Saturday 2/16/08
This past week end marked 50 Years for Daytona International Raceway Fans. Chuck and I got to be there to join in the celebration. Thanks to our neighbors Barb and Wally, we had free tickets to the Camping World 300 held there on Saturday. We had the most fabulous seats in the 5th row right across from the pit entrance. We were so close to the cars we could taste them, literally. Our senses were saturated in the sites, smells and sounds of professional racing.
http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/544592.html
We were up early Saturday morning to be on the road towards Daytona Beach by 4:00am. It's over 6 hours from Holt Florida to the racetrack and we had to allow for the 1 hour time difference. We spent much of Friday preparing and the excitement made it difficult to fall asleep early but we both popped out of bed at 3:00am like a couple of Eggo waffles, hot from the toaster. We covered much of the drive east along Interstate 10 before daylight and avoided a lot of traffic. We got to Jacksonville in good time and crossed over the Saint Johns River bridge to make the connection with Interstate 95 South. If we weren't in such a hurry it would have been nice to stop off in St. Augustine for some site seeing but we'll have to save that for another trip. We made it into Daytona Beach by 11:15, their time. We found our way to the free parking on Clyde Morris Blvd. via US 1 to Granada and we were absolutely amazed at how orderly and sensibly they had it all arrainged. After we found our parking spot we made our way to the bus stops where a constant supply of them were waiting to shuffle us off to the track. The crowd was huge, but it kept moving. We hardly had to wait more than a moment or two in any of the lines. When we got off the bus at the speedway we were on the other side of Daytona Beach International Raceway Blvd. from the racetrack. They had tiered cement pathways, not unlike parking ramps for the crowds to move along up and across the bridge and down again on the otherside. Security was tight and we were only allowed to carry in small soft sided coolers and clear plastic bags. I had frozen a couple water bottles and also took several other bottles of drinking water in our coolers. I also made sub sandwhiches and brought chips so we wouldn't have to spend a lot of money on food and drinks. I was surprised they allowed people to bring in so much beer. A lot of people were carrying 24 packs. It didn't take us long to make it to our seats in the Depalma Frontstretch Grandstand and we were in them by noon. They had a giant Sprint Vision Screen directly across from our seats where we could watch the pre-race entertainment. Later this screen came in handy keeping us updated on the progress of the race and live shots of the race as it was happening. That was handy since you can only see the racecars when they are right in front of you. They go so fast you can't even read the numbers on them. As the drivers were coming out in the corvettes to be taken to their cars I was lucky enough to get pictures of Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth. We had seats right at the entrance of Pit Row which is where they were all parked when the famous words announced "Gentlemen Start Your Engines" The noise was fabulous. It sent thrills thru me which tickled my tummy. I can't even begin to describe how excited I had grown by the time the cars finally made it around the fourth turn and paraded past our section of the grandstands. The whole crowd was standing and waving at the drivers as they passed by. I even called my daughter Juli on my cell phone and put it on speaker and held it up so she too could hear the noise too. We settled in to enjoy the race. It was a good clean race and there weren't hardly any incidents and most of the pit stops were made on green flags. The one moment of agony was when Kasey Kahne got into the accident right in front of us towards the end of the race and didn't get to finish. I was so hoping he would win or at least finish top 10 and he was staying right up there until the accident. Thank goodness he wasn't hurt and everyone made it safely thru the race. Stewart led much of the race while Matt Kenseth, Kyle Bush and Dale Jr. put up a great effort so all and all it was a very satisfying race. Our only disappointment was Jeff Gordon not being in it. And it was Chucks very first big race. I don't know which one of us enjoyed it more. I did get a lot of pictures so I could share the thrills with all my friends. We made some wonderful memories.
When the race was over we stayed in our seats and watched the Sprint Vision screen so we wouldn't miss the interviews and celebrations of the drivers and their crews. We weren't in a big hurry to leave cause the crowd was so overwhelming. We were actually quite shocked when we did start making our way out at how easy it was. We followed along with the crowd and kept moving across the bridge and to the bus staging areas. They had the same kind of fenced mazes to send people thru single file that you see at the amusement parks and we never really had to stop anywhere for more than a couple minutes. As fast as buses pulled in they were loaded up and on their way and another bus would pull into it's place. I'm guessing there were at least a dozen buses at all times being loaded. Some smart people did some serious planning to make that go so smoothly. I'm thinking a woman had to be involvedEven with all the alcohol being consumed I never did notice any bad scenes or drunk behavior. Maybe it was a hot enough day that the alcohol burned off as fast as they drank it. I did notice a lot of people trying to buy and sell tickets for the big 500 race on Sunday and there were a lot of vendors on the sidelines, even Pappa Johns pizza for sale by the slice for $2. At any rate, everyone was orderly and we made it back to the parking field within 45 minutes after we left our seats. As we were leaving the parking field we noticed a few stray cars going towards the east, away from the general flow of traffic. We wanted to head for the beach so Chuck decided to follow them and they led us out the back way where we didn't get caught up in the traffic jam going out to Clyde Morris Blvd.
When we left there we went straight to the beach and drove right on to it. We had about a good hour to spend before the beach patrol came along with their bull horn telling people to move their cars. It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was still shining nicely and there were lots of birds. Chuck managed to find a few shells. We both got wetter than we wanted to but it's hard to go to the beach without getting your feet in and since we were on the ocean side, the waves were a lot bigger than what we're used to from the gulf side. We had fun and didn't mind cause the temperature was at least 80. We were also getting tired by this time and slap happy. It had been a long day so far and we were both getting hungry so we set off for Rte 95 in search for a rest area. We had planned on eating sandwhiches and chips and spending the night in our car. The sandwhiches were great, but try as I might I couldn't sleep. Between the noise and the lights and the cramped quarters I couldn't get comfortable and Chuck wasn't either. After a couple hours of cat napping and getting woke up by doors banging next to us as people pulled in and out we decided to give up and head down the road in search of a motel. We found them all full. With all the people in the area for the 50th Daytona 500 the motels and hotels were booked up as far as Cocoa Beach. We didn't want to leave the coast so we kept traveling south till we found a Days Inn in Satellite Beach right across A1A from the beach. We had a plan to get up before dawn and watch the sun come up on the beach but it was well after midnight by the time we got settled in and we didn't wake up in time. Oh well, there's always next year. We did get a good nights sleep though and headed to the beach after a quick continental breakfast at the motel. Chuck loves looking for shells and I of course love taking pictures. The waves were breath taking. We found an area where a pier had been blown away in a hurricane and just a few pieces were left sticking out and close to that were some rocks sticking out of the surf with moss covering them. We enjoyed standing on it and watching the waves roll in. After we had our fill we headed back for showers and checking out then up the road to Cocoa Beach again to hit some of the souvenir shops. It was well after noon before we started up Rte 520for Orlando. We were both getting hungry and found a Whataburger for a quick bite to eat. After we left there my friend Glenda called with detailed directions to her house west of Orlando. She gave such good directions I didn't have any trouble finding her at all. We hopped on 508 toll way and took it all the way across Orlando to the end where we caught the Turnpike north and made it to Winter Garden in no time. I think altogether we spent $3.75 on tolls and Chuck thought we probably saved that much on gas. It would have taken us a good hour or more to come thru Orlando on Rte 50. The last time I was down to visit Glenda, she and her husband Scott had just bought this five acre property in the country and had plans to build. Now they've got their house built and they've got horses and goats and dogs and cats and barns and tack rooms and she's even got a building for her birds. She's got 4 Amazon parrots and 2 Cockatoos. Glenda has always loved animals and worked for a Vet for many years. It was so good to see her again and catch up. We all went out to eat at Sonny's Barbque and had the "all you can eat" chicken special. We visited so long Sonny's closed the place down on us. Then we went back to their place and all turned in cause we had to get up at 5:00 and be on the road again by 6:30 when Glenda and Scott leave for work.
When we left Glendas it was still dark so we stopped at Starbucks and spent way too much on a cup of coffee each. It was the first time I've ever been to a Starbucks. I had a pumpkin spice latte and it was quite good but I doubt I would ever get another one. Once at that price is enough. When we finished our coffee the sun had come up enough for us to go pick some tangelos in the grove next to Glendas house. We got a whole big grocery bag full and some pictures of Chuck picking them. We didn't even see any snakes or alligators.
After we got done with the tangelo picking we got back in the car and headed for the West on Rte 50 to Brooksville and then on to rte.98/19 to Chassahowitzka on the Gulf to do some scouting for RV Parks for next year. We found a great park we really loved at Homosassa on Halls River. It's called Turtle Creek. http://www.turtlecreekrvresort.com/ and another one up the road a bit on the Withlacoochee River called Big Oaks. http://www.bigoaksriverresort.com/ Both resorts in close proximity to the endangered West Indian Manatee's which come in to the warmer water for the winter. It's a beautiful area and definitely on our list for next year.
As we traveled North we took a small detour over close to Cedar Key to check out the birding trail on the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. We would have liked to do some hiking but it was raining a bit so we just drove along and admired the sites from the car. We discovered we couldn't let the car idle too long with the air on cause the engine would get hot. We're thinking Chuck's going to have to change the thermostat this week. That should be a simple job.
By noon we were ready to do some serious traveling. We stopped at Dakotah Vineyards & Winery in Chiefland http://www.dakotahwinery.com/ to taste some wine and buy a bottle to go with our picnic which we then had at the Suwannee River in Fort Fanning. We took a walk thru the park by the river after lunch and saw some wild flowers and azalias in bloom. I found some ferns growing on a piece of bark that had fallen out of one of the oak trees. I put the whole thing in a plastic bag to bring home and plant. Chuck got to see some of the spanish moss up close. He's been watching it from the road ever since we got down here, not knowing if he liked it or not. I told him it's a trademark of the south and it gets much prettier in the summer when the trees are in full leaf. After seeing it up close and touching it he has a better idea of what it is.
It was now time to head home. We'd piddled away enough of the day. On the cruise north, when it started to get dusk we saw several deer along the highway so we had to be especially mindful of that danger. They certainly are small down here in Florida. We got off the smaller Rte. 19 and onto Interstate 10 just East of Tallahassee where they have tall fences along the highway to keep the deer away. From there, after we got past the road construction around Tallahassee it was clear sailing home and we pulled into camp about 10:00pm It certainly was a long and enjoyable weekend. We were sure glad to see our comfy cozy bed. We didn't even unpack the car or get online when we got home. We were asleep by 10:30pm and slept clear thru till 7:30am.
I spent the day Tuesday organizing the pictures and working on the blog to share with you all. The links below will take you to the photos from our week end. When the window opens up simply click the yellow "view slideshow" button towards the right top of the screen. I hope you enjoy them.
Race day photos
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=enxxrx4.c0eou340&x=0&y=-m9qgjh
Daytona Beach photos
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=enxxrx4.355azzls&x=0&y=-4ehuu8
Cocoa Beach photos from Sunday morning
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=enxxrx4.9c9kxdmo&x=0&y=ax05kx
Photos of Glendas Ranch & Tangelo Picking & Wine Tasting
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=enxxrx4.4oalk8dc&x=0&y=d3xr9h
This past week end marked 50 Years for Daytona International Raceway Fans. Chuck and I got to be there to join in the celebration. Thanks to our neighbors Barb and Wally, we had free tickets to the Camping World 300 held there on Saturday. We had the most fabulous seats in the 5th row right across from the pit entrance. We were so close to the cars we could taste them, literally. Our senses were saturated in the sites, smells and sounds of professional racing.
http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/544592.html
We were up early Saturday morning to be on the road towards Daytona Beach by 4:00am. It's over 6 hours from Holt Florida to the racetrack and we had to allow for the 1 hour time difference. We spent much of Friday preparing and the excitement made it difficult to fall asleep early but we both popped out of bed at 3:00am like a couple of Eggo waffles, hot from the toaster. We covered much of the drive east along Interstate 10 before daylight and avoided a lot of traffic. We got to Jacksonville in good time and crossed over the Saint Johns River bridge to make the connection with Interstate 95 South. If we weren't in such a hurry it would have been nice to stop off in St. Augustine for some site seeing but we'll have to save that for another trip. We made it into Daytona Beach by 11:15, their time. We found our way to the free parking on Clyde Morris Blvd. via US 1 to Granada and we were absolutely amazed at how orderly and sensibly they had it all arrainged. After we found our parking spot we made our way to the bus stops where a constant supply of them were waiting to shuffle us off to the track. The crowd was huge, but it kept moving. We hardly had to wait more than a moment or two in any of the lines. When we got off the bus at the speedway we were on the other side of Daytona Beach International Raceway Blvd. from the racetrack. They had tiered cement pathways, not unlike parking ramps for the crowds to move along up and across the bridge and down again on the otherside. Security was tight and we were only allowed to carry in small soft sided coolers and clear plastic bags. I had frozen a couple water bottles and also took several other bottles of drinking water in our coolers. I also made sub sandwhiches and brought chips so we wouldn't have to spend a lot of money on food and drinks. I was surprised they allowed people to bring in so much beer. A lot of people were carrying 24 packs. It didn't take us long to make it to our seats in the Depalma Frontstretch Grandstand and we were in them by noon. They had a giant Sprint Vision Screen directly across from our seats where we could watch the pre-race entertainment. Later this screen came in handy keeping us updated on the progress of the race and live shots of the race as it was happening. That was handy since you can only see the racecars when they are right in front of you. They go so fast you can't even read the numbers on them. As the drivers were coming out in the corvettes to be taken to their cars I was lucky enough to get pictures of Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth. We had seats right at the entrance of Pit Row which is where they were all parked when the famous words announced "Gentlemen Start Your Engines" The noise was fabulous. It sent thrills thru me which tickled my tummy. I can't even begin to describe how excited I had grown by the time the cars finally made it around the fourth turn and paraded past our section of the grandstands. The whole crowd was standing and waving at the drivers as they passed by. I even called my daughter Juli on my cell phone and put it on speaker and held it up so she too could hear the noise too. We settled in to enjoy the race. It was a good clean race and there weren't hardly any incidents and most of the pit stops were made on green flags. The one moment of agony was when Kasey Kahne got into the accident right in front of us towards the end of the race and didn't get to finish. I was so hoping he would win or at least finish top 10 and he was staying right up there until the accident. Thank goodness he wasn't hurt and everyone made it safely thru the race. Stewart led much of the race while Matt Kenseth, Kyle Bush and Dale Jr. put up a great effort so all and all it was a very satisfying race. Our only disappointment was Jeff Gordon not being in it. And it was Chucks very first big race. I don't know which one of us enjoyed it more. I did get a lot of pictures so I could share the thrills with all my friends. We made some wonderful memories.
When the race was over we stayed in our seats and watched the Sprint Vision screen so we wouldn't miss the interviews and celebrations of the drivers and their crews. We weren't in a big hurry to leave cause the crowd was so overwhelming. We were actually quite shocked when we did start making our way out at how easy it was. We followed along with the crowd and kept moving across the bridge and to the bus staging areas. They had the same kind of fenced mazes to send people thru single file that you see at the amusement parks and we never really had to stop anywhere for more than a couple minutes. As fast as buses pulled in they were loaded up and on their way and another bus would pull into it's place. I'm guessing there were at least a dozen buses at all times being loaded. Some smart people did some serious planning to make that go so smoothly. I'm thinking a woman had to be involved
When we left there we went straight to the beach and drove right on to it. We had about a good hour to spend before the beach patrol came along with their bull horn telling people to move their cars. It was a beautiful afternoon. The sun was still shining nicely and there were lots of birds. Chuck managed to find a few shells. We both got wetter than we wanted to but it's hard to go to the beach without getting your feet in and since we were on the ocean side, the waves were a lot bigger than what we're used to from the gulf side. We had fun and didn't mind cause the temperature was at least 80. We were also getting tired by this time and slap happy. It had been a long day so far and we were both getting hungry so we set off for Rte 95 in search for a rest area. We had planned on eating sandwhiches and chips and spending the night in our car. The sandwhiches were great, but try as I might I couldn't sleep. Between the noise and the lights and the cramped quarters I couldn't get comfortable and Chuck wasn't either. After a couple hours of cat napping and getting woke up by doors banging next to us as people pulled in and out we decided to give up and head down the road in search of a motel. We found them all full. With all the people in the area for the 50th Daytona 500 the motels and hotels were booked up as far as Cocoa Beach. We didn't want to leave the coast so we kept traveling south till we found a Days Inn in Satellite Beach right across A1A from the beach. We had a plan to get up before dawn and watch the sun come up on the beach but it was well after midnight by the time we got settled in and we didn't wake up in time. Oh well, there's always next year. We did get a good nights sleep though and headed to the beach after a quick continental breakfast at the motel. Chuck loves looking for shells and I of course love taking pictures. The waves were breath taking. We found an area where a pier had been blown away in a hurricane and just a few pieces were left sticking out and close to that were some rocks sticking out of the surf with moss covering them. We enjoyed standing on it and watching the waves roll in. After we had our fill we headed back for showers and checking out then up the road to Cocoa Beach again to hit some of the souvenir shops. It was well after noon before we started up Rte 520for Orlando. We were both getting hungry and found a Whataburger for a quick bite to eat. After we left there my friend Glenda called with detailed directions to her house west of Orlando. She gave such good directions I didn't have any trouble finding her at all. We hopped on 508 toll way and took it all the way across Orlando to the end where we caught the Turnpike north and made it to Winter Garden in no time. I think altogether we spent $3.75 on tolls and Chuck thought we probably saved that much on gas. It would have taken us a good hour or more to come thru Orlando on Rte 50. The last time I was down to visit Glenda, she and her husband Scott had just bought this five acre property in the country and had plans to build. Now they've got their house built and they've got horses and goats and dogs and cats and barns and tack rooms and she's even got a building for her birds. She's got 4 Amazon parrots and 2 Cockatoos. Glenda has always loved animals and worked for a Vet for many years. It was so good to see her again and catch up. We all went out to eat at Sonny's Barbque and had the "all you can eat" chicken special. We visited so long Sonny's closed the place down on us. Then we went back to their place and all turned in cause we had to get up at 5:00 and be on the road again by 6:30 when Glenda and Scott leave for work.
When we left Glendas it was still dark so we stopped at Starbucks and spent way too much on a cup of coffee each. It was the first time I've ever been to a Starbucks. I had a pumpkin spice latte and it was quite good but I doubt I would ever get another one. Once at that price is enough. When we finished our coffee the sun had come up enough for us to go pick some tangelos in the grove next to Glendas house. We got a whole big grocery bag full and some pictures of Chuck picking them. We didn't even see any snakes or alligators.
After we got done with the tangelo picking we got back in the car and headed for the West on Rte 50 to Brooksville and then on to rte.98/19 to Chassahowitzka on the Gulf to do some scouting for RV Parks for next year. We found a great park we really loved at Homosassa on Halls River. It's called Turtle Creek.
As we traveled North we took a small detour over close to Cedar Key to check out the birding trail on the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. We would have liked to do some hiking but it was raining a bit so we just drove along and admired the sites from the car. We discovered we couldn't let the car idle too long with the air on cause the engine would get hot. We're thinking Chuck's going to have to change the thermostat this week. That should be a simple job.
By noon we were ready to do some serious traveling. We stopped at Dakotah Vineyards & Winery in Chiefland http://www.dakotahwinery.com/ to taste some wine and buy a bottle to go with our picnic which we then had at the Suwannee River in Fort Fanning. We took a walk thru the park by the river after lunch and saw some wild flowers and azalias in bloom. I found some ferns growing on a piece of bark that had fallen out of one of the oak trees. I put the whole thing in a plastic bag to bring home and plant. Chuck got to see some of the spanish moss up close. He's been watching it from the road ever since we got down here, not knowing if he liked it or not. I told him it's a trademark of the south and it gets much prettier in the summer when the trees are in full leaf. After seeing it up close and touching it he has a better idea of what it is.
It was now time to head home. We'd piddled away enough of the day. On the cruise north, when it started to get dusk we saw several deer along the highway so we had to be especially mindful of that danger. They certainly are small down here in Florida. We got off the smaller Rte. 19 and onto Interstate 10 just East of Tallahassee where they have tall fences along the highway to keep the deer away. From there, after we got past the road construction around Tallahassee it was clear sailing home and we pulled into camp about 10:00pm It certainly was a long and enjoyable weekend. We were sure glad to see our comfy cozy bed. We didn't even unpack the car or get online when we got home. We were asleep by 10:30pm and slept clear thru till 7:30am.
I spent the day Tuesday organizing the pictures and working on the blog to share with you all. The links below will take you to the photos from our week end. When the window opens up simply click the yellow "view slideshow" button towards the right top of the screen. I hope you enjoy them.
Race day photos
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=enxxrx4.c0eou340&x=0&y=-m9qgjh
Daytona Beach photos
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=enxxrx4.355azzls&x=0&y=-4ehuu8
Cocoa Beach photos from Sunday morning
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=enxxrx4.9c9kxdmo&x=0&y=ax05kx
Photos of Glendas Ranch & Tangelo Picking & Wine Tasting
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=enxxrx4.4oalk8dc&x=0&y=d3xr9h
1 comment:
Enjoyed all the pix and commentary about your Daytona trip - looks like you had a very nice time. I've never been to Daytona and not sure just when we might get there so it was nice to get a perspective of what it is all about.
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