This week Steve (DOS) and myself stayed at the Hyatt Place Daytona Beach Shores; a nice oceanfront hotel in a quiet town a few miles south of Daytona Beach proper, and less than an hour from home in Orlando.

As I wasn’t traveling for work this week, I worked remotely from the hotel this week. By day I worked in the hotel room overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, and in the evenings DOS and I would walk along the beach before heading to dinner; quite a relaxing way to work with a view!


We had a nice oceanfront room on the 9th floor (out of 10 floors) and the ever-changing view of the waves and beach from the room was so relaxing, even if I was working remotely. It’s off season in Daytona so the hotel and beaches were very empty and quiet. It was always amazing watching the waves and width of the beach, which varied considerably throughout the day depending on the tides.






I couldn’t sit out on the balcony though, except in the late afternoon or evening, much less walk on the beach during the heat of the day however due to the intense sun, even in late October. Last week I had had some outpatient surgery on my forehead to remove a mole that had the abnormal characteristics of pre-Melanoma. This was the second time I had been to the dermatologist concerning the same area, but this time the doctor dug deeper and fortunately removed it all, and just left me temporarily with a huge bandage. As I posted on Facebook after coming home, “I was all set for Halloween this year; no costume necessary!”

I have been wearing a cap every day since which covers up most of this huge bandage. I change it daily, and fortunately it’s just for a week or so and should heal back so they say.

Anyway, if I might digress momentarily and warn everyone about the dangers of the sun; it’s definitely not good for your skin. Last year I had a spot on my chest removed as well. I’ve been in Florida 20 years now, and when I first moved down from Maryland I bought a convertible and had a blast! That coupled with all of the cruises I’ve taken over the years and the daily Florida sun has taken it’s toll; now I always wear a cap and forget laying out in the sun anymore! Anyway, I made it thru the week bandaged up and all.

We didn’t do anything extra special this week as I was working, and it was also off-season here, but it was nice and relaxing just being at the beach. The stay was nice and quiet, and each night we had dinner at one of the nearby restaurants, all of which were local (non chain) establishments and very casual.



It was especially nice taking a pre-dinner walk along the uncrowded and wide beach (when the tide was out). There’s something about the beach that just relaxes you and makes you feel great, all while being amazed at the grandeur of it all.




I always wonder about the distance to the horizon, from being on a cruise ship, to ground level, to the 9th floor of our hotel etc. I actually looked it up one night and it’s not as far as I expected. I looked at several sites but as I’m not a mathematical wizard, I’ll settle for Wikipedia’s article on this. According to the article from the beach, the horizon is viewed at only 3 miles aways, while from 100 feet up (approximately our 9th floor balcony) the distance jumps to 12 miles, but is still quite minuscule when you consider the vastness of the ocean, as I tried to capture in the panoramic photo below.




Halloween was on a Thursday this year, but was quite uneventful at Daytona Shores. Many of the activities for adults, i.e. costume parties took place the previous weekend, plus as it was off season it was very quiet. We did go out to the buffet lunch at the Pizza Hut a couple times, which was decorated quite extensively in Halloween decor and scenes by our waitress; a fellow Halloween enthusiast who had collected memorabilia over the years. She did an amazing job of decorating the restaurant with animated witches, ghouls, and even an entire ghost family setup at one of the dining area tables next to fellow diners!






One Wednesday we stopped by the Streamline Hotel after lunch at Pizza Hut to inquire about the Roof Top Bar we had spotted when driving by. The Streamline Hotel is not far from the Hyatt Place, perhaps three or four miles up the road in Daytona Beach proper, and is located on the opposite side of the road, overlooking the ocean.

There was a large sign on the 6th story hotel advertising the bar, which was open to the public. On the off season such as this week, it’s only opened on Thursday thru Sunday though, but we still had a quick look around the hotel.

The exterior of the hotel has a Miami Beach art-deco look to it, and the newly remodeled inside lobby and bar has a casual chic art-deco look as well.

We didn’t realize until touring it, that this boutique hotel has quite a history in Daytona Beach – it’s literally the home of Nascar! You can read up on the Streamline Hotel’s history via this link from Wikipedia, and this link from the Streamline Hotel’s website.

Even the elevators were decorated with copies of retro newspaper articles highlighting the history and rise to success of Nascar in the Daytona Beach area, which was like touring a mini-museum on the ride up to the roof!




The hotel has been completely renovated a couple years ago, and hosts a fresh retro look with lots of Nascar memorabilia everywhere.






We went back to the Streamline Hotel in the evening for dinner, but as it was a slow night we just had appetizers and a drink at the lobby bar.




On Halloween night we finally made it to the open Rooftop Bar at the Streamline Hotel. I had a couple brewski’s (DOS was not drinking, so he drove) before heading to dinner back near our hotel. (Ok, I can here DOS telling me as he reads this: “You paid for two brewskis, but it was Happy Hour and Buy One Get One Free”, so it was really four brewskis.) That’s true, and it was a bargain at $8 plus a $5 tip for great service and chat with the bartender and some other locals who were there. Here are a couple photos from the rooftop looking down at the Daytona Beach area.




After leaving the Sky Top Bar, DOS drove us back to Aunt Jermaine’s Catfish restaurant, which is a misnomer as they have lots of fresh seafood, and it’s definitely the best place in the smaller Daytona Beach Shores area for dinner. Aunt Jermaine’s is close to our hotel, and we actually went there twice this week as it was so good. This local establishment has been there for years, and it’s quite popular with locals and tourists alike. I didn’t take any photos here on Halloween, but here are photos from one of the nights this week when we went there.



We had an enjoyable week in Daytona Beach Shores, and headed back home on Friday. I got my stiches taken out as well, and while I have a scar, it should heal in time, but I’ll still be wearing my cap when I go outside.

Tomorrow is Saturday, and we are spending the weekend visiting my former neighbors Kenny and Mary’s new home there. Don’t worry, no laying out on the beach there either for me! Welcome Home, at least for one night!
THE SOON TO BE SCAR IS NOT AS SCARY AS THE BANDAGE, THANK GOODNESS.
LOOKS LIKE YOU HAD A GOOD TIME. KEEP ENJOYING.
HUGS TO YOU BOTH
Hi Ed,
Thanks for the kind words. You are right, the bandage looks much worse than the scar. I have the bandage off now, and my forehead is healing back fairly quickly. I still keep the cap on my head though to shield it from the sun.