It's about time.

Many of you can relate to Working long hours at your career. Raising your families. Buying a home and paying all the bills related to being homeowners and parents. We're now retired and don't need all that work and expense. Now "It's about time" and what we do to follow our dreams.

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Thursday, April 9, 2015

Exploring Daytona Beach and Xxxxxxmas Shopping

Our Location today is Daytona Beach, Florida, USA.

It truly is strange how one can appreciate the warmth of the lower states during the winter months but can be easily worn out just doing simple activities out in the sun like setting up camp. We didn’t have any trouble sleeping last night to the point where we slept until 8:00 this morning. 

We spent a short time on the computers reading and adding data to our MiFi plan before loading up the truck and heading out. With our limited stay at this park and so much we want to see and do we can’t afford to sit around. Besides we have to look while we can because the Weather Guessers are showing some nasty weather heading our way for the weekend. 
Wishing we could have followed this sign today.
Kathy set the GPS and we were soon headed southbound down I-95 then over to US 1. When we saw that sign we were kind of wishing we were still down at the Zero Mile Marker. Our first destination today was the Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse Museum located on Mosquito Inlet. Our GPS worked flawlessly until it told us the address was on the right side of the road instead of the left. Sometimes it is Directionally Challenged.

Just as we entered the Gift-shop to purchase our tour tickets we heard the sound of something that sounded like glass crashing to the floor. Then a little voice explaining that his alligator’s tail must have hit it when he was flying. Adult/Senior tickets are $5.00 each but we weren’t allowed to bring our water bottles with us even though it was hot but they did have water fountains around the site. 

After putting our bottles back in the truck we started with the short introductory video that opened our eyes to the changes in Lighthouse Designs and what was expected of those that were charged with the task of tending to the lighthouse. We then started visiting the different buildings learning more as we went but saving the lighthouse for last. Kathy’s knees and her breathing were starting to bother her so she opted to find a shady spot to rest while I explored the Lighthouse further. 

The Mechanics behind the Rotating Beacon Light.
By the time I was about halfway up inside the lighthouse I knew that I’d have to slow my pace down as it was warm and the air thin. With people coming down using the same spiral staircase that was an easy thing to do. With little air coming in it nearly felt like Air Conditioning coming through the vents in the Service Room at the top of the tower itself where you could see the inner workings of the Beacon. 
Kathy in the doorway at the base of the Lighthouse.
From the base looking up.
Looking Down.
Exiting to the outer viewing platform the breeze at 175 feet was refreshing and the views amazing. I was up there for nearly ten minutes and was able to calm a few women who were scared of heights. Unfortunately just as I was about to descend a young woman had to walk backwards all the way down guiding her eight year old daughter who suddenly freaked out over how high she was and there was no calming her until she was on the ground. This is a very worthwhile museum to explore and to learn from. If you plan on climbing to the top be prepared to climb 203 steps to get there.   
There's Kathy.

Young Mom talking her daughter
down one step at a time.
It was nearly 2:00 when we left and we needed to eat lunch. Kathy had research a restaurant called Down The Hatch. She only found positive reviews and it was only a mile from the lighthouse. From the outside it looked like an open air bar but when we went inside it was a different world in Air Conditioned comfort. We had window seats so as we enjoyed our meals we watched the small crafts traversing the canals. Just before we were ready to leave we started seeing a couple of Dolphins doing short leaps out of the water putting on a show that lasted for close to ten minutes. Only having brought the small camera into the restaurant there was no way to document those occurrences.

It was past 3:30 by the time we left for our next stop that was the Daytona Beach Boardwalk Amusement District. Unfortunately there was something special going on today so it was impossible to find parking of any kind so we’ll just hope to make it back there before we leave. 

The sand you see is part of Daytona Beach.
Heading back towards the trailer we were planning on stopping at the grocery store to refill our water jugs and refill our pantry as well. Not using the GPS I entered the wrong shopping plaza where four of our favorite stores in the US are located. We did managed to find a few things on our shopping list that we won’t need at the grocery store now but then we made a major dent in our Xxxxxxmas shopping today. 

It was nearly 7:00 and we were starting to need something to eat so as luck would have it there was a Chick-fil-A at the front of the parking lot so we just walked over. The place was jammed but we were enjoying our supper within five minutes with a view out the front window that we could see part of the Speedway form. 

Back at the trailer after everything was unloaded Kathy was very happy to take her shoes off for the day. Thanks for following along and feel free to leave a comment. Be Safe and Enjoy!

It’s about time.

Krackers

When is a green book not a green book?


When it's read.

2 comments:

  1. Seems your GPS is not very reliable, we don't even own one other than our I-phone and never have any problems.
    Enjoy that weather while you can , gonna be awesome here next week.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We love visiting lighthouses. I have this one on my list. The price is excellent. Poor little girl.

    ReplyDelete