July 20, 1969: Over a million people have come to watch the liftoff of  Apollo 11, first manned mission to the moon. Many have pitched tents out on the open land around the Florida launch site, the empty acreage now littered with station wagons and trailers and vans. (Only after the launch will the astronauts themselves be able to see, through their small window, the crowd spread out for miles like a vast, animated organism.) Most everyone’s in shorts and bathing suits. There’s a picnic basket over here, a Thermos of weak coffee over there, and maybe something stronger in the cooler for later, after the
astronauts have gotten safely off the ground. The trip to the moon will take three days, no sense waiting till then to  pop a cool one.
– from Lost in Wonder (book)

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