Daytona – home of NASCAR racing
Hi y’all – we sure is in de south now sugar ! (You have to read this post with your best southern accent). We have reached Savannah and although it is north of Florida, this is where the south begins. Florida is full of what they call “snowbirds” – everyone moving south for the winter and so they come from everywhere else in the USA. In Georgia they just have to talk and you knows you in de south !
After a quick last breakfast in the Beach Club Lounge, Adrienne and I had a quick walk around the Yacht Club (no Thurston Howell III to be found) whilst Liam finished off his arcade credits. Then it was a final tearful farewell to Mickey and the gang and we were headed north – well north east really – as we headed back to the Atlantic Ocean side of Florida to Daytona – home of NASCAR speedway.
Daytona International Speedway
The speedway itself is absolutely huge and you seem to drive forever to get past it. When we finally got past it, we were almost in the Atlantic Ocean – at Daytona Beach. It is a famed spot for driving up and down the beach the sand is so hard. Apparently there are so many cars that they actually have certain designated “car free” areas so people can swim. The beach was closed due to the high tide when we arrived so there was no chance to give it a try. We headed up the “strip” which is a very tired looking area of wall to wall hotels and apartments. I was surprised by so many vacant blocks of land amongst the hotels.
Adrienne at the gate
The “strip” road was limited to 40mph and as it wasn’t that inspiring we decided the interstate would at least get us up the coast a bit quicker so we headed back inland. On the way across to the interstate, we drove through Bulow State Park which passed through the real swampy inter-coastal areas again but there were also a lot of trees with the Spanish Moss hanging down so it was quite scenic. Further north, our first real stop for the day was St Augustine – the oldest settlement in the USA – which dates back to the Spanish in 1565. It is on a harbour and there is a rather spectacular fort – Castillo de San Marcos – which was built to protect the settlement and has been well preserved (it is a National Park area now).
How the fort looks from above
Near the fort, the old town of St Augustine has been preserved well and there are samples of architecture throughout the different periods of its occupation. We had lunch here and struck something very unusual – we had to wait nearly half an hour for our lunch. Usually your food is on the table almost before you order it but today we wondered if they had lost our order. However when it did come it was very tasty – Adrienne and I had Fried Shrimp Po’Boys and Liam had a Club sandwich. When you order something it also comes with a side and extras so it is always very filling !
Orlando to Savannah
After lunch we headed north again toward Georgia. The Weather Channel had been on the TV at the cafe at lunch and they had been advising of storm warnings for the area we were headed. Sure enough, as we left Jacksonville (the last major city in Florida) it bucketted down again. As the rain hits, the traffic drops from 60mph to about 20mph in an instant – that’s how intense the rain is. We were lucky though as the weather advisory had referred to large hail. We came across a car later on with a missing back window so they were not quite so lucky.
We crossed the border into Georgia and the rain pretty much stayed with us all the way into Savannah. Mostly just intermittent after the big storm. We arrived in Savannah about 5pm and after dropping our bags at the hotel, walked a few blocks to one of the city squares where the horse drawn carriage tours begin and did a city sights tour.
For any fans of the movie “Forrest Gump”, here is a picture of the spot where Forrest sat and told his story to various passers-by and ate his “box a’ chocolates”. The seat was an added addition for the movie in front of the low wall you can see. There are plantings where the bench was supposed to be.
Just to the right of the picture is a church with a tower and this is where the feather floats down during the story.
(You will all have to go and watch the movie now to check !)
The tour went through the old town and the guide pointed out various old buildings – many that had managed to survive the “war between the states” (they don’t refer to it as the Civil War). The architecture was very beautiful and the avenues lined with old trees and the hanging Spanish Moss very picturesque.
The riverfront
After the tour, we headed down to the riverfront to find somewhere for dinner. The river has always been a key “working river” and from our hotel (on the 8th floor) we could see big container ships being guided further down the river to the big port facilities.
The riverfront has been maintained much as the Rocks in Sydney and the old stores are now restaurants and shops. There is a boardwalk that runs right along the riverbank (the only eyesore is a Hyatt hotel which has been built smack in the middle with no attempt to blend it into its surroundings). We found a nice restaurant called “Vic’s on the River”. Adrienne and I sampled some real southern tastes – Fried Green Tomatoes – which were very tasty ! and Adrienne also had grits with her shrimp – don’t think she’ll be rushing back for grits though.
As we had dinner, we chatted to the “southern gentleman” at the next table (and enjoyed his accent) and he told us we also needed to try “country ham” for breakfast – so we will need to look out for that on the menu to test it out.
Tomorrow its off to Atlanta ………. “y’all come back now, ya hear” !