Daytona - 2nd Sunday!

Sunday, 27 September

The boys were out of bed at sparrow’s – 5.30am – picked up at 7 by Jimmy, Jim’s son.  They went to Ponce Inlet to board a half-day fishing charter aboard the ‘Super Critter’!

Lesley and I took off from the house just after 7am, to get down to the beach to photograph the sunrise.  We only just made it,  the sun is up by 7.30am.  Got some nice photos though and I used David’s camera ‘unsupervised’…. And also taught myself how to download the photos to the computer!

                                        Joe's Crab Shack on the pier.  The Roof Top is where
                                        they have the Happy Hour - hurricanes and beer buckets!
                                         

                                           Starlite Diner - my new favourite brekky place!

The boys met Jimmy’s friends – Big John and Derek – at the harbor.  There were about 50 paying passengers on board.  They put into a jackpot for the biggest edible fish that could be taken home.  There were several species that, due to the new ‘green’ laws have to be thrown back.   We had a member of the FWC (Florida Wildlife Conservation) group on board.  He measured every fish caught and some could be kept.  If it was a species covered by the ‘green’ law, as soon as it was  landed, it was measured, tagged and the “Obama” fish thrown back.  David – our ‘lucky Atlantic virgin’ caught a 26 inch red Snapper about 10 pounds!!!!

It was measured not weighed, tagged and had to be thrown back!!!    No fish for the restaurant for us. L It was the biggest fish caught on the boat on our trip.  He didn’t even get time to take a photo of it or give it the ‘Rex Hunt kiss’ upon departure!  (Luckily, Jimmy did get a photo of the fish – stayed tuned we have to secure it from him….)

                                                  Jim and Dave 'selfie'!

                                              Derek, Big John & Jimmy

                                                 The Captain came and tethered Jim's rod!

                                          Dave and his hot catch - and the Conservation member
                                          monitoring the catch.....

                                                    The guys are stoked - they go fishing 
                                                    regularly and none have caught a fish
                                                    this size....

The boys were disembarking when the crew did the draw for the jackpot – and the boys won!  Number 7!  Jimmy collected two fish – red eye and an Atlantic lane fish.  I got a kick out of watching the crew fillet them and throw the carcass into the air to the waiting pelicans who were dueling it out with the catfish!

The restaurant next door will cook up the catch if you take it in, for a few dollars with a couple of sides.  We sat inside in the air conditioning (much to my pleasure – it was damn hot!) and we had some delicious grilled blackened fish for appetizer.  I’m really enjoying coconut ‘breaded’ shrimp at the moment so that’s what we shared for lunch.  Jimmy, Derek and Big John were very entertaining during the meal….. the waitress was evenly matched with their humour!

Have spent the afternoon recovering and now Jim’s favourite NFL team, Buffalo Bills are on tv playing the Miami Dolphins – I don’t know which is more entertaining – watching the tv or watching Jim!

Daytona - 2nd Saturday!

Saturday 26 September

Jim took the car to have new tyres fitted and after that we went for brekky.  By this time it was about 10am and the line at IHOP was out the door!  So we walked a short way down the road to the Starlite Diner.  It looks very much like a 50’s diner from the outside and inside is also fitted out with neon and red patent leather like the 50’s…  The food was fantastic and so was the coffee!

We left in the car for DeLand, about 30 minutes from Daytona.  Lesley had said that the downtown area was nice with some cafes and shops.  When we arrived we were surprised to find that the streets were closed  - it was the local ‘Art n Craft Fair’!  Lesley and I walked the street looking at the stalls and enjoying the scenery.  It was a very warm day…. The boys soon found a Half Wall Beer House – air conditioned and with wall to wall television sets showing a different game on each one!  We also stumbled upon Persimmon Hollow – a craft brew house – so we stopped in to cool off and sample one of their brews.

                                                   Art & Craft Fair

                                             We reckon the tap count is around 70!

                                             Inside the brew house....

                                                       A very unusual men's room!

We were headed to Liz & Harvey’s for dinner, they had invited us when we had seen them last Monday night.  On the way we had a quick look in a few shops, bought some beer and drove to their house.  They have two dogs, one is a pug named Sambo, so cute, and he stays inside with ‘Mum’.

Liz made an incredible lasagna and salad, home made garlic bread followed by a Chocolate Cake (made with grated zucchini)!  It was a lovely evening.

On the way home, we had to stop and buy the boys some ‘supplies’ as they were going fishing in the morning.  Walmart is open 24 hrs so we stopped.  I was amazed at how busy it was after 9pm on a Saturday night!

Daytona, Friday!

Friday 25 September

Today we had lunch at the Sunsetsetter bar, just around the corner.  It has a view of the Halifax River and the drawbridge in the middle of the bridge.  They had a special:  50c beers if you order when the drawbridge is up!  We waited for almost 2 hrs for that to happen...  Great lunch though!

Then we left for the beach at New Smyrna…  Hadn’t been there before, it’s about a 30 minute drive from Daytona. 

                                              50c beers - the drawbridge finally went up!

Wikipedia:

The area surrounding New Smyrna Beach offers many opportunities for outdoor recreation: these include fishing, sailing, motorboating, golfing and hiking. Visitors participate in water sports of all kinds, including swimming, scuba diving, kitesurfing, and surfing. In July 2009, New Smyrna Beach was ranked number nine on the list of "best surf towns" in Surfer Magazine.

We walked along the main street past the bars, restaurants and shops – to the beach area.  The boys found a bar, Lesley and I took in some shopping.  A great little area, very friendly people.  Then we went down to the main street and found the New Smyrna Beach brewing company – had a couple of their brews.  They also had wine!  Next door was a soy candle shop where the lady makes her own from scratch, had to buy a couple of samples of those…

New Smyrna town

                                                      View of the Lost Lagoons restaurant!

We drove to the Lost Lagoons Wings and Grill restaurant to meet Ron and Gina, friends of Lesley and Jim, for dinner.  It had a great outdoor verandah where we sat and enjoyed the view of the storm and some squirrels on the lawn!  Cool beers, home made chips and queso, great meal – a very relaxing evening!  I liked the lights out the front of the restaurant although hard to photograph at night!

Daytona Thursday!

Thursday 24 September

We’d discussed last night the plan for my birthday – and had decided to drive to St Augustine for the day.  We were up early and off!

First stop:  Flagler Beach and a restaurant named ‘Funky Pelican’.

Wikipedia:       America's Coolest Small Town finalist

Flagler Beach was a finalist in the 2013 Budget Travel Magazine contest for "Coolest Small Town".

The magazine described it by the following:

"Twenty miles north of Daytona Beach on A1A, Flagler Beach couldn't be more different from its party-hardy neighbor to the south. In fact, the area seems to attract more sea turtles and right whales than spring breakers. And it's not hard to see why: This thin strip of a beach town, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal Waterway, has remained significantly less developed than its neighbors. The six miles of pristine sand— which boast an orange hue thanks to crushed coquina shells—are only interrupted by one fishing pier. In town, the vibe is laid back and retro, thanks to spots like Grampa's Uke Joint, which sells ukuleles, and High Tides at Snack Jack, a 1950s fish shack that attracts surfers with funky dishes like tuna reubens, ahi club sandwiches, and sake Bloody Marys.”

2013:  On Wednesday, the Funky Pelican opened its door in the softest of openings (“Come On In” was written in big letters, in chalk, on a giant blackboard-like wall fronting Oceanshore Boulevard).

Flagler Beach is experiencing a restaurant renaissance of sorts. The demise of Hurricane Patty’s and another short-lived bar partially named “pelican” aside, the town has seen the re-emergence, after big moves or major refurbishing, of Blue and the Beachhouse Beanery, and of Kokomo’s, where the Beanery used to be, with more coming.

The Funky Pelican was always going to be a main course, because of its location, because of the Pier Restaurant’s history, and because of the epic negotiations that preceded its opening.

After brekky pancakes, French toast and eggs, we hit the road and headed north to St Augustine!

Wikipedia:

St. Augustine (Spanish: San Agustín) is a city in northeast Florida and the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the continental United States.

Saint Augustine was founded on September 8, 1565, by Spanish admiral and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. He named the settlement "San Agustín", as his ships bearing settlers, troops, and supplies from Spain had first sighted land in Florida on August 28, 1565, the feast day of St. Augustine.  The city served as the capital of Spanish Florida for over 200 years, and remained the capital of East Florida when the territory briefly changed hands between Spain and Britain. It was designated the capital of the Florida Territory until Tallahassee was made the capital in 1824. Since the late 19th century, St. Augustine's distinct historical character has made the city a major tourist attraction. It is also the headquarters for the Florida National Guard.

First stop was the outlets – quick shopping expeditions on both sides of the highway.  Next we drove into the Historical district and found a place to park, mainly in the shade.  We wanted to find the craft beer house – ‘A1A Ale Works - it was a beautiful old place, right on the corner at 1 King Street, with a view of Mantanza Bay.  Many of the historic buildings were decorated in celebration of the city’s 450^th Birthday – it was first settled in 1565.

Historic buildings

                                                          450th Birthday decorations

                                                  Inside the A1A Ale House - lunch

Birthday margarita!

Street view - 1 King Street

We walked along the shore front to the Castillo de San Marcos – the fort built to protect the settlement.  It’s construction is ‘conquina’ – (Spanish: "cockle.") is a sedimentary rock that is composed either wholly or almost entirely of the transported, abraded, and mechanically-sorted fragments of the shells of either molluscs, trilobites, brachiopods, or other invertebrates.  It’s very interesting to look at and must be quite solid, as construction began in 1672!

We took the A1A back to Daytona rather than the interstate, because it is the state road and passes through all of the coastal towns.  We stopped at Matanzas Inlet for afternoon tea – site of a French massacre in 1565! 

Then began the drive home…..