From beautiful beaches and stunning wildlife to actual astronauts, Florida is chock-full of bucket-list activities

FROM incredible wildlife to awe-inspiring rockets, Editor in Chief Sinead McIntyre and her family have a really wild time in Florida.

Think of Florida, and you probably picture that little guy with the big ears, fairy-tale princesses and death-defying rollercoasters.

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But there is so much more to the Sunshine State, as we found out when we took a trip to the Space Coast.

From beautiful beaches and stunning wildlife to actual astronauts, it’s chock-full of bucket-list activities.

Just a 55-minute drive from Orlando Airport lies Cocoa Beach – miles of pristine white sand in Brevard County, close to Kennedy Space Center.

We check into Homewood Suites By Hilton in Cape Canaveral, where our family room has two queen-size beds, a sofa bed, a huge bathroom and a small kitchen – perfect for travelling with my husband Alistair and our 13-year-old twins Riley and Harris.

We notice it’s mainly full of holiday-makers boarding the giant cruise ships that depart regularly from the nearby docks, but there’s a dinky pool and we meet lots of lovely Americans from as far afield as Minneapolis.

Family rooms cost from £154 B&B (Hilton.com).

Starving, we head to the eclectic Floridian restaurant Coconuts On The Beach to enjoy the stunning ocean views.

The home-made nachos with guacamole are an excellent sharer, while Harris declares the spicy corn and crawfish chowder, £6.10, one of the best dishes he’s ever had.

The shrimp reef tacos, £12.30, are melt-in-the-mouth delicious, too (Coconutsonthebeach.com).

Meanwhile, a couple of local lagers are just what the doctor ordered after the long flight.

Then we walk off our food with a stroll along the beautiful, unspoilt beach.

You can’t go to Cocoa Beach without visiting its world-famous 800m-long pier – not least because it looks great on the ‘gram.

We wander around The Pier Shop, before nabbing a table at Pier 62 for a view of the surfers below, while tucking into chowder fries (which are more delicious than they sound), £10, calamari, £12.30, and chicken wings, £16.90 (Cocoabeachpier.com).

Nearby, on Peacock Beach, a community of the colourful birds roam free.

As a family of animal lovers, we’ve come to the right place.

We take the 30-minute drive to Brevard Zoo, a 75-acre non-profit enclosure in Melbourne.

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Entry costs £25.45 for over-12s (Brevardzoo.org).

Here, we feed giraffes lettuce, stroll among kangaroos, admire flamingoes and take a kayak trip on the river that flows around the zoo, before enjoying lunch at the cafe – a turkey-club sandwich, £10.80, for me and burgers and fries, £10, for everyone else.

It’s just the start of our animal experiences.

That evening, we join a sunset boat trip down Banana River with Cocoa Beach Dolphin Tours.

Before we even set off, we spy a huge manatee – also known as a sea cow – while on the 45-minute trip itself, we spot dolphins, herons, osprey and pelicans.

Tickets cost £35 for adults, £27 for kids (Cocoabeachdolphintours.com).

It’s a really incredible experience, topped off by dinner at nearby Mexican, La Catrina.

Alistair and I get into the spirit of things with a spicy margarita, £10.80, before tucking into chipotle steak tacos, £13.

Riley and Harris, meanwhile, wolf down their chicken super-burritos, £12.35 (Lacatrinacocoabeach.com).

That’s not the end of our dolphin and manatee sightings, either.

The following day we drive to Haulover Canal in Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge for a two-hour kayaking adventure.

Here, we are lucky to see a dolphin and her baby jumping through the water, before hanging out with a dozen manatees trying to stay warm in some shallower water as Florida’s winter comes to an end.

Luckily, our kayak day is a beautiful one, so much so that we spot an alligator a few feet from us, sunbathing on a bank – much to Riley’s horror.

She is soon reassured by our guide, though, who tells her that alligators will never try to take on a kayak.

Tours cost £38.60 per person (Adayawaykayaktours.com).

As the name might suggest, the Space Coast is also home to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, which hit the headlines recently when four astronauts set off to rescue two colleagues who had been stranded in space for eight months.

It’s an incredible place, with so much to see that you definitely need at least two days to explore.

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We begin with a bus tour to the Apollo/Saturn V centre.

Here, we experience that first successful Apollo 8 rocket launch to the moon in 1968, standing in front of the actual firing panels used, while listening to audio of the moments leading up to it.

It’s so inspirational that we leave feeling like nothing is impossible and head into the exhibition centre, where we stand under the gigantic Saturn V – at 363ft tall, it’s the largest rocket ever flown.

Later, we join a fascinating Q&A with astronaut Steve Smith, a veteran of four space flights and seven space walks.

He shares brilliant anecdotes – including how a fellow astronaut returned from space and was holding some plates, when his wife asked him to grab the salt, so he let them go.

In space, the plates would float – on Earth, not so much!

Afterwards, we wander through the Heroes & Legends exhibition and read about the astronauts inducted into the US Hall of Fame, as well as getting up close to the Gemini 9A capsule.

Two-day passes cost £74 per person (Kennedyspacecenter.com).

Our final hotel of the stay is the gorgeous Courtyard By Marriott, a five-minute drive from the Space Center and set on the Indian River with views of any rocket launches.

Family rooms cost from £167 per night (Marriott.com).

We are back just in time to soak up some rays by the pool, before we pop up to the rooftop Space Bar for cocktails, £11.60 each, and dinner.

I try an aptly named Causeway Cosmo and Alistair has a Skyrockets In Flight – a tangy mix of tequila, triple sec and fresh lime, which comes complete with a rocket-shaped ice lolly!

Space Bar Nachos, £16.60, prove a winner as a starter, while the tuna poke bowl, £18.30, tastes lovely and healthy, and the Philly cheesesteak mac ’n’ cheese goes down a treat with the kids, £15.30.

Back in our room, we switch on our astronaut light, which projects stars on to the walls, and wish upon one that we will return soon. . .

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