Valentines Day 2023!
Florida
Day 1
Guy and I heading to Florida for a few day in the Sun and then Daytona 500 for year 2 with our dear friend, John Lindner! John with host us for the race with a few bumper days of fun!
We grab a rental car and head to the ocean. Beautiful day and the sun feels great!
Our transportation.
Checked into the doubletree hotel in Melbourne Shores we are on the ocean and it is warm and beautiful. We head to the bar and meet Kenneth who makes wonderful margaritas and gives us some much needed advice on places to dine.
Hotel
Our mixologist Kenneth!
Created a new cocktail called the Paula!
A stellar addition to our stay.
We awake to a beautiful day although too windy to be happy sitting on the beach, so we jump in our car and head south to explore. We find Sebastian inlet, a State Park on the ocean with quite a bit of action. Pier to fish, white sand beaches on the ocean and inlet (where the water is really warm), a bar and restaurant that overlook the ocean and turtles!
Fishing Pier
The inlet, a great place to spend the afternoon.
Turtle
So, down to the pool to catch the last rays of the day and relax!
My travel partner.
Another Paula from Wisconsin! What are the odds??
Day 3
Another beautiful day and we bid adieu to the Doubletree and meander our way to Deland to hangout with John. We head north to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refugee. We take the ocean highway A1A and soak up the sunshine. The refuge has lots of options but most of the hiking trails are being repaired. Apparently wetlands play havoc with lumber. We head to a highway trail where it is promised we will see plenty of action. It is peak migration time so the park is filled with birds from the north. Really an amazing variety of birds and animals in their habitat and not a zoo.
Birds
“BIG DADDY” nickname by Guy
A lone flamingo
Find the armadillo!
We have a map!
We arrive in Deland!
We our greeted by Roux and make ourselves at home. John has done quite a few updates to the house and yard in the past year and everything looks great! John joins us just in time for cocktails. So great to see him and catch up. Soon we order pizza and pasta and call it a day.
ROUX
Day 4
Ditto on the beautiful day! We check the kitchen for supplies, make a list and head to Publix Market. I love these stores and of course the vegetables and fruit are fresh and gorgeous. We head home and MAKE NOODLES! This is becoming a tradition when I travel.
We clean up and head to DAYTONA BEACH with our Mustang Convertible and we drive along the coast. Really cool. Quite a few nice vehicles and lots of people enjoying the sun and surf.
The ocean is fabulous but the reality of hurricane Ian is evident all along our way. Pools that were once in a backyard are on the beach. Stairways concrete and wooden are gone. Quite a bit of rebar and plumbing exposed on most properties.
Noodles
DAYTONA BEACH
We are officially starting and head into Daytona. We find “Senorita” on Beach Drive and the aroma is great. We order a couple of margaritas and they have my mescal! We are charmed by the atmosphere and the family dynamic. The food is great and we leave sated and happy.
Heading back to DeLand for the Friday night Dinner Party! John’s sister Diane and husband Joe will be joining us. We picked up some potatoes for bakers and fresh tomatoes, John has tower filet mignon he will grill beautifully (he has 3 grills) Diane and Joe bring strawberry shortcake. Let the feasting begin!
Good looking group!
We end the evening with HUSTE!!
DAY 5
We always sleep great at Johns’ and we get up later than usual (can’t imagine why?). John texts us and suggests going to Blue Spring State Park to see the Manatees. They seem to be there if the temperature drops. So we head to Blue Springs along with everyone else within a 100 miles. 
No Manatees, but beautiful park.
No Manatees, but beautiful park.
We are ready for down time and leftovers. Tomorrow is the RACE!
Day 6
Race Day! We are out the door by 10:00. John, Joe, Guy and I are in an Uber and hoping the traffic won’t delay us to much. We arrive in the vicinity of the track and opt to walk the rest of the way. Just as we are passing a bar/restaurant they open the doors. We slide into the bar and get busy relaxing. One quick drink and we find some compadres of Johns’ who are having a blast. Introductions all around but we are antsy and want to get into the race. We catch a tram and head to the infield. The people watching is as entertaining as the race and we are showing Joe the ropes as this is his first time. Guy and I feel like veterans now that we are here for year 2.
The Track
(A sacred tradition)
Signing the Track
(A sacred tradition)
Joe, John and Guy
Making Memories
I think everyone would agree we had a really great day! John and Joe are extremely entertaining. They have “hankerings” and definitely act on them. The day is really warm and I stick to water and lemonade all day.
The finish is exciting and as usually is “crash time”. The winner is Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.. His big sponsor is Cottonelle and as we exit the park people are running around with large packages of Cottonelle toilet paper. ODD?
Johns’ friend Chris who hosted us last year meets us and gives us a lift back to his place to order an Uber for the ride home. Miracle of Miracles we get a car right away! Getting away from the traffic is a slow go but we arrive home safe and sound and get a night cap.
DAY 7
This is our last day with John and the beach. We spend the morning relaxing with Roux and then head to the beach for lunch. We stop at the Landshark. We sit in the sun and watch the ocean. It is a beautiful day and although I wish we had a few more days I am grateful we had this winter break.
The Landshark
Head to the grocery and Johns’ to get ready for a dinner party and Diane and Joe’s.
Joe grills us his famous Cornish hens and they are delicious.
Diane and Joe’s home is really stunning and the evening is wonderful. We have only known them for a few days but feels like they are old friends. We are definitely looking forward to seeing them again.
John has to work in the morning so we head back to his place and say good by to our companions.
Day 8
I see John briefly in the morning and we make plans to meet for lunch. Guy and I get packed. I take one no more hike around the yard with Roux and we head to Orlando. We will spend the night and catch our flight in the morning.
A visitor on Johns porch screen
We reach out to John but he is unable to meet us. So we say our goodbyes and pledge to be back next year.
We return our rental car, and as usual it is fraught with delays and anxiety. We finally finish our business and catch the shuttle back to our hotel for some much needed downtime.
We head to the bar for “cocktail time” and quickly make some new friends, We have a really great time and I am sad to head upstairs but we have an early flight and there is a real possibility our flight might be cancelled. This is not overly upsetting, Spending a few more days in Florida is okay with me. This was a great way to end our adventure.
Guy at the bar
Day 9
I check with the airline at 4 a.m., our flight is still on time, but they are offering a flight change at no charge if we want to cancel. We get ready and head to the airport. Ten minutes before boarding they inform us we may not be leaving. Half an hour later we are boarding in a hurry. This flight has to get in and out of Milwaukee before the ice storm. We all cheer head home.
Murph picks us up and it is just starting to sleet. We are home and safe.
