Daytona 500

Today is the day where this trip actually started for, the Daytona500.  We start quietly and are in the car around 10.30 am on the way to the hotel where we will stay this night.  We will deliver our suitcases there.  Fortunately, a cautious sun breaks through, which is very nice after two days of rain.  Then towards the circuit, or better said, towards the parking lot.  About 7 kilometers from the circuit, a huge meadow has been made available where you can park your car for free and shuttle buses have been arranged to transport you to the circuit.  Funny detail: they are authentic, American, yellow school buses.  These take us to our destination in 10 minutes.  Even though it is 4 hours before the start, it is already quite busy.  We look for our seats and then the long wait begins.  But as mentioned earlier, with the sun this is no punishment.  An hour before the start, the 40 riders are introduced, a squadron of 6 fighter planes flies over several times, a pastor says a prayer and of course the national anthem is sung.  The race starts around 4:30 PM to loud cheers from the spectators.  Not much happens until round 190 (out of 200).  Then came the big one, as it is called.  A total of about 15 cars were involved in the crash.  After some patching up, a large number of people were able to continue the race.  Another crash at the start of the last lap, but this had no consequences for the winner, William Byron.  Then the challenge for us started getting back to our car.  We quickly found the place where the shuttle buses come and we are not the only ones.  All in all, it takes about 45 minutes before we get on the bus that takes us to the parking lot.  Once there, we still have to do some searching for the car, but that also works out fine.  We reach the highway to the hotel fairly easily.  This brings our holiday to an end and therefore also this blog.  Tomorrow during the day we will visit Orlando, no definite plans yet.  We fly back to Schiphol at 7:00 PM, local time, where we land around 10:00 AM the next morning.

Video of the day

Today would be the day the journey started, the day of the Daytona500.  But, as already reported, it has been raining here for two days, and yes, this morning at half past nine local time BREAKING News, it has been decided to postpone the race until four o’clock tomorrow afternoon.  And then we are supposed to be at the airport, the flight leaves at seven o’clock.  Disappointment of course, but you can’t change the weather.  Still, we looked at each other for a moment and Bene asked the question, let’s see if we can fly a day later?  This also means booking an additional hotel, extending your rental car for a day, and parking at Schiphol.  Still looking, and it turns out that we can move the flight for €2.92 in total.  A hotel is also quickly found, and one phone call to Alamo and the car is also an extra day for us.  In other words, we’re still going to the Daytona500, even if it’s a day later.  That also means that we have nothing else for the rest of the day, so we do what was planned for tomorrow, shopping.  Also because in addition to the rental car, the hotel and the flight, the underwear you bring with you is not enough ;-).  And so we drive to the Florida Mall and spend most of the day there.  Fortunately, we both still had 10 kilos of suitcase space, so let’s leave it at that.  After the mall we decide to go to a Walmart for the necessary groceries and then have dinner at Bubba Gump Co.  But it turns out, they are located at the Universal complex and the parking garage there costs $30.00 a day, but after six o’clock in the evening it is free.  We arrive at five past five, and that would mean we would have to pay $30.00 for fifty-five minutes, Amsterdam, eat your heart out.  So we won’t do that, we’ll see if we can spend the hour somewhere else and then we’ll come back.  And then we see a Red Lobster, also a great chain, and so the plans quickly change.  And now we are back at our Tiny House, typing this story, rearranging the suitcases, and looking forward to tomorrow. 

Video of the Day, this song is what we listened to most often on the various channels we listened to in recent days.

Despite the rain that fell all day today, we were still able to carry out all our plans. We start the day at Walmart where we buy two umbrellas and two ponchos, as well as some other things. We also eat a sandwich at Subway. Then we set course for Kennedy Space Center, and sure enough, the closer we get, the drier it becomes. More Americans have probably noticed this because 2 kilometers before the parking lot we are already in a traffic jam. Anyway, when we finally arrive on site and inside, it is busy, but the queues for the various attractions are manageable. We walk to the buses that take you to the Apollo \ Saturn V center where the original rockets are on display, and of course the patriotic videos are shown. After this we take the bus back and eat quickly (well, that was the intention, in the end we had to wait half an hour before it was our turn at Starbucks) a Banana, Walnut and Pecal loafbread with a cappucino. Then we go to the Atlantis center, where the Space Shuttle Atlantis is on display and you can also experience a launch of the space shuttle itself. We drive back to Orlando around half past five, change clothes and go about 25 kilometers north. To a Willie Nelson concert. Despite his 90 years, his voice and guitar playing are still fantastic. And now let’s hope that our plans for tomorrow, the Daytona 500, can also go ahead.

Video of the Day

We are taking it easy today, we have moved the planned visit to Kennedy Space Center to tomorrow due to the time we need there.  And so today is a pure travel day.  First we have breakfast at the neighbors, Country Ham ‘N Eggs, and after this delicious breakfast we drive along the coast to Palm Beach.  Just before Palm Beach we have a quick sneak peak at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s residence.  After Palm Beach we set the Tom Tom without tolls and highways and drive inland towards Orlando, FL.  We arrive at our accommodation for the last three nights, a Tiny Home, around half past five.  Hopefully the weather forecasts here are as in the Netherlands, because then it won’t be too bad with the predicted rain, but people are already talking about postponing the Daytona 500 race on Sunday.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that that doesn’t happen. 

Video of the Day.  Because not much happened today, we will treat you to two videos of the day, because we had a hard time choosing.  It had to have something to do with cars or long drives, and both videos qualified.

We take it easy in the morning and dive into the morning rush hour around a quarter past nine.  Under normal circumstances it would take approximately 35 minutes to Bayside where the Hop On Hop Off bus departs. But now it takes us an hour and ten minutes. We’re taking the Hop On Hop Off because we know one day isn’t enough for Miami so we’re going to do the quick version and come back someday and take more time. The first four stops of the bus are in Miami Beach, and we exit at the third.  Within walking distance of that stop is the Miami Beach Holocaust Memorial.  A very impressive monument.  Before we get back on the bus we eat a quick but tasty chicken burger and then we drive on. We are considering also getting off in Little Havana, but due to circumstances we don’t have time.  We also view this district from the bus.  One of the circumstances is that our overnight stay for this evening will only have staff present during office hours, and the other is that we have tickets for the friendly match Inter Miami CF against Newell Old Boys, the Argentinian club where Lionel Messi started playing football.  The match starts at half past seven, and we take plenty of time to get there, including finding a parking spot and having something to eat.  Once again taking the evening rush hour into account.  The match ends 1-1 and both Messi and Suarez participate for 65 minutes.  Jordi Alba even played 70 minutes and Busquets the whole match.  Special to experience. Everything revolves around star player Messi.  Only shirts with his name on them are for sale in the fan shop.  Bene can control himself and that’s a good thing, luckily now we also have a budget for other things during the rest of the trip ;-).  Tomorrow we have a travel day ahead.  We are going to Orlando, where we will stay in a tiny house until Monday.

Video of the Day

We had our first look at Key West last night and we liked what we saw.  So this morning after breakfast we went for a walk again.  Our goal was the marker of the southernmost spot on the American mainland.  When we got there we had to queue up, yes, to take a photo.  We stroll back to the hotel with a detour.  The atmosphere is a bit hippie-ish and very open-minded.  Around 10:30 AM we drive to our next stop, Bahia Honda State Park.  Here you will find the remains of the Flagler Railroad.  Henry Flagler, an entrepreneur who made his fortune in the late 19th century, saw the importance of a connection between Miami and Key West.  Construction of the train connection started in 1905 and was completed in 1912.  Unfortunately, a large part of the train connection was destroyed by a hurricane in 1935. The remains can now be viewed from a distance.  We also stood with our feet in the Atlantic Ocean for a while (quite fresh). A quick lunch and we drive on to Robbie’s in Islamorada.  A kind of amusement park has been created there where you can snorkel, take a fishing boat or rent a jet ski.  In short, everything with the theme of water.  What this Robbie has become famous for is that you can buy a bucket of fish (bait) for $5 and feed it to tarpons, which are ancient, large ocean fish.  What makes it fun are the pelicans who really do everything they can to get this easy meal for themselves.  They steal the bait from the buckets of unsuspecting people.  Or snatch the bait out of your hand before the tarpon has caught the fish.  To prevent all this, there are men walking around trying to chase away the pelicans.  With little success, by the way.  But it is priceless to watch this battle.  The overnight stay will be booked in Miami, where we will look around tomorrow.  We have a delicious dinner at a Cuban restaurant.

Video of the day

Got up around eight o’clock, went through the daily routines, but without breakfast. Well, coffee. In the car around nine o’clock and the Tom Tom is set for an Airboat Ride about a two-hour drive away. Along the way, keep an eye out for a breakfast spot and that ends up being a Skillets where Margreet has a Two-fruit Pancakes and Bene an Advocado Benedict. After this delicious breakfast we continue. We arrive in the area where the chosen Airboat should depart, but all we see, no airboats. Fortunately, we saw another company on the way there, about six miles earlier, so we drive back a bit and buy two tickets here. We are lucky because we just see a boat leaving and that means we can be the first on our boat and therefore sit at the front. It is a wonderful trip over the Everglades, and we see alligators, birds and turtles. Then we set the route planner to Key West and hit the road. This is a drive of about three and a half hours. We find an “affordable” hotel in the Old Town. Around seven o’clock we walk to Duval Street and have dinner at the Hard Rock Café.

Video of the day

Despite the jet lag, we don’t take the chance and set the alarm for 6:00 am. That is necessary, because we still alternate between sleeping and waking, but we are both woken up by the alarm clock. Shower, pack your suitcases and get in the car at 7:00 am towards the Park Entrance of the Myakka River State Park. This opens at 8:00 am, and then the distribution of the 30 day permits to hike to the Deep Hole begins. And we want to be there early so as not to miss out. We each obtain a permit and start the short 4 kilometer hike to a part of the Lower Myakka River Lake, the Deep Hole. Many alligators swim here and if you are lucky they will be sunbathing en masse. We meet seven of them lying in the water close to the shore. We enjoy the tranquility that this entire environment radiates, also on the hike back. Then we drive through the State Park to the Upper Lake, and see a few alligators and all kinds of birds here. In the afternoon we set course for Fort Myers Beach. Hurricane Ian passed right over this at the end of September 2022, and you can still see the sad consequences of this hurricane. Interesting detail, while we drive through this town looking for a parking spot we hear on the news the happy fact that a restaurant has just opened its doors again today after this hurricane. From Fort Myers we drive another 30 kilometers to Bonita Spring. We have a motel there called Buffalo Chip’s Ranch House Motel. The name should have rang a bell. It turns out to be a motel attached to a Buffalo Wings restaurant. And you wouldn’t believe how busy it is even on a Monday evening. We mingle with the guests on the Tiki terrace with live music, eat and drink deliciously and have a great time. We also walk into the Universal Supermarket on the other side of the road. And that turns out to be a gift for both of us. A supermarket aimed purely at Mexicans. Fantastic.

Video of the day

Going to sleep at 9pm last night and up again at 6.45am this morning.  Great first night and because we woke up early we still had something to do during the day.  Around 9:00 am we are in the car heading to Dinosaur World.  A theme park about, yes, dinosaurs.  Very nice and informative set up.  After about 45 minutes we have had enough and drive via Tampa to Clearwater.

Here we will try to get a spot on the Little Toot Dolphin Adventure boat.  We see everything sold out online for today, but if you don’t dare, you don’t win, so we report to their stand in the harbor and are lucky.  We can still join the boat trip at 1 p.m.  First a quick lunch and then we can go on board.  The trip of about an hour and a half is fantastic.  We see a number of dolphins and even manage to photograph them.  All in all a successful afternoon.

Our final destination for today is Sarasota, where we have booked an apartment at the Siesta Key Palms Resort.  On the drive there we make another stop at John’s Pass Village.  We stroll along the boulevard and browse in the many shops there.  Then go again, because tonight is Super Bowl night (American Football).  We see the first quarter during our dinner at Applebee’s.  All TVs are on the sports channel, so we don’t miss anything.  We’ll watch the rest of the match in our apartment

Video of the day

We arrive at Schiphol on time, and the plane also leaves on time. We are spoiled and the films are beautiful. At a quarter past four American time we land in Orlando, FL and we are actually the second to pass through Immigrations. This also runs smoothly, after all it is the third entry on this ESTA. We get through Immigrations so quickly that we then have to wait fifteen minutes for our suitcases. But if there are any, it’s off to the Car Rent for a big Ford Pickup and to the Visitor Toll Pass stand for a VST. This is the cheapest and simplest way to pay tolls in Florida. We drive to our first overnight stay in Bartow, and are still delayed by fifteen minutes due to traffic jams at the various amusement parks. Just a quick trip to Walmart for some first shopping, and then we’ll go sleep. On to the first adventures tomorrow.

Video of the Day