Moving day, after a moving evening last night.
I slept in until a crazy 7.30am, had some breakfast and then started to pack for our move to Daytona. It was nice not to have to worry about Genie+ and LLs at 7am.
Everyone was going to Daytona today, but only me, Louise and Mum would be leaving the villa for good. Rebecca, Tom and the boys would be returning in a couple of days.
So packing the car wasn’t as stressful as it had been at the airport with fewer cases and we were off around 10.30. Annoyingly the weather was forecast to be a bit shit, but we had little choice but to press on with our beach plans as best we could.
It was a painless drive, with the sat nav taking us down the 429, which apparently saved us 8 minutes! About half an hour out from the hotel Freddie needed a poo so a pit stop was required. With no real clue where we were, I had to just come off at the next exit and hope there would be somewhere suitable very quickly as he could not wait very long.
We quickly found a gas station, so whilst Tom took Freddie to be emptied, I filled up with gas and Tom returned with a much happier Freddie and some snacks. Off we went, and as we entered Deltona, the rain came. The skies were depressingly grey and it didn’t seem that there would be much chance of pool time today. With that in mind, we were in no rush to get to the hotel and we stopped off for lunch at an Outback on the outskirts of Daytona.
It wasn’t busy (much like almost all of Daytona, as we would discover) and we were quickly seated and ordering –
Rebecca – Chicken Caesar Salad
Tom – Steak and Chicken
With my beach body in mind, I had the Aussie Cobb Salad
Louise – Bloomin’ Burger
Freddie – Steak from the KId’s menu
Mum – Burger
It was all very nice and the bill was $125.
With the weather still a bit drizzly and grey we undertook the short last leg of the journey to the Hard Rock Hotel at Daytona.
Mum’s room wasn’t ready which was a bit of a pain, so she came up to ours as we started to unpack. After a while, I went for a wander and called in at reception to ask if the room was ready and indeed it was not.
So we all went to explore the surroundings, having a sit by the pool and then walking down to the beach.
To be fair, it was warmer than it looks in that photo.
The braver youngsters had a swim.
and a paddle…
The kids loved it but I felt a bit unsettled due to the lack of room for Mum and the weather not being great. My persecution complex was in full swing, noting how the weather had been hotter than the sun for days and now as we moved into our weather-dependent part of the trip, it was bobbins. Well, not great anyway.
In an attempt to get into the swing of things I got a round of cocktails from the bar and a beer for me and we sat in the blustery but not cold conditions by the pool. Is it me or are all US bartenders a bit surly? They seem to look at me as if I am something unwelcome they discovered on their shoe and react with disdain at anything I order. Maybe the accent suggests they aren’t going to get tipped?
The rain came again so we retreated to our rooms (Mum’s now being ready) and rested for a bit before dinner. I had vague plans for us to head out somewhere to eat but the weather was crap, with torrential rain happening as we looked out of the front doors of the lobby and the kids were tired, so we opted to eat in the hotel instead. We were immediately seated in the Sessions restaurant and served by the excellent Fabian.
Freddie had Corn Dog
Tom started with Chicken Wings
Me and Mum shared Onion Rings
Louise and Rebecca both had blurry Mozzarella Sticks
I had Pasta for my Entree…
Tom. Mum and Rebecca all had the burger.
Louise, a Caesar salad
A very nice meal, if not spectacular. The bill was $285.
The kids needed bed immediately so they said goodnight and Louise, Mum and I stayed and settled up and were then not far behind them, getting to bed at a very Rock n Roll 9.30.
Till the next time……
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