You don't have to be in Florida. Once I was on a South Carolina resort island beach at dusk with several business colleagues, and we all gasped as a pillar of smoke rose from the southern horizon with a glowing light at the top. Turns out it was a shuttle launch. You'd think from that far away it would not be visible or would only project an apparent short vertical distance, but it looked just like it was almost next door (except that the shuttle itself was not visible, and the flame was much smaller than it appears when you're closer).