It's always a thrill to meet with hospital leadership and some of their team. As is always the case they are doing great things for their patients and communities they serve.
We took the opportunity to come over a few days early and enjoy a little time at Daytona Beach. So Beth and I packed up NaNa Wednesday morning and we were off to the other coast. Had lunch and visited with my brother in Bartow for a bit which is always a treat and we were here by early afternoon.
If pressed I'd have to pick the west coast beaches of Florida over the east coast beaches. However it's really not fair to compare the two as they are both quite spectacular The water is a little clearer and calmer and it's a little less crowded on the west coast. Surprisingly it's fairly quiet over here right now even though this is "high season". I'm sure the action will be picking up soon with the NASCAR crowd, Bike Week and spring break coming up.
I had been through Daytona Beach a time or two over the past few decades but the last time I stayed in this area was during my college Spring Break way back in the dark ages of the late 70's. FORTY YEARS AGO! Now that stay conjures up a few memories that I'm glad are buried deep in the past and thankfully occurred years before cell phone cameras and youtube.
This visit has been a great one. We were fortunate enough to get a room overlooking a magnificent wide stretch of beach a few miles south of the boardwalk. We were also pleasantly surprised when we drove the 5-6 miles from the hotel to the Ponce Inlet lighthouse. It's the tallest (175 feet) lighthouse in Florida which for a small fee you can climb. There is also what looks like a nice little museum on the grounds. It was late in the day and they were closing so we were not able to go in but if we're back in that area again I think it would be worth the investment of a couple of hours and a few dollars.
Daytona Beach is still one of the few beaches that I know of where you can actually drive on it for quite a few miles. One noticeable difference is that it's much more regulated now which I'm sure has lead to a significant decrease in ER visits and the privilege of driving on the beach now costs $10. Not a bad deal but don't worry Debbie we didn't do it!
One of the most surprising things about this visit is realizing how much damage Hurricane Matthew did to this area last fall when is skirted up the coastline from south Florida up to the Carolinas. There are still a number of places that are closed and you can still see damage everywhere. I was talking with one local who said that the Hilton hotel had sustained over $40 million dollars of damage. So much for Paris's trust fund!
We've enjoyed some great food at a few local places (Crabby Joes, Leanh's and Aunt Catfish), had some great walks on the beach and boardwalk but without question the most memorable thing has been the sunrises. We get treated to so many great sunsets over on Anna Maria Island (AMI) it was fun to get a few mornings of sunrises.
This morning we came within 13 seconds of getting to see a rocket launch from the cape. It was an unmanned rocket carrying supplies and scientific equipment to the space station. The morning clouds that made for some amazing pictures had cleared and I think we'd have had a nice view but the launch was scrubbed with 13 seconds until liftoff due to a malfunction on a second stage thruster. I'm sure it was the right decision, those rockets don't come cheap but it would have been fun to watch.
NaNa had a great time sharing stories with us of coming over here in her younger days and comparing Anna Maria Island to Daytona Beach (she couldn't find any similarities but she enjoyed looking for them).
We're heading out from here in a few minutes, maybe we'll catch the sunset over on AMI.
