I'm jealous. For the last three years, living in Daytona, I've vowed I would drop everything to see the very last launch. And then they extended the program, and the launch was in the summer while I was out of state.
Though it wouldn't have worked well on the last launch due to the clouds, I'm sure there's other launches you could have seen from Daytona.
Another anecdote: The first launch I saw when I was a little kid, probably seven years old. I was riding in the back seat of my mom's car and happened to look out the back window. When I looked back, I saw the a fireball rising into the sky, which of course was the shuttle.
Also, about two years ago, I was driving home with my girlfriend one night and we saw a star which seemed to be moving higher into the sky. Suddenly, it disappeared. I couldn't find any mention of rocket launches until, after extensive searching, it turned out to be a secret CIA satellite.