Gentlement Start Your Engines!!!

NASCAR DAY! After a long play in the pool we got in our not so much of a race car and zipped an hour over to Daytona Beach Florida. We had a nice sandwich in the Starbucks at Barns and Nobles, Then it was off to the races or maybe just the race museum.

What a great place, and I am not even a fan. Edik was in awe of all the cool cars. We saw a photo of how the cars use to race on Daytona Beach and on the road. There was a man with a dream to have people come and watch the races as a family. Thirty men got together at a local hotel and for 3 days hammered out the foundation of what now is the largest spectator sport in America, NASCAR.

THERE WERE INTERACTIVE THINGS TO DO. THE GUYS ALL DID A DAYTONA 500 RACE SIMULATOR. THEN BRUCE AND I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK IN A PIT CREW. THEY DEMONSTATED HOW AND THEN WE WERE IN COMPETITON WITH THE REAL PIT CREWS TIME OF 16:30 SECONDS AND OUR FIST TIME WAS 18.20 SECONDS AND THEN WE DID IT AGAIN AND GOT OUR TIME DOWN TO 16.32 SECONDS. IT WAS FUN TO SEE WHAT TWO MEN IN THE PIT CREW DID. BRUCE WAS THE SUPERSTAR IN OUR TEAM!



We did a tour of the race track and really got to drive on the track, it was not at a high speed but none the less it was on the track. The banking ends of the track are at a 31 degree incline, very intimidating. The crazy thing was that the stands hold thousands of

fans. One side holds 50,000 and the other side holds 85,000 people. I had to ask where do all these people park, beause there really was not that much parking around the park. They park along the International Race Way Blvd. which runs along the ocean, they park in the Home Depot parking lot and any place they can find. then they walk to the park. The question also comes where do they all pee? They bring in thousands of Porta Potties - mmmm honey bucket city.

The girls in the gift shop told us the day of the 50th anniversary the gift shop was wiped out with in the first few hours of the day. There were leather jackets in there that were $1600 and they sold all of them. That is amazing!

Photo of where the winners stand and get sprayed with champagne!

We are all winners for having done this great tour! We drove back to the Villa, tired from our last few days. We decided to not do anything but order take out and get to bed before midnight. We were successful at that.