My husband and I had an exciting 4^th of July this year.  We fulfilled a dream of attending a race in Daytona. 

We left Minneapolis on June 30^th via Sun Country Air.  We planned on staying in the Orlando area.  The hotels in the Daytona area were just too darn expensive.  We stayed at the Best Western Lakeside.  It was a basic story hotel with lots of extras.  There have two large pools areas, miniature golf, game room, and 2 restaurants on site, 1 of them a pizza hut, and 1 lounge.  The hotel was kept up very nice and was very clean.  The security was also present.

After we checked into our room we took off to Universal Studios.  We went to both parks and City Walk.  It was our 1^st time to the parks.  Compared to the Disney parks there are more roller coasters and rides but less entertainment.  We had a Cheese Burger in Paradise at Margaretville.  We a re huge Jimmy Buffet fans and always enjoy the atmosphere and music. 

July 1^st, the big day of the race!  We head out of the Orlando area at about 7am.  We wanted to hit the beach before the races and see the Space Shuttle take off.  It was all of 830am when we drove by the track and the loyal fans were already going into the gates.

I guess we not that loyal we hit the beach, rented 2 chairs, table, and umbrella.   Daytona is one of favorite beaches so we settled in to watch the people, surfers, and wait for the launch.  We had a beautiful day, but were very disappointed when they cancelled the Space Launch.  We decided to head to our favorite restaurant in the area, The Beach Deck.  It sits on the water, and has a great menu, and live music in the middle of the afternoon.  Then off to the races! 

Our seats were on turn 2, in the grandstand.  We took a shuttle bus to the track.  We got there at 6pm, with just enough time to enjoy the atmosphere and music before we head to our seats.  The race was fun!  Lots of people, if you ever decide to attend a race there remember you can’t see it all.  We came home and watched a tape of it.  I was excited when Tony Steward won, he is my driver.  All and all it was a fun day.  The ride back to our hotel was a long one. We left the track at 11pm and arrived back in Orlando at 2am. 

When we got up on the 2^nd, we decided to head out to Coco Beach.  If the Space Shuttle Launched we wanted to be near it.  The weather forecast didn’t look to promising, but if we missed it and we were in the area I wouldn’t forgive myself.  The weather slowly got worse as the day wore on and is was scrubbed again.  We packed up our gear and headed off to the pier, for lunch.  We ate at Boardwalk, it is on the pier.  Another great place with atmosphere and live music.  After we ate, we head back to the hotel for a swim and pizza.

Our last day we had enough time for breakfast, drop the car off, and catch our plane.  It was a busy 4 days but fun!!!