My package still hadn't arrived by 9.30am this morning when we had to leave Charleston. I left the address of the hotel in Miami so it could be forwarded. I rang them this afternoon when we arrived in Daytona but it still hadn't arrived. At least the lady knew there was a forwarding address.
The drive to Daytona Beach was about 6hrs. The road & surrounding forests/fields/waterways were very flat all of the way. About an hour or so after we left we crossed the state line into Georgia. There was evidence of Hurricane Isaac passing through as there were fields where parts were under water and parts had grass sticking up.
We stopped about 12.30pm so Rob could have a break from driving. Just across from the exit we took off the freeway was an outlet centre. I wonder how these shops survive because there was hardly anyone there. We looked in Coach & I nearly bought a bag but didn't. I probably should have so they would have had a sale.
Instead we bought some dodgy service station sandwiches & went on our way. It was hot because of the sun but there wasn't the humidity of Charleston.
About 30miles later we crossed the border into Florida. There were clumps of palm trees around which satisfied my idea of what Florida should look like. The first major city we came to was Jacksonville. We bypassed it and continued south. We stopped once more at a massive Harley Davidson store before arriving in Daytona Beach. After checking in and dropping our bags, we headed for the beach. We had contemplated walking but luckily we took the car because it was much further than the map suggested.
When we got to the beach, we just turned onto it. You have to pay $5 for the day to drive onto the beach but because it was late in the afternoon there was no one in the booth. It was quite bizarre to drive on the sand without a 4 wheel drive. The sand is really firm. As the beach is 23 miles long, there were parts that were vehicle free too. The part to drive on is well marked and then there were areas to park in. We drove along a bit, parked and went down to the waters edge. It was really warm water. The tide must have been out because there was a lot of the hard sand before we got to the water. We walked along for a bit. It would be an excellent place to go for a long walk because it is so firm and you get the bonus of cooling your feet in the water.
We got back in the car & drove for a while along the sand. I drove too & just won't tell Dollar car rentals. You can only go 10miles an hour so it takes a while to get anywhere. The beachfront has wall to wall hotels & resorts. Most of them looked pretty old and there weren't all that many people about.
We went back up onto the main road and went to the Daytona Beach Pier. There are some rides on the pier and souvenir shops nearby. The shops were full of tacky things & there wasn't much happening at the pier so we didn't stay long. We were starving by now & it was getting onto 7pm so we decided to look for somewhere for dinner. We drove along the main strip but it was all very tired and sad looking. There were so many hotels & motels in a sad state of repair. Many of them looked as though they belonged on Route 66. There were signs up offering rooms for $30 a night.
There was a lack of restaurants too. There were some tacky looking burger places and pizza places but we wanted a decent meal. We went right along the beachfront & then back over the bridge to the other part of town but didn't find anything. What we did see is 5 or 6 bridges crossing the Halifax River taking people from the Speedway side of town to the beach side. We eventually went back to the beachfront and went to a nice looking Mexican restaurant. I was starving by now but after guacamole, fish tacos & margaritas I was well and truly full.
We felt a bit sorry for the staff in the hotel tonight. When we checked in, the girl told us what a good night it was to be here because it was the first game of the American football season. They were having specials in the bistro and serving popcorn throughout the game. The lobby was decorated with football bunting & we could see the popcorn machine on the counter. When we came back from dinner, there were only 2 people in there & one was a lady on her laptop with her back to the tv. I have been up and down a few times tonight going to the laundry and there has never been more than 2 people watching the game.
Tomorrow morning we are going to do a tour of the Daytona Speedway before heading to Miami.