Getting up early to see the five planet alignment.

We kept hearing about the special planet arrangement for

weeks, but could we really see it from here?  Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn; all visible to the naked eye.  Sounded incredible so we set the alarm for 3:30, grabbed our coffee to go and headed for the beach.

To the two of us who grew up in the 60's and 70's when "space" was all the rage, this was beyond fun.  We had planet posters in our bedrooms as kids.  We watched My Favorite Martian,  Lost in Space and Star Trek.  We played with Kozmic Kiddles and Billy Blast-Off.  We were ready.  You can see Venus to the lower left of the moon in this photo.

Unfortunately, Mercury was so low that it was always in the cloud bank.  But we knew it was there.

Mars, Jupiter and Saturn were visible but not to this camera.  They faded away quickly as the sun began to rise and the boaters left the harbor to go fishing.

"We need to do this more often" we said.

There were about 15 other people there; all staring at these planets that seemed impossible far away.  Probably because they are.

The planets began to disappear but the sun gave us a spectacular show! 

A few more low clouds rolled in but they added to the drama.

I think this is my favorite. 

Two hours after we arrived, the day was underway.  We saw four of the planets and were grateful for that.  If we're lucky, we'll see Mercury next time around; 18 years from now.