would be contested, the pair quickly formed a company, Jupiter Wreck, and hired David Paul Horan, a Key West-based maritime attorney who represented famed salvor Mel Fisher in Fisher’s successful effort to claim ownership of valuables found at the site of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha in the 1970s and 1980s. read more

NASA has yet to make a decision on when Boeing’s Starliner can return home or whether it will have its two astronauts on board. That delay has also led to a decision to delay the planned SpaceX Crew-9 mission.

NASA announced Tuesday it would target no earlier than Sept. 24 for the launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom and its planned crew of NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, Nick Hague and Stephanie Wilson along with Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.

They’re supposed to relieve the four members of Crew-8 who have been on board the International Space Station since March.

Also on board are NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew up on Starliner as part of the Crew Flight Test arriving on June 6 after launching the day before from Cape Canaveral. Issues with the Starliner’s propulsion system’s thrusters and helium leaks, though, have caused delays in the decision on when and how Starliner will return home.

“This adjustment allows more time for mission managers to finalize return planning for the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test currently docked to the orbiting laboratory,” NASA posted on its website. “Starliner ground teams are taking their time to analyze the results of recent docked hot-fire testing, finalize flight rationale for the spacecraft’s integrated propulsion system, and confirm system reliability ahead of Starliner’s return to Earth.” read more