I remembered the belching, billowing smoke at liftoff. I remembered the towering pillar of smoke as the shuttle climbs toward orbit. And I remembered suppressing the fear that something might go wrong.

But as my son and I watched Discovery's launch Thursday afternoon, from the east causeway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, I realized I had forgotten the blinding, ferocious flame that followed the shuttle as it hurled six astronauts off the planet. It felt like it would burn a spot into my retinas. Photos don't do it justice.

I have covered three shuttle launches for The Sun, two that actually flew, and a third that was postponed. This was my first with my son and without having to file a story.

Here's the video I shot with my Canon Digital Elph point-and-shoot camera. Notice how long it takes the sound of the rocket to reach us. Time it, do a little math and you'll know how far away we were. We were south of launch Complex 39, so you are looking north as Discovery launches to the east. 

Ty and I had been planning this trip since last fall. But problems with the shuttle caused repeated delays. With each one we had to reschedule our flights - at least six times, as I recall.

This time was the charm. We arrived in Orlando Thursday morning, rented a car and drove east toward Cape Canaveral. We quickly ran into heavy traffic. NASA said this may have been the biggest crowd in history to watch a launch. Hotel and restaurant employees agreed. In addition to being Discovery's last launch, it is the third-to-last shuttle launch ever. When we got our tickets last fall, it was supposed to be the second-to-last. Then NASA added one more flight.

Anyway, traffic was stop-and-go for much of the way. When we got the the Visitors' Center, nearly every grassy vantage point was filled with adults and kids and cameras, waiting hours for liftoff. We managed to snag tickets for a bus ride out to the east causeway and an unobstructed view of the launch.

We found a spot overlooking the lagoon, maybe 5 or 6 miles from the launchpad. Waterbirds waded in the shallows. Fish jumped. Kids annoyed. But it was a terrific place to be. The weather was perfect .. upper 70s or low 80s. Blue skies, with some scattered white cumulous clouds moving in from the south.

NASA launch commentary was broadcast over loudspeakers, so we could follow the last-minute range safety issue that threatened to postpone the launch. The issues were resolved in the final minutes, and Discovery arose from the pad on schedule at about 4:50 p.m. 

Ty was shooting black-and-white film on my old Minolta SLR. You can hear his shutter clicks. I took video on my point-and-shoot digital. Discovery had climbed well into the sky over Cape Canaveral before the crackling roar of its engines and solid fuel boosters reached us.

And in less than a minute, it was over for us. Discovery had been reduced to a white dot against the blue sky. And its smokey trail was twisting and dispersing in the wind. Here's another view, from an airliner.

We were bused back to the Visitors Center, where we retrieved our rental car and began the long trek back. Traffic was awful. It took us two hours to get off Merritt Island - a 10-mile drive - and another hour to reach our hotel.

"I'm really glad I came," Ty said. "But I won't be doing it again."

I'm sure this was my last shuttle launch, too.