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Spring Break: Daytona Beach

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Trip Reports' started by VegasRookie, May 17, 2016.

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  1. VegasRookie

    VegasRookie Tourist

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    My Trip Report

    Introduction:

    I am a senior in college, and decided to go to Spring Break in Daytona Beach this year. We were driving from Illinois (about 12 hour drive) with my girlfriend, brother, and good friend. We were staying at the Ocean Plaza Club, which is a pretty popular spring break destination for college kids. We stayed for 5 days the second week of March.

    Day 1

    We started our drive pretty early in the morning. We were all pretty pumped for the trip, but were not looking forward to the long drive ahead. I drove the the first half of the trip, and my brother drove the other. We decided not to drive the whole way on the way there, so we got a hotel in Macon, Georgia. We ate dinner at Hooters, drank some beers, and watched the UFC fights. We were all pretty tired from the drive, so not much happend this night.

    Day 2

    Woke up early and headed to Daytona, but first needed some shower beers (I wasn't driving this day). The drive was about 4-5 hours, but we finally reached our destination. We show up to the hotel, and there's mobs of drunk college kids in the lobby, which got us pretty excited. The check in sucked, and they ended up double booking our room. The hotel seemed pretty unorganized, and it took us forever to check in. The good thing about out hotel being double booked? We got a upgrade to a suite with a ocean view for no extra charge! We were all definitely ok with this! Went to the Publix to pick up some beer, disposable coolers, food, ect. Parking was also a disaster at this hotel as well, so we never ended up moving our car again once we found a spot. By this time it was about 6pm, and the pool and beach were mostly deserted, which sucked. We decided to eat a nice restaurant called Hyde the first night, because we knew we would never be this sober at this time any other night. Well we walked in and quickly noticed that this place was a lot nicer than we expected, and was a little out of our price range. We ordered some cheap food on the menu, and quickly got out of there. I forgot to mention it was also bike week there, so the town was absolutely packed all week with spring breakers and bikers, who oddly mixed pretty well. We weren't planning on going out anywhere tonight, so we just came back and drank then got ready for the morning ahead.

    Day 3

    We woke up early for our first full day of spring break. We all got pretty drunk before noon, and decided to head down to the pool. I did most of the planning for the trip, and I was worried that I picked the wrong hotel and that it would be boring. That was not the case. The pool deck was packed every day, with a dj and $2 beers. It sucked that you couldn't bring your own alcohol on the pool deck, but most people just snuck theirs in and they didnt really seem to care. The only beer they were selling was rolling rock, which sucked, but didn;t really bother me. The dj was awesome, and there were several drinking games going on throughout the day. Around 5pm it got a little cold, and the pool deck emptied. We decided that we should eat some dinner, so we decided to walk to the Ocean Deck restaurant. The food was pretty good and cheap. I got the fish and chips and also had a rum runner and some beers. We watched a live band here, got pretty drunk, then went back to the hotel for the night.

    Day 4

    Woke up early and did the same thing, got drunk and partied at the pool deck. Some days the beach was packed with people, and some they weren't. This day they were, and that was pretty fun. You're technically not supposed to drink on the beach in DB, but that didn't really stop anyone. We ate at the oyster pub that night, which had good prices and a lot of tv's to watch the games. Came back to the hotel, got more drunk, then went to bed.

    Day 5

    Did the same thing during the day. There were a lot of undercover police out this day, and a couple of buddies we met on the trip got drinking tickets. A undercover cop asked for my ID, no worries, I was 22 and whipped it out right in her face to see. We had lunch everyday at this food truck on the beach everyday, which had some of the best greasy burgers I have ever had. We were planning on going to a night club this night called Razzels. We pregamed for this then left around 9. They had free drinks until 11 this day which was nice since they were very overpriced. I think I had to pay $10 to get in, can't really remember. It was packed but we had a really good time. There was a pizza place nearby which was open 24/7, so we went there afterwards at about 2am. Several club goers went there afterwards as well, and it was a pretty good time.

    Day 6

    Not really anything new to say here. It was our last day, and we pretty much just did the same thing as we did the whole trip. For dinner we went to this bbq place which was pretty good. We also checked out some of the biker activities, but it was a little too packed with only bikers so didn't stay. It was our last night and we were all pretty tired at this point. We had to clean the whole suite because we all had to pay a $100 security deposit since we were under 25 and we all wanted our money back.

    Day 7

    Checked out, which also took kind of long. Passed the room inspection and we all got our $100 back. This time we decided to drive straight back. Stopped at my uncles house in St. Augustine for a little bit and then headed back. Stupid us, we hit Atlanta traffic at 5pm and were stuck there for a while. With all the stops and traffic it ended up being about a 16 hour trip home. Overall the trip was awesome. None of us didn't really know what to expect in DB, but we had a great time and it was also pretty cheap. Anyone looking for a place to go to Spring Break next year, I would totally suggest DB.
     
  2. hammie

    hammie VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the write up, sounds like you had a great time and better yet, no one was arrested, no fights and no trips to the emergency room. That's a win in my book. Also, I had to look up the term "shower beers."

    It reminded me of a couple trips to FLA, my first was in a 1968 VW Beetle with 53 HP and an automatic stick shift, Philly to Sanibel Island, top speed was 55.

    Welcome to the board and hope to read a Vegas TR!
     
  3. Suekel

    Suekel VIP Whale

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    Sounds like a fun time and brings back memories of my long ago college days! Does Spring Break still have a lot of the debauchery, like wet T-shirt or booty shaking contests and the like? It was pretty bad back in the day and unfortunately there was a whole lot of "not really able to consent" sex stuff that happened. Hopefully kids today are at least a little smarter.

    Glad you had a good time, especially for your Sr year! I imagine you either have already graduated by now or will be soon?
     
  4. Joe Strummer

    Joe Strummer VIP Whale

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    Thanks for the report.
    No jail or ER - that's good !
    Were you anywhere near The Pier, in Daytona Beach ?
    As a teen - my family stayed at a hotel within walking distance of that pier.
    It had a small amusement/game park and bandstand,too.
    Is it still there ?
    Some huge Man'o'War jelly fish would wash onto the beach.
    Only beach I knew - you could get hit by a car !
     
  5. VegasRookie

    VegasRookie Tourist

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    Still wet t-shirt contests and all day drinking but I'm sure it has toned down a lot from back in the day! And yes I just just graduated and already started working. Welcome to the real world I guess :(
     
  6. VegasRookie

    VegasRookie Tourist

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    Yes we were near the pier. There is a small amusement park looking place right next to it with a roller coaster and some other little things. Maybe it is the same thing you are talking about.

    Thank you!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 18, 2016
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