Daytona / Daytona Beach
- Thread starter cmanole
- Start date
I've been to the Speedway a few times and out to the beach once to party when I was in college. Yesterday was the first time I ever really drove around a looked at it. I left town on 92 and went by some seedy looking places. Place is an armpit...Originally posted by rhurner:
You from Kansas? First rodeo? Welcome to Flurida!
Not my favorite part of Florida in the best of times. But during spring break? You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Even PCB which is normally one of my favorite areas becomes Prison Break from Gonasyphylherpelaids Island.
Even PCB which is normally one of my favorite areas becomes Prison Break from Gonasyphylherpelaids Island.
Went to the Pepsi 400 during the summer of '95. Buddies Mom was/is an exec with Miller. Sat in those club/infield boxes, walked amongst the cars. No crashes that day. Was bummed....went out and got a tattoo....yep, that's my Daytona Beach story....
cool story bro.
cool story bro.
I'm not a NASCAR fan either but a friend worked as an engineer building out cars prior to the races for Hendrick's originally for Kyle Busch now for Dale Jr. I believe. So I can get "hot garage" meaning you can go in while they're working versus cold garage for most people, pit passes and owners "box" seats in the infield whenever I want them (it's been about five years or so, so I should go back). But truthfully I really don't like Dayton compared to the other raceways. Even though I had the exact same passes, in Daytona they are highly restrictive on where even allegedly unrestricted people could go. You couldn't get in the pit you had to stay behind a ten foot line, the cars were usually locked in the garage, the various testing areas by NASCAR had glass walls so you couldn't get that close, the winners circle had other people back twenty feet or so, etc... Meanwhile at Charlotte and Homestead I could walk around to anywhere I dared to go including right up to the little two foot wall separating cars from the infield and/or pits. (Heck) in Homestead, my dad and I nearly got killed during the truck race as we leaning on what we thought was a normal fence back a little from the track when a flaming truck turns right at us and the gate opens. Apparently we were in some emergency egress lane and were close enough after jumping to the side to feel the heat of the flames. So my dad and I almost got Tony Stuarted in Homestead. But Daytona....they're concerned about things like "safety" and not killing their guests. So boring.
Yes Holly Hill/Daytona Beach/South Daytona are trashy horrible places, I live in Port Orange (only a few miles south) and only go to Daytona for Best Buy and a select few restaurants.
Truth be told, doesn't that describe a lot of Florida these days?
I've been gone 20 years and every time I visit I'm less and less inclined to want to ever move back.
Tell you what, in my younger days, the roaring 20s as they were, I could have been sucked right into that. So glad I got shipped to the left coast instead. Bradenton/Sarasota >>>>> Daytona...Originally posted by SeaPA:
That's why I love it. You should fit right in.
Go 10-15 miles south and hit New Smyrna Beach. My hometown is not as nice as it was 30 years ago but still way better than the whole Daytona vibe.
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I love slumming it during both Bike Week and Biketoberfest! Can't get a bottle of beer for $2 here! I sometimes go up for the race on July 4th, just to get away. Its not that bad but I certainly am not going to live there. The places to ride the motorcycle blow away anything down south!
We typically go to Daytona a couple of times a year for a weekend; once in early summer when I play in a golf tournament there, then again at the end of the summer. It's sketchy as hell, but I love going down to the Boardwalk one evening on each trip; hang out with the scumbags, drink a couple of beers, and have a greasy burger. Your immune system needs a good workout every now & then, that's where I go to challenge mine & make sure it stays in fighting shape.
we used to go to Destin until the oil spill, then tried daytona.
as long as you are selective, there is a lot to offer and its more convenient. more restaurants, easier driving, etc. of course, we either stayed in a condo in ponce inlet or at the hilton.
by comparison, Destin is one big traffic jam.
tried amelia island last year and didn't like it as much.
as long as you are selective, there is a lot to offer and its more convenient. more restaurants, easier driving, etc. of course, we either stayed in a condo in ponce inlet or at the hilton.
by comparison, Destin is one big traffic jam.
tried amelia island last year and didn't like it as much.
Probably not like that at Homestead anymore as the same company owns and operates both Homestead and Daytona.
This post was edited on 3/26 5:08 PM by runkpanole
Blecch. Don't they realize that the lack of safety is why 95% of people attend races?
Lol, I'm not a big fan of regular racing but about every other year or so I'll go with my parents to a dirt track in Inverness to watch the figure 8 races, bus races and boat pull races (always the most hilarious, last year I think there were ten that started the race and only two were still running by the races end and only one still had the mandatory boat behind him).
As a matter of fact it's the lack of crashes that has probably kept me from going back to a NASCAR event as I took my wife roughly 3-6 years ago (I guessed five before but really I have no clue) while to Homestead for the final race and she got to meet Junior and the rest of the Hendrick's team which was fun enough for her (she really had no clue who anyone was other Jeff Gordon and Junior, but then again I barely do either). But long story short, since it was a tight Championship race and the winner got announced at the end....everyone drove like grannies so as not to crash and I believe there were zero accidents. She was bored beyond belief and vowed never again.
I love New Smyrna. I see more of what Florida used to be there on the Atlantic side than almost any other beachfront town in Florida.
Flagler Beach is an old semi-slummy place too but it's got some quirky cool left over from the 50's.
Daytona is just not Florida's best spot, period.
White trash Capitol of the world. More scummy events there than anywhere else
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