Daytona Beach

What a beautiful day today! 

We awoke at our usual 5:30 or so but stayed around the Super 8 and had breakfast from the boxed cereal and bottle of milk that we purchased at Publix a few days ago.  This Super 8 was fine and was certainly affordable.  It was clean and quiet which are our two primary criteria for lodging accommodations. The carpet in the rooms had been replaced recently and the bathrooms were remodeled to include quartz tub/shower surround and the wood look ceramic tiles.  The water pressure is excellent and we had instant hot water for our showers.  The refrigerator in the room is about twice the size of a dorm refrigerator and there is a microwave as well.  The room has a balcony overlooking the ocean and there is plenty of free parking.  Daytona Beach is perfectly positioned between our trips to St. Augustine and Titusville areas.  We really don’t care about the quality of the hotel breakfast which is a good thing since the Super 8 here has two kinds of cereal and the typical waffle maker.  Their “breakfast” area didn’t open until 7 am by which time we are usually out for the day.  We found that it is much easier if we pick up breakfast items from a grocery store and have breakfast as we like.

Unlike most mornings we didn’t leave our room today until around 8:30 to arrive at the Daytona Beach Museum of Arts and Sciences when it opened at 9 am.  Our membership in Cincinnati Museum Center got us in free which was a nice surprise.  The museum has a nice collection of furniture and early American art.  The area that we enjoyed most was the collection of Coca-Cola artifacts that was the collection of the Root family.  The Roots designed and produced the iconic curved bottle of Coca-Cola.  The collection included many bottles, delivery vehicles, vending machines and advertising items.  The museum also makes their stored collections visible to the public which was interesting. 
Another great exhibit at the museum was the collection of Cuban art and artifacts.  The Daytona area has a large population of residents with Cuban family and cultural roots.  Many families donated beautiful items to the collection.  A good many of the items were donated by President Fulgencio Battista who had a home in Daytona after his exile from Cuba. 
When we came out of the museum we were greeted with the most beautiful day we have seen since we have been here.  There wasn’t a cloud to be seen in the sky!  We had planned to spend much of the day in museums and in the Daytona area but weather like this is just too good to pass up so we decided to drive along the beach.

From the museum we drove over to the Daytona International Speedway.  Since neither of us are automobile racing fans, we didn’t choose to take the tour but looked around outside and took some snapshots of Bill France, founder of NASCAR as well as Dale Earnhardt. 

From the speedway we drove north up A1A along the coast.  We stopped at several public beach areas and took some snapshots as we walked along the beach.  When we got to Ormond Beach we felt hungry so we stopped for Thai food at Thai Erawan.  Mary had chicken Pad See Ew which was rice noodles with egg, broccoli and sauces.  I had chicken cashew.  We both had a spring roll and small bowl of soup.  We both enjoyed our meals.  We continued driving up the A1A along the coast and stopped at a few state parks and beaches along the way.  We decided to go on to St. Augustine since we were so close.  We went to the quarry where coquina was quarried back in the 1600s.  Since the day was so pretty, drove back over to the St. Augustine Lighthouse and took a few snapshots.  When we were in St. Augustine earlier in the week we didn’t get a chance to go to the Mission Nombre de Dios and Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche so we parked and walked around the area.  When we were there on Monday and Tuesday there were very few people in town.  That shouldn’t be surprising since it was early in the week and the weather was cool and rainy.  Today, however, the town was hopping with people.  Since it is a Friday that is before a three day weekend and the sun was out, everyone was flocking to St. Augustine.

We drove back to Daytona Beach on US 1.  We had taken US 1 on Monday evening but the rain prevented us from enjoyed the drive then.  Since today was pretty the drive was very nice.  There was a ton of traffic leaving St. Augustine and even along US 1 there was way more traffic than we had seen earlier in the week.

We crashed at our room for a bit and made some phone calls before going to dinner at Hull’s Seafood in Ormond Beach.  After we had parked, we walked in with a retired couple from Syracuse, NY.  At Hull’s you stand in line to order your meal then the food is delivered to your table after it is prepared.  A couple was leaving a table when we walked back to the dining area so we invited the Syracuse couple to join us.  They were a very nice couple and made for interesting conversation as we ate.  Mary had broiled local rock shrimp with onion rings and cole slaw on the side.  I had blackened vermillion snapper with spicy fish chowder and cole slaw on the side.  We shared a slice of homemade key lime pie for dessert.  Although we both enjoyed our meals, we had better at Harry’s, Bay Street and Dixie Crossroads. 

After dinner we returned to our room to crash.  Tomorrow, we think we will take off fairly early and check out of our room here in Daytona.  We will find some attractions in the Orlando/Sanford area then check in at the Day’s Inn at Orange City.

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