AirSpaceMag.com

Laurilee Thompson has spent 27 of her 57 years catering to tourists, and her Titusville restaurant, the Dixie Crossroads, is for many Florida visitors a destination in itself. “You want real shrimp off a real shrimp boat caught that day, this is your place,” she says. “We’re going to feel the downturn when hundreds of thousands of people no longer show up for shuttle launches, but after the Columbia disaster [in February 2003] there were no launches for a couple years and we’re still here.” Thompson believes that periods of discontinuity offer major opportunities, and she fully expects to see the Space Coast bounce back more vital than ever once some high-tech industries discover a huge workforce ready and able to “get back at it.” She grew up working shrimp boats and, as she sees it, “you just have to go out every day and expect a catch.”

David Burnett/Contact Press Images

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Photos from: "Throttle Down" »