Our second visit to New Smyrna Beach
Friday, July 26 – We left Cincinnati headed south on I-75. Instead of taking the Cumberland Gap we opted to continue on I-75 so we could take in the mountains south of Jellico, Tennessee. It was incredibly foggy and there was no view. Scott was taking a nap and when he woke up and looked at the sea of gray out the window, he asked if we were in Maine. We took I-640 around Knoxville to I-40, then I-26 to I-95. Jim tried to get us lost in Asheville taking the wrong exit but we were able to turn around with only a few minutes delay.
The drive was otherwise uneventful and we stopped at the Day’s Inn in Richmond Hill, Georgia. After dinner there, we drove back towards Savannah to look for Cliff’s and Carolyn’s families because they had talked about a motel at the next exit up from ours but missed them because they opted to stay at a different motel at that exit. Back at the Day’s Inn we saw a pretty rainbow when we took the kids to the swimming pool.
Saturday, July 27 – South again on I-95, again stopping at the Welcome Center for orange juice. Jacksonville had eliminated its toll bridges and we arrived at the Surfside in New Smyrna Beach at lunchtime. We had our traditional lunch at the Hardee’s where A1A takes it turn towards the mainland. We set up shop in room 208, then went swimming in the pool and ocean. Dinner was Michael’s subs. A small shopping plaza with a Food Lion had opened a couple of miles up the road from the condominium so our marketing was easier than it had been the first trip.
Sunday, July 28 – A beach and pool day mostly. We took our traditional trip to Turtle Mound to take a picture of the kids with their cousin Laura. We had a small birthday celebration for Jim.
Monday, July 29 – Jim and Bill were stung by Jellyfish swimming in the ocean in the morning. They then had to go golfing at the New Smyrna Beach Country Club with Dad and Cliff. The golf course was hot and the jellyfish stings did nothing to improve Jim and Bill’s scores. Lynne and Carolyn took the kids souvenir shopping while the guys were golfing. We ate dinner at the Holiday House, a buffet at the corner of Saxon and A1A.
Tuesday, July 30 – The beach and pool scene again. We went to Tony and Joe’s, a beachfront bar, for lunch with Bill and Carolyn. After dinner Jim took Scott to Enjoi miniature golf in Edgewater, another traditional event which results in lots of mosquito bites. Scott tied Jim.
Wednesday, July 31 – A picnic lunch at Blue Spring State Park. We saw a large alligator swimming in the Saint Johns and a smaller one hiding in the plants close to the shore. We all took the boardwalk back to the spring and watched fish swimming in the remarkably clear water. The park was very crowded and hot. A snake crawled across the path right in front of us at one point. We also saw a woodpecker, a huge grasshopper, and lots of hungry, thieving squirrels.
Thursday, August 1 – We drove to the southernmost parking area on Apollo beach at the Canaveral National Seashore to watch the space shuttle take off. The launch was postponed because of offshore rains but we watched crabs and raccoons and had a huge stretch of beach almost all to ourselves. We made sand castles and the kids splashed in the waves. Michelle made a quick friend with the daughter of a another family who had come down to watch the liftoff.
Friday, August 2 – We opted to stay up at the condo rather than fighting traffic at the seashore. At 11:02 that morning the space shuttle Atlantis took off. We watched the speck of fire and smoke trail climb into the sky. About five minutes after liftoff the thunder from its engines reached us and continued for several minutes. A trio of dolphins swam past just after the shuttle launch.
After lunch we went to the Sugar Mill Gardens in Port Orange to see the ruins and several life-size dinosaur statues spread out through the gardens. We ate dinner at the Dockside in Ponce Inlet. While waiting for a table we had a drink at the bar outside. Dad’s glass ran empty while the bartender was inside so he walked behind the bar and poured a couple of beers. The bartender was not a happy camper when she came back out and caught him. After dinner we drove up A1A through the strip in Daytona Beach.
Saturday, August 3 – Bill and Carolyn’s last day. Spent the morning on the beach. Alex and his girlfriend, Jenna, took the kids for ice cream in the afternoon. Scott gave us a very entertaining review of Alex’s driving, especially his braking. Mom and Dad had everyone over for a spaghetti dinner. More swimming after dinner.
Sunday, August 4 – Our big event this day was shopping at the Winn Dixie because we were tired of going to the Food Lion.
Monday, August 5 – Dad and Michelle came down with colds. Dad’s was bad enough that he passed on an expedition to Saint Augustine. We walked through the Spanish Quarter there gawking at the old buildings and stopping in lots of tourist traps. We walked over to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and wandered through the fort. It was extremely muggy and uncomfortable and everyone decided to head back to New Smyrna except for Laura who wanted to visit the alligator farm with us.
After lunch drove down to the Saint Augustine Alligator Farm. We saw Galapagos tortoises, Chinese alligators, and plenty of the Florida variety. The kids liked Snappin’ Sam, an alligator who occasionally performs but was doing an impression of an inanimate object while we were there. We walked over a swamp on a boardwalk and saw Gomek, a 1700 pound, 17 1/2 foot long crocodile – quite impressive. After watching a reptile-handling show we started heading south on U.S. 1 but quickly determined we wouldn’t get back to New Smyrna the same day if we had to keep slowing down for every dinky town in northern Florida so we hopped back on to I-95.
Everyone ate at Stormy’s that night. The service and food were sub-par and we vowed to drop it from our list of places to eat.
Tuesday, August 6 – The ocean was so warm it felt like the Gulf. The weather and current that brought up the warm water also gave us the best waves we had seen yet so we spent much of our time at the beach surf-riding. Otherwise it was sunning and swimming. Our traditional after-dinner shuffleboard tournament was called off because the mosquitoes were so bad (calling it off because of bugs is also a tradition).
Wednesday, August 7 – We drove back up to Daytona and went to see the pier and part of the boardwalk. On the pier we went up the space needle and took the sky ride to the end of the pier. Daytona’s beach looked more like a parking lot than a beach. We breathed a sigh of relief that Ponce Inlet has kept Daytona from engulfing New Smyrna and happily returned to the condo. Dinner was at Norwoods, followed by miniature golf in Edgewater for the entire crew.
Thursday, August 8 – Michelle and Scott took their first airplane ride, a sightseeing jaunt from New Smyrna airport. Both of them loved it and neither of them was the least bit scared. Our pilot flew us over the lighthouse and down the beach so we could see our condo from the air. Back at the condo Michelle started swimming underwater and swimming without her inflatable swim sweater. Scott was routinely jumping into the deep end of the pool.
Friday, August 9 – Packing day. We saw the dolphins again. Jim and Michelle went shopping at Coronado’s Gift Shop and returned to find Lynne, Scott and Laura all up on the furniture because a huge Palmetto bug was loose in the condo. Attempts to find the little felon met with no success. Dinner was at Clancy’s Cantina followed by a trip to Publix to stock up on doughnuts.
Saturday, August 10 – Left New Smyrna via I-95 in a convoy with Mom and Dad and Cliff’s family. Breakfast was the traditional doughnuts at a rest stop. Just past the Georgia line, a stowaway Palmetto bug (doubtless the fiend which had terrorized our condo) crawled out of Scott’s toy bag and jumped onto his nose. The Great Palmetto Panic ensued and both kids jumped into the front seat. When we next all stopped for gas the kids moved to Mom and Dad’s car, refusing to ride in ours as long as that monster was free. At the next rest stop we convinced them that the Palmetto bug was gone although we had never found it. We took I-26 to I-40 in Asheville where we stayed at the rather misnamed Budget Inn. Rates were jacked up all over town because of a festival the weekend we stopped there.
Sunday, August 11 – I-40 from Asheville proved a bit disappointing; there was only one tunnel westbound although there are two for the eastbound lanes. At Newport we took U.S. 25E through the Cumberland Gap, doubling the time the kids had spent in Virginia. At Corbin we got back onto I-75. Our convoy split up at the last rest stop in Kentucky just south of Florence.
Milestones on this trip: Scott and Michelle took their first ride in an airplane.
States and provinces we visited: Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida.
Capital cities we saw: Columbia
