Day 4 Daytona South to Canaveral

This morning we didn’t get a real early start, Vickie walked on the beach, and I made like the closet writer I am, sitting looking at the ocean and pounding the keys. We didn’t go very far—about 5 or 6 miles over to Daytona USA at the Daytona racetrack. On the way Vickie (having been once to the Daytona 500) was relating to me what it is like when 250-300,000 folks descend upon the place. Looking around, and knowing what race weekend is like in Martinsville, I could imagine what a circus it must be. Since our timing was perfect (between race week and bike week) Daytona USA was not mobbed, and we had a very pleasurable time. Our guidebook, which now is quite a few years old, said admission was 12 dollars. Well now it’s 24 but we had found 2, 3-dollar coupons in some Daytona coupon books, so it ended up being $44 and change for 2. (we aren’t old enough for the senior rate yet) We wandered around a little and planned our attack. Next track tour was 11:30 and next IMAX Theater show was 12:30. While waiting for the track tour, I hit the snack bar for a little booster. (Vickie hit the huge souvenir store to look around) $6 and change later I was the proud owner of a plain hotdog, and medium drink that was mostly ice. I took advantage of the generous condiment bar (mustard, ketchup, and relish, nothing else) and soon had a lovely dog. Consuming my glorious repast, we got in line, and boarded the tram for the tour. After thoroughly annoying the woman behind me by telling her to shut up so I could hear the narration, we enjoyed the tour. (I’m usually such a polite guy, but the louder the narration got the louder this woman talked) First thing that amazed us was how big the track really is. Can’t even imagine it from looking at it on TV. Second was the banking and track. The 31 degree banking is STEEP, and the track isn’t very wide at all. I have quite a respect for those guys going 2 and 3 wide @ 190 MPH on it. On the other hand, I’d kill to be on there by myself in theVette, and put my foot in it till I scared myself. (or ran out of gas) After the track tour, we went back inside and looked around till time for the IMAX Theater presentation. We got great seats, cleaned our special 3D glasses and got ready. The first feature was all about the Daytona 500, and was in normal vision. Part of it was very touching when they showed Dale Earnhardt Sr. and you realized what a real part of the sport he really was. Also, the shots of the old guys reminded you of where the sport had really come from. The second feature was the IMAX part and it was the story of NASCAR. The IMAX experience has to be experienced to understand it. It’s like the old 3D movies, but in techno spades. Literature said they had a 12,000-watt sound system. I believe it. Even Wes, who is half-deaf and likes loud music, thought it was loud. They needed to do about 87% of what they had it set at. All in all, it was a great show and quite moving when it showed the giant flag, huge cr owd, National Anthem, bald eagle, and fighter plane fly overs. After the theater, we toured the rest of the exhibits, and headed out. On the way out we caught a late lunch at the Krystal Burger. (sort of like White Castle, but not as good) Everyone will be glad to hear they have added a few things to their menu. They now have mini pups (3 bite hot dogs) mini corn dogs and mini chicken sandwiches. Every selection full of artery clogging goodness. Oh and the Krystal now has free WiFi so you can surf while eating, to take your mind off the mega calories and fat you are consuming. We left Krystal, and jumped on I95 to get South of Daytona. Cruising down the Interstate, Vickie studied the Delorme, and found something called Rt. 3 that went off Rt. 1 down through some kind of wetlands nature preserve. We jumped off and picked that up. It was scenic, and we had the road to ourselves, until. Oops, here is the security gate for Kennedy Space Center, and we have to turn around. Well we took a detour back over to Rt. 1 and headed South again. While we were driving, Vickie wanted me to consult about our route and final destination for the day. So I pulled over into an asphalt turnoff, beside some railroad tracks. We were sitting there looking at the computer and maps, and all of a sudden there was a loud knock at the window. Just about scared me to death. It was some local Sheriff dude, telling us "we were trespassing on railroad property". I told him we just stopped to look at the map and he none to politely told us to move along. Boy does he need to get a life. I’m sure he was just bored, and figured harassing some guy in a Vette was a good pass time. (I mean, it just looked like a little side road) Well we moved along, and took Rt. 528 off Rt. 1 toward Coco Beach. We came past the cruise ship terminals in Port Canaveral, and we got to see 4 big cruise boats cranking up to pull out. (it was around 4:30) We got to Coco Beach, and started looking for a place to land. We pulled up in the parking lot of a Marriott Courtyard, parked in the shade, and got on their free WiFi. (big motels are always good for free WiFi in the parking lot) Marriott guy walked by and I told him we were just borrowing his shade looking at the map. We did the Hotels.com and Orbitz thing, and found the Hampton right beside where we were sitting was a pretty good buy. We got on the cell, booked it, and cruised across the parking lot to check in. Quite painless. Room was great, 8^th floor with water and ocean views on all sides. Took a bunch of sunset pictures, and went out for dinner. On the way we stopped at one of the biggest liquor stores we’d ever been in. It was the size of a small grocery store. They had things we’d never seen before, and enough wine to fill a tank truck. I decided this is where I’d take shelter when the hurricane was coming. The nice lady at the liquor store hooked us up with a good seafood pubby kind of place, and we had a great dinner. Stuf fed flounder and oysters on the ½ shell for me, and house skirt steak for Vickie. Today it’s off to Cape Canaveral to see the shuttle and rocket stuff, then South to Vero Beach to see our friends Neil and Andrea.

More later,

Wes and Vickie

Day 3 Fernandina Beach South to Daytona

Got a good start this morning, and headed South on A1A. Sometimes this old road is easy to follow, and sometimes, it’s quite a mystery. Before we left on this trip, we bought Delorme 2007 Streets and Trips for our laptop, along with a GPS antenna that plugs into a USB port. It has proved invaluable in finding our way today. We went South for a period of time, and arrived at the St. John’s River ferry. You have to take this over the St John’s River to stay on A1A. We got on the ferry (costs $3.25 per car) and settled down for the ride. I decided to get out and take some pictures. About the time I got to the front rail, I realized we were getting ready to dock. Turned out to be about an 8-minute ferry ride. (must be pretty boring duty for the ferry captain) We continued South on A1A, and again got lost. The sign said to turn right for A1A but then the route vanished. Once again the trusty laptop navigation program (not to mention the world’s greatest navigator) found our way. We t ook a side trip off A1A on 203 which is also known as Pointe Verde Blvd. which rides along the coast through the land of the rich and famous. I’ve seen richer and famouser areas, but this one was pretty amazing. All the houses looked like an army of 4000 Mexicans were on landscape duty full time. We continued down the coast on A1A passing through a continuous strand of condos and beach houses. There is very little buildable coastline that doesn’t have something on it. The vacant lots that are left are there because someone wants 5 bazillion dollars for them. There are still some areas that look like what I imagine FLA must have looked like 20 or 30 years ago, but they are few and far between. In fact, similar to where my son lives in Manassas VA, parasitic building has started. This is when someone buys a little old 1000 sq. foot ocean front cottage for 3 or 4 hundred thousand just to get the lot. Then they tear down the still functional home and build a new 4000 or more sq. foot M cMansion. The temp got up to the 80’s, so we decided to stop early and clean up the car so we could put the bra on. (we couldn’t put it on at home cause the vinyl wouldn’t stretch much at 20 degrees) So we stopped early in Ormand Beach, and got another room at the Comfort Inn with a view overlooking the ocean. Since we are in the week between the Daytona 500 and Daytona Bike week, accommodations are readily available. We cleaned up the car, put the bra on, and then did the most amazing thing. We went driving on the beach with the roof down. They let you get on the beach just a ½ mile or so from our motel, and we drove way down the beach about 4 or 5 miles. We then turned around and came back. It was approaching sunset, so everything was beautiful. Trust me, driving on Daytona Beach in a new Corvette with the roof down, good sounds on the radio, sea birds flying all around, the waves crashing, and the sky getting rosy as sundown approaches, is pretty close to perfect. (oh yea, and a Mojito in the cupholder) After that, we had a gourmet dinner at the Waffle House (I can’t get enough of their Scattered and Smothered hash browns), and some ice cream at The Creamery just down the street. We turned in for a good night’s sleep, and then this morning, Vickie is walking on the beach with her coffee, crossword, and shell bag. I’m sitting in the sun in my shorts communing with my laptop. Today, we plan to visit Daytona USA and the Daytona track. Then we are going to head in the general direction of Cape Canaveral to see about the tour there.

Hola,

Wes and Vickie