We left for our summer vacation the day after the boys finished school (June 29) and flew down to Daytona Beach, Florida. Yes we went to Florida in July....call me crazy but we had a reason. My oldest son's favorite sport to watch is Nascar and it is not a very popular sport in Canada so he get teased at school as it seems the only acceptable sport to enjoy in this country is hockey. We wanted to make this a special trip that they would both remember for life. So we got tickets to two races at the Daytona International Speedway on July 6th and 7th and then for my youngest son we spent a day at the new Legoland located just south of Orlando.
We booked a hotel in Daytona Beach right on the ocean, here is the view from our balcony.
I had never swam in the ocean so this was a special treat for me as I love being in the water. Tim and I would go for morning walks on the beach and then wake the boys and we would swim all morning.
Here is the view down the beach at low tide, I loved that the beach was not crowded as most of the buildings you see are condominiums.
I thought it was pretty cool that they allow cars to drive and park on the beach.
Here are the boys enjoying the waves.
I have a lot of pictures to go through of the trip and will post a few of the race in my next post.
I grew up in Orlando and spent most of the summer at Daytona....it's not like the old days but so glad you enjoyed it. Bet the race was awesome! I can remember the early drag races on the beach.
ReplyDeleteIf your son is a NASCAR nut, he may already know this but 15 land-speed records were set on the beach at Daytona. :) They used to race -- fledgling NASCAR -- part of the races ON the beach.
ReplyDeleteThe course started on the pavement of highway A1A. A restaurant named "Racing's North Turn" now stands at that location. It went south two miles (3 km) parallel to the ocean on A1A (S. Atlantic Ave) to the end of the road, where the drivers accessed the beach at the south turn at the Beach Street approach, returned two miles (3 km) north on the sandy beach surface, and returned to A1A at the north turn. The lap length in early events was 3.2 miles (5.1 km), and it was lengthened to 4.2 miles (6.8 km) in the late 1940s.
They only completed 75 of the 78 laps in the very first race, because the sand was so torn up, it was impossible to drive upon. That was 1936.
my first time at the ocean was Daytona Beach-after HS graduation. You could drive on the beach then too!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a wonderful trip that you will all remember.
The beach looks wonderful...despite the tall buildings it still looks so peaceful.
ReplyDeleteJuly looks like a fabulous time to go to Florida! The beach is unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that your son gets teased for liking Nascar - what a shame.
Interesting that the cars can drive on the beach. Do they ever get stuck in the sand?
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy! Love all the pictures, especially the ones of the boys catching the waves. Sounds and looks like a wonderful trip - minus the camera being stolen! Any quilt shopping? :-)
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