After Miami we drove about 4 hours up to Daytona Beach. When we got to the next hotel I had the chance to repack my suitcase and have a little play with my growing collection of badges. The only one I had missed was Miami and i was devastated. I feel the pink flamingo badge is the most Miami vibe badge I have collected even though it is from Venice Beach.
Dinner that night was at Sloppy Joe's. I found out later that this location is actually where the Navarro Cheer Squad compete each year! Not the Sloppy Joe's but on the beach just out front. Sloppy Joe's was decent, I mean the name isn't wrong, the food is greasy and sloppy. But it's not bad.
I got the 'Luau Salad', pictured above. "Chicken, pineapple, mango, strawberry, red peppers and crispy noodles with orange mandarin and island peanut dressing". Unfortunately despite how delish this looked, it was completely inedible due to how much dressing the salad had been soaked in. I am pretty sure I was only able to just eat the fruit too be completely honest.
After dinner we had some free time before our bus took us back. We only had the night in Daytona so I was running around souvenir shops trying my hardest to find a Florida and Daytona Patch. This was one of the most intense souvenir stores I stumbled into. Look at all the baby sharks! Why would you want that?! Those poor little baby sharks never had the chance to grow.
They also had baby crocs just chilling, seems about Florida.
This was across the road from us. I am lowkey annoyed I didn't go in to check it out. It would have been a truly American experience, visiting a strip club in Florida.
The next morning we went to the Kennedy Space Centre. This was an optional extra you could add on to your Contiki experience. A fair few of us decided not to do this activity, including myself. We went to the centre, took some photos, dropped off the people staying and headed back out to spend the day at Cocoa Beach. This was hands down the most colourful place I visited during my entire time in the states.
The beach was absolutely gorgeous but none of us went swimming. Dan really wanted to visit this surf shop so we split off from the group and went on our own little adventure into town.
We walked past so many gorgeous bright houses along the way. Everything was so bright and clean.
We stopped off for a really light lunch at this amazing taco shack called Sandbar Sports Grill.
What we ordered for our small but satisfying lunch.
Alligator tail - top right, tasted like nuggets and the sauce was delish
Mozzarella sticks - bottom left, can't go wrong
2 x Monster Taco Platters - Fish tacos grilled, blackened or baja. I believe from memory we didn't order the grilled. These tacos were so delicious!
Food coma feels..
It was around graduation time in the states and I would be graduating when I got back to Australia. They had a lot of Graduation trinkets and souvenirs everywhere and I noticed in particular that the theme of Dr Seuss' book "Oh the places you'll go" was popping up wherever we went. This is my favourite book in the whole world and has a very special place in my heart so this meant a lot to me. I wish I bought something little but everything was too bulky to carry around America for another 3 weeks.
We finally made it to Ron Jon Surf Shop. I didn't buy anything but we did find these great headpieces.
After our day adventuring around Cocoa Beach we were collected by our Contiki bus and were on our way to the oldest city in the US, St Augustine!
Sadly we arrived to a miserable and soaked St Augustine. Most of us spent the afternoon inside relaxing after our day of activities. Fun fact, the tree behind is known as 'Old Senator' and is over 600 years old!
That night a few of us met up at Prohibition Kitchen for one incredible feast!
From what I can see, here are some of the items we ordered..
German style pretzel - clearly it was too big for someone to finish
PK Poutine - Fries with Guinness gravy, sour cream and cheese curds
Mac and Cheese with lobster added - HEAVEN
One of the Burgers, couldn't tell you which one
Crispy Chicken wings, always a crowd pleaser
After dinner everyone went straight to the night time meet up spot, 'No Name Bar'. We were only in St Augustine for the night so I went and wandered around by myself for a bit. After the rain, St Augustine was so creepy but also really nice to walk around. The lights reflecting in the puddles made the place a little less scary.
Of course I somehow managed to stumble upon a Medieval Torture Mini Museum. I didn't end up going through the actual museum part as I was being careful with my spending, but below are some photos from the GIFT SHOP. You can actually buy everything below. America is wild.
To contrast, after the torture museum I found a cute little Byron Bay-esque hippie shop.
I eventually ended up at No Name Bar. I genuinely think this photo is actually from New Orleans and I am not sure how it snuck in. I could be wrong but I think we were all in jumpers and jeans in St Augustine. Oh well, still a cute pic! We spent the night at the bar playing drinking games and it was a pretty fun night even though the weather was miserable.
The next morning we found out of all places, an Australian Cafe called Kookaburra. Candy got a meat pie, first one I have seen this whole trip and in the most unusual place!
I miss my hair..
That's all for now, where to next?
erica
