72 Hours in Daytona Beach
Fall is ALMOST here in the South. Living in Alabama, we only have 2 seasons, summer and winter! Occasionally, we get fall weather for about 14 days but anything lower than 70 degrees is cold for us.With the fall weather approaching, I wanted to take one more trip to the beach to take in the rays and enjoy the last weekend of fun in the sun. I normally head to the panhandle of Florida but wanted to experience a different beach in FL. One of my cousins attended school at Bethune-Cookman University and I never got a chance to visit her…I took that as a sign to head to Daytona Beach. Here’s how I spent my 72 hours.
How To Get There
Though Daytona Beach has a relatively small airport, I managed to find an affordable plane ticket (less than $350) from Birmingham. It has a small layover in Atlanta but that’s expected. Though Uber is available here, it’s so much cheaper to just get a rental car (~$117 for a 3 day rental with Budget Car Rental)
Where to Stay
I’m normally a Hilton girl, however, I noticed Marriott opened up a new boutique hotel and I just had to try it out. LOVED LOVED LOVED everything about this hotel…not to mention they make the best Pina Coladas.OKAY! Now that those details are out of the way, here’s how I spent my weekend
Friday
Breakfast: didn’t get in until late so hotel room service saved my lifeActivity: Walking along the boardwalk
Lunch: Joe’s Crab Shack. The Cajun boil has everything I wanted in a seafood boil (FYI: Seafood will be a frequent re occurrence on this trip….it’s one of the reasons why I love coming to the beach)
Activity: Beach (I avoid the beach during the day for 2 reasons – crowds and I’m trying not to roast before the end of the weekend. I like to get there around 5ish and have a couple of hours to relax)Dinner: Crabby Joe’s – the food was decent but this restaurant is entirely on the water and the movement was not good for my stomach)
Saturday
Breakfast: Hotel breakfast (can you tell this food was sooo good...that or my need to get a few extra hours of sleep overpowered by need for a full breakfast!)Activity: No weekend getaway would be complete without a trip to the outlets. I may have gotten carried away at H&M (one of my fav stores) but I made up for it by getting my nephews candy as big as their body.
Activity: Back to the BeachDinner: Crabs II: I know the outside of this place looks a little suspicious. That’s exactly what my sister said when we pulled up but, I did my research and knew that this place had some of the BEST seafood and they did not disappoint. No, I’m not that big of a pig; we shared this massive boil and still had some leftover. If you don’t go anywhere else in Daytona Beach, you have to check this place out.
Sunday
Breakfast: I finally ventured out the hotel early enough to grab brunch. The Cracked Egg has a great omelette selection and the only place where I could get Kielbasa Sausage.Activity: I like to get a little culture in every trip and decided to try the Museum of Arts & Sciences (sorry, they don’t allow pictures). Just outside the museum is a great nature trail that was cut short after I saw this sign.
Lunch: I need a nap so quick trip to Subway and then headed to the beach for a little R&R while enjoying my Turkey Breast on Wheat.
Activity/Dinner: I’m an avid football fan so Sunday afternoons are holy for me in different reasons. My Saints were playing the Cowboys so we headed to Dave and Busters for food, fun, and dozens of TV’s. Even though this was a chain restaurant, I admire the health conscious choices they are making on their menu (getting lettuce wrap instead of hamburger bun or getting zoodle (zucchini noodles) instead of regular pasta). I was able to have a sensible meal while my Saints proceeded to give the Cowboy’s their first loss of the season…MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
All in all, this was a great trip and just what I need to get thru until the holidays.