a great spot is the jetty park on the other side of the river (cocoa beach side). if you get there early enough and plant yourself it's an amazing view. the whole place shakes.
Here is a 4-image composite of the Cassini night launch in 1997, done on Fuji Velvia film. http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries....launch5f.html
I simply metered off of the subjects and bracketed a couple of stops. Of course with digital, you get instant feedback.