Quite a Mix - Daytona Beach, Volusia County, FL

We took a drive in the Jeep last Sunday - north on I-95 about an hour to Daytona. There is always something going on there and Sunday was no exception. It was a beautiful day - warm with a light breeze – not ‘laying on the beach’ weather but a great day to ‘paw’ around.

Not long after the International Speedway Blvd exit, we came to the over-the-road walkway arch welcoming us to Daytona. To the right is the Speedway itself and, even though the Daytona 500 is long over (February 15), there is still plenty of activity around the site with motor cross racing and all the associated vendors.

It’s not a long drive through Daytona past the airport to the beach. We crossed the causeway over the Halifax River and headed north on Atlantic Blvd (A1A). This is the north-south thoroughfare that parallels the River and the beach. Main Street runs west off of Atlantic Blvd and the Daytona Beach Pier runs east out into the ocean.

On the drive from I-95 to the beach, we started to see old VWs in amongst the traffic and then, at the beach, we came upon a VW bus and bugs rally. The display included about 70 different types from the early 60’s to ‘04 (when we learned Mexico produced the last of the VW bugs). They were painted in turquoise, yellow, robins-egg blue, psychedelic colours – every colour you can think of! There were surf boards strapped to the roofs, owners dressed like hippies, ancient-looking Coke coolers, and antique picnic baskets and blankets. Oh! And, if that wasn't enough, there was an ongoing surfing competition in support of the VW event – with trophies shaped like surfboards!

On the drive from I-95 to the beach, we also saw increasing numbers of motorcycles and their riders – all sizes, shapes, genders, dressed in leathers, tattooed and coiffed in an array of designs. Daytona Bike Week officially heats up this weekend but many visitors had already arrived. As a city, Daytona welcomes this group whole-heartedly – and no wonder with the mega-boost they leave behind for the local economy. Over the week, there will be a zillion t-shirts sold, leather ‘stuff’ for every use imaginable and almost everything sold is in the colour black. The single 4 exceptions to the colour black are:
• the colour orange that denotes the Harley Davidson logo;
• pink bike helmets;
• chrome bike helmets; and
• silver, beaded 'ladies’ outfits with strategically-positioned tassels!

And n’er forget the volleyball nets along the beach in front of the major hotels. Spring Break officially arrives after Bike Week but it was pretty clear some students had arrived early to enjoy the sunny weather. Groups of athletic guys and gals played volleyball in the sand. Most had sleek bodies in small, tight bathing suits, were slightly tanned and completely lathered in sun stuff, had tussled hair in pony tails, and abs as tight as washboards. This last point was a drawing card for me. Johnnie was more interested in some of the ‘smaller, tighter’ bathing suits.

So we wandered and gazed about as these three worlds met and happily mixed it up in the sunshine with the rest of the tourists (like us). We toured the VW show, checked out the bikes lined on Main Street, watched a few volleyball rounds, had lunch at the Pier and watched the surf competition from afar.

Of course, no trip to Daytona during Bike Week is complete without a trip to the Boot Hill Saloon at the far end of Main Street – not so much for a drink but to scoop a couple of their 2009 T-shirts. I love the message on their shirts: “Boot Hill Saloon - better here than the place across the street”. Just so you know, across the street is a very old, large, spooky-looking cemetery!

Boot Hill Saloon is also where they filmed a scene from the movie “Monster” in 2003. Not sure you saw this one but it’s a biographical account of Aileen Wuornos, the female serial killer who murdered 7 men in the 80’s and 90’s. Charlize Theron won an Oscar for Best Actress for that role. Anyway, Aileen in her travels around Volusia County apparently frequented Boot Hill Saloon and tossed her bra up into the rafters. Now, there are about 50 bras, mostly coloured, flung up into those rafters. And, by the end of Bike Week 2009, it’s pretty certain there will be a few more bras up in those rafters…

Just to mix it up a bit more, we’ll be back in Daytona for a week March 8-15. Spring Break should be in full swing by then. I’ll get you some photos on that trip – thought I’d skip the photo-opp with the motorcycle 'families'.

Talk to you next week.

The past 10 Days - where did they go?

The last ten days have been busy - there was no plan to be busy - it just turned out that way. We moved from the Gulf to the Atlantic. We thought we saw an alligator. And we ended the week with Steve Hamre and his crew. Here are the hi-lites:

On February 3rd, we left Louisiana and headed through Mississippi and Alabama to Florida. We spent two nights in Destin in the Panhandle on the Gulf. The area is called the Emerald Coast and there is no question why – the colour of the water is turquoise and the sand is white, white, white.

The weather across northern Florida was sunny but down to 30 degrees at night. Now, I know that’s not deemed ‘cold’ in the big scheme of things but, believe me, it can get pretty cold, pretty fast in an RV. Two good things on my side here - I live with a guy in the HVAC business + we have an expensive duvet! (Snuggle in, I say!)


From Destin we drove to Beverly Beach on the Atlantic (just north of Daytona) for 3 nights. The park where we stayed is right on the beach. It’s also across the street from where John’s parents spent their winters for many years. It’s always fun to go there. We know our way around and seeing and/or listening to the ocean on the shoreline is just a great sound at any time - day or night.

Last Friday, we drove into Daytona and spent the day just hanging around the Pier, eating at Bubba Gump’s and checking out the local preparations for the excitement/anxiety over the next 2 months. Race Week ends this weekend with the 500 on Sunday; Bike Week follows a week or so thereafter running till March 8; and March break brings the college students. The locals are clearly worried that the state of the economy will impact the number of tourists to the area overall. They have one of the longest beaches anywhere though - people need to come and check out this view:


Last Sunday, we drove the RV to Cocoa Beach (just south of Daytona) and we will be stationed here for a month. We stayed at this same park last year for the same period so we got ourselves re-oriented in short order. We arranged to play golf – something we haven’t done since last October. We returned to Duran Golf Course where they offer a beautiful 18 hole course, a great driving range and a Par 3 – the perfect place to practice our short game.

We opted for the driving range and played the Par 3. We came to the 5th hole, teed off and, on the approach to the green, discovered what appeared to be a 10’ plastic alligator. It was lying perpendicular to the green with just a wee bit of its tail in the water. Just to be sure, John threw a golf ball directly at it. There was no movement so we proceeded to putt, finish the hole and replace the flag. As I returned my putter to my cart, something caught my eye and, sure enough, the alligator raised itself and turned completely around. It was then facing the water with its' tail towards the green - like turning around to get an even tan!

We motioned to the couple behind us who were readying themselves to tee off. We wanted them to be aware they had ‘company’ near the green. We then scurried away to the 6th hole checking back over our shoulders a couple of times to make sure we were alone! I’m confident we played the last 3 holes faster than ever before! Sorry, there are no pics – I don’t normally carry a camera in my golf bag!

Today, we headed south in the Jeep to West Palm Beach area. We went there to meet Steve and Samantha Hamre, John’s nephew and his wife. They are on a family vaca just south of Lauderdale with Abigail and Carter (their kids). So, we drove south and they drove north and we met in the middle in Palm Beach to spend the day together. And what a day we had! We went to the ocean and wiggled our toes in the sand. We had a beautiful outdoor lunch at Panama Hatties. And we finished off the afternoon by taking a 2-hour, flat-bottomed, narrated boat tour around Lake Worth and the inland waterway. Here’s a pic of the 3 guys:


FYI, Carter took some pics as well. Carter is 4 (won't be 5 till October) - he did an excellent job, don't you think? Left to right, that's me, John's nephew Steve and his wife, Samantha, and Johnnie on the right. Oh yeah, and Carter behind the lens!


Anyway, I'm not sure where the time went over the past 10 days… and so wonderful to have such a perfect ending with Steve and his crew - thanx for that!

N'Awlins

Let me first say there was a distinct difference in geography when we crossed the Texas-Louisiana state line. As soon as we entered Louisiana, Interstate 10 became a highway over the bayou - on stilts for more than ½ the drive into New Orleans. It was amazing how, within a short hour, we had left the cowboys and country music behind and were on our way to discovering blues musicians, crawfish and being ‘easy’!

We arrived last Thursday and were drawn to the French Quarter like bees to honey. We’ve been to the Funky Pirate (‘3 for 1’ beer), Tropical Isle Beach Club (said ‘no thanks’ to their famous ‘Grenades’), the Bourbon St. Blues Club, Pat O’Brien’s (gumbo and crab cakes), Drago’s for the best oysters we’ve ever eaten (charbroiled), Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, Harley Davidson, Dicky Brennan’s for seafood, the Crescent City Brew House and Café du Monde for their incredible beignets. Here's a pic of one of the hotels in the French Quarter - beautiful, eh?

We visited the French Market, the St. Louis Cathedral, the House of Blues, Ya Mama’s for crawfish, Rev Zombie’s Voo Doo Shop, the Clover Grill (24 hour breakfasts), St. Louis Cemetery 1, the National WWII Museum and the Acme Oyster company. Johnnie went to one of Larry Flynt’s places – he was only there 45 minutes – just to say he was there.

We felt sad when the tour guide took us to some of the areas destroyed by Katrina. Equally, we got a real laugh when we went through the French Market and he referred to the statue of Joan of Arc as “Joanie on her Pony”! And, oh yeah, the tour guide drove us down Gov. Nicholls past Brad Pitt and what’s her name’s place!

Quite a mixed bag, eh? Well, that’s what we’d say New Orleans is about – a real mixed bag – anything you want. There are a zillion other places to go and things to do besides what we did - we’ll just have to get to them on the next drive thru. Mind you, the jury’s still out on whether we would actually plan to be here for Mardi Gras – it’s crazy enough without that!… m.