X5103

La Florida

Naming of Florida, 500th Anniversary

Yellow Cannas

Kennedy Space Center

Collins Cover Announcement 

Florida

Kennedy Space Center

Trying to encompass the history of Florida in a mini-set of cachets is a fun project, and, without a doubt, the Kennedy Space Center must be included. This impressive NASA facility has been the site of origin of every human space flight since 1968. The 219 square mile base is well worth a visit, and if your travels ever take you to the Orlando area, I enthusiastically recommend the short drive east to the coast.

My hand-painted cachet is a composite showing both the space shuttle with booster-rockets and fuel tank as well as another rocket blasting off from the launching pad. The watercolors capture the various fiery hues as the fuel ignites and the rocket rises toward the heavens. This is the third cover I've announced in my "La Florida" quintet. It joins Ponce de Leon (X5101) as he discovers Florida in 1513 and Seminole chief Osceola (X5105) who fought to keep his lands in the early 1800s. Still to come are the treasured island city of Key West and a tribute to several famous theme parks that thousands upon thousands visit each year. In my opinion, these First Day Covers will be the finest produced by any cachetmaker for this magnificent set of four beautiful stamps.

Now ready is the gateway to human travel beyond the confines of planet earth. Kennedy Space Center — Collins #X5103 at $14.00.