The Traveling Steve's

My roof was damaged last year during Hurricane Irma, and I’ve been patiently waiting nearly a year to get it replaced.  While I didn’t have the extensive damage I had back in 2004 when it was last replaced, (thanks to three Hurricanes in the same month – Charles, Frances and Jean), my roof once again needed replacing. Most of my neighborhood is or has also replaced their roofs as well, and the demand to get a re-roof has meant months of delays for everyone.  Fortunately I’ve had a blue tarp on part of my roof for the last few months which helped to prevent further damage and leaking to the house.

We were hoping to get the roof replaced while we were in Mendoza, but due to the near daily Florida rain, it postponed the project until after we got back.  When we left for Mendoza the roofing materials had already been delivered, and I left my car out in front of the house so the roofers could use the driveway.  While the roof didn’t get replaced while we were in Mendoza, at least none of the materials rolled or blew off the house while we were gone!

As I was working from home this week, I decided to temporarily relocate my home office to the Hyatt Place at Daytona Beach Shores while the roofing work was being done.  

My neighbor Mary (who also works home office) had recently had her roof replaced, and she said it was so noisy she ended up staying with relatives.  My roofing project was scheduled to take all week as I had to first have the pool solar panels removed from the roof, and then the actual roofing work done, followed by having the solar panels reinstalled.

While I’m not a huge fan of Daytona Beach, I stayed at Daytona Beach Shores, which is a few miles south of Daytona Beach, and was very nice.  Steve (DOS) was back at his place in Sarasota for the week, so I had a solo week at the beach to myself.  The Hyatt Place hotel at Daytona Beach Shores is a 10 story oceanfront property, and at least during the week I was there was nice and quiet. The rooms are large with a huge sectional sofa, large flat panel TV, mini-fridge, and lots of desk space and outlets for my many electronic devices.

 The Daytona Shores neighborhood itself was quiet and low key, with mostly families staying there on vacation.  I stayed at the Hyatt Place Monday thru Friday and really enjoyed my stay.

 

I’m sure weekends it’s much busier, but at least during the week it was uncrowded with a huge wide beach, and only a couple cars parked beachside.  I pictured there would be loads of cars on the beach there, which is why I don’t care for Daytona Beach, but that was not the case at all.

By day I worked from my nice and air conditioned 10th floor room, with a beautiful view of the ocean and pool down below.  I had a private balcony which was enjoyable to sit out on and watch the waves, people, seagulls, and beach down below.

Here are a couple photos taken from the hotel over the week at different times of the day.  

I couldn’t watch the sunsets from the balcony, however, as Daytona Beach Shores is on the East Coast of Florida; hence the morning sunrise views, but evening sunsets are to the west; i.e. on the backside of the hotel.  I did see some sunsets a couple nights when walking down the hall towards the elevator, as the back hallway windows overlooked the intercostal waterway, offering sunset views.

I had breakfast and lunch at the hotel, but for dinner walked to one of the nearby restaurants each night including Red Lobster, Senior Tacos, and a local Italian restaurant that had been there for years.  As I didn’t eat until 8pm most nights, the restaurants were not busy as most families ate earlier.  The restaurants were simple, catering to families, but the food was good.

 

When I went back home on Friday my roof work was done, however the pool solar panels still needed to be reinstalled.  The roofing inspection by the city wouldn’t be until the next week, after which time the solar panels were reinstalled.  So now at least I’m better prepared for this summer’s rainy weather, and hopefully no hurricanes this season!  Summertime in Florida brings near daily rains and many times hellacious thunderstorms, so while it took nearly a year to get it replaced, at least now I have no more blue tarp on the roof!

And rain it did over the weekend!  But I took this photo of a full-size rainbow from my front yard.  

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