Vacation Blog part 2: Daytona

Continued From

https://johnward76.wixsite.com/evansvillegeek/single-post/2017/06/29/Vacation-Blog-part-2-Daytona

We started our Daytona adventure on the boardwalk. It was way too early to check into the hotel so we found a pay lot right off the main walkway for $10. The last time I'd been to Daytona was 20 years before, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it hadn't changed much. There's still a lot of kitschy touristy stuff to do, and right next to the beautiful white sand beach to boot. While meandering through the kitsch we decided to find a good place to eat, when lo and behold the Pizza King came into view. Not the same Pizza King from my local area in Evansville, mind you a long running local pizzeria. Available by the slice or the whole pie, Pizza King Daytona is really quite delicious and easy on the pocket book. After a satisfying meal we headed down the boardwalk where we found a public bathroom and changing place, so off to the car to grab our suits and a quick change later we were on the beach!

We found a nice open spot of sand to set down our stuff and went out into the ocean. I really do love the beach, if I lived near one I'd probably be a certified beach bum. One of the tricky things about Daytona Beach is the shear amount of jellyfish that wash up on it. Small jelly's a quick Google search on the phone named as Moon Jellyfish. It was a wonderful being back on the ocean, we just played out in the water for a couple hours and then headed over to the hotel. We got to check in a little early and the room was awesome. Another Best Western, but WAY better than the Indy airport location. There was a living room, a bedroom, a kitchenette, and the best part...ocean view balcony off the 3rd floor. Ahhh...deep breath. We got everything packed in, cleaned ourselves up and went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. Now the Joe's on Daytona Beach is something special, it sits up on the pier over the ocean, there is not a bad seat in the house grand ocean views as far as the eye can see. You can also eat on the roof, but it was kind of rainy by then so we could not. I ordered the snow/dungeness crab steam pot, my wife had the steak and a pina colada, served in a pineapple, her favorite. I'm still new at crab legs, I'd only tried them for the first time last year. So I'm sure a more seasoned veteran would have found it comical watching me eat my dinner that night. But as usual it was delicious.

After dinner we walked out to the boardwalk for a little bit of shopping. A lot of people complain that Daytona is too touristy and commercial, but we really enjoyed that aspect of it. There's an amazing beach, but right next to it is fun stuff to do. An arcade, the aforementioned kitschy shops, lots of bars and restaurants. You know...stuff. We got a few souvenirs and then headed back to the hotel in our rental. The boardwalk was really close, but just far enough that walking the whole way would have been a little too much. Across the street from the hotel I spotted a liquor store so we picked up a six pack of Shocktop and retreated to the room. After hanging out on the balcony for a few beers we went down to the beach for an evening walk. There's nothing quite like a moonlit stroll on the beach, the salty ocean breeze blowing through your hair, the crunch of the sand beneath your feet as the sea birds call over head, the rhythmic ocean waves, it was a great way to end a very long day. By this time it was 10:30 or 11:00, and we'd been up since 2 AM. So we headed back to the hotel for some much needed shuteye.

We were up at 9:00 on the second day and the beach was calling our names. Shortly after we got down there I saw, or I thought I saw, a fin way out in the water while we were playing in the ocean, then as it slowly came closer, popping up and going back down in the water I said something to my wife, for a minute we thought we might be shark bait, but we figured out it was dolphins! They swam nearby for 20 minutes, at one time coming pretty close. It was a good start to the day.

Daytona Beach is pretty wide, so much so it's open to traffic. It's pretty common to see locals pull up and make a spot on the beach. That morning an ice cream truck was making its rounds on the sand, so of course we flagged him down and had some frozen treats. Later we went back down to explore the boardwalk. Around lunchtime we went back to a place we saw the day before called Burgey's Tiki Hut, a quiet place with a strong Polynesian theme. The food was good, fish and chips for me. Then after a little bit more shopping we headed back down to the beach. My wife wanted to catch up on some reading, so I took a walk down the coast looking around for shells for my daughter and just breathing it all in. That night we ordered in, a local pizzeria called Genovese's. Really good pizza and garlic toast. We packed up for the morning and shortly after called it a night. The next day we were headed to Orlando and Disney Springs!

To Be Continued In Part three

Universal Studios