My sister Susan and I left Savannah, Georgia in mid-afternoon after a day of sightseeing, and headed for Daytona Beach, located 3 1/2 hours south of Savannah and a mere 2 1/2 hours from our next destination, Stuart, Florida. I have never liked Daytona Beach, although I haven't been through there since 1963, on a trip to Pompano Beach with my parents and grandmother. I suppose the negative impressions of a 10 year old should be discounted, but in later years, the reputation it has as a destination for spring breakers and the fact that you can actually drive your car on the beach reinforced my negative opinion. And so, after checking into our Motel 6 Luxury Resort, Susan and I headed to an oceanfront restaurant I had found on the internet called the Ocean Deck, seen in the photograph on the left, to experience what the town was like.
The Ocean Deck seemed to be moderately priced when I checked their menu on the web, but I was surprised to find they wanted $10 to park in their lot, which soured me a bit on the place. I dropped my sister in front, and instead parked at a public beach a block away for $6 "until sunset," which was at least a moral victory. There was a long stairway down to the outdoor dining area, which my sister was not prepared to walk down. The wind off the ocean was pretty strong, too, which she didn't like either, and so we headed inside, which actually turned out to be pretty nice, although there were no tables available along the window. I suggested we walk over to one of the couples sitting at a table with an ocean view and ask to share it, but Susan thought that might be a bit awkward, and so we stayed at the table we were assigned.
The place was actually pretty nice, the staff friendly, and the food was indeed reasonably priced and pretty good. We had arrived there fairly early, and got a table right away, but I noticed as we were dining that people began to pour into the place as the evening wore on. All in all, I liked the Ocean Deck very much, and I think it must be very popular with the locals. However, the area around it was not all that attractive. The beach seemed okay, but it looked to me to be the oceanside version of a business strip, with motels, hotels, high-rise condos, other businesses, and even a small amusement park lining the road.
And is Daytona Beach nicer that I imagined? I still don't know. After a day of sightseeing and driving, and the fact that it was approaching twilight, we did not drive to the center of the city after dinner. We were south of downtown, and therefore unable to experience what the vibe was like there. I still can't make a judgement about the place. I did notice that a "gentleman's club" was located right in front of our motel, which had me a bit worried, but it did not seem to be doing much business when we returned, and that night I heard no noise coming from there. Perhaps the gentlemen only patronize it during the season.
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