Getting There is Only Half The Fun! Part 1-August 14th-15th, 2024:
*Wednesday, August 14th, 2024:
After a couple of weeks had passed since I booked a trip to St. Augustine and WDW for my Mother and myself, Wednesday, August 14th, 2024 had arrived. We could not believe that in just one day, we would be vacationing in Saint Augustine and Walt Disney World. The evening prior, I had worked my last evening shift before I would start my PTO. Ever since my second year of employment in 2023, I almost always use the day after I end work, but the day before going on vacation to do any final prep before traveling as I gained more PTO with seniority. This worked out well, as we still had to finish packing and do errands. Since I did not have to work that day, I woke up at about 9:30AM. I washed up, got ready, and ate a late breakfast before we would head out. Our first stop would be at Planet Fitness in Delray Beach on Military Trail and Atlantic Avenue (FL-806), less than five minutes east of where we reside. We left home at about 11:30AM and arrived at Planet Fitness a few minutes later. Once there, we did our weights and a little later, we both ended on the elliptical. All in all, this was an excellent workout to stay fit and get an extra burst of energy, handy for all of the walking we may encounter during our trip!
After completing our workouts, we then left Planet Fitness at about 12:45PM, with our next stop being the Trader Joe's in Delray Beach as well as the Pet Supermarket in the same plaza, as we needed to pick up dog food for our Affens. From Planet Fitness, we turned left to head southbound on Military Trail about a mile and a half southbound until we hit Linton Boulevard. Once at Linton, we then turned left to head eastbound towards local beaches and less than fifteen minutes after we left the gym, we arrived at the plaza on the southeast corner of Linton Boulevard and Federal Highway (US 1), where our stops were located. We purchased a few groceries we would need for that night at Trader Joe's and then went into Pet Supermarket to pick up dog food. We had contemplated going to Costco to get wee wee pads for the dogs and more supplies, however, wanting to save time, we decided to go to TJ Maxx instead, as they had wee wee pads for only about a dollar or two more than Costco and my Mother needed a cosmetic at the TJ Maxx in Delray Beach anyway, so this would be a win! However, before we would go there, I turned out of the shopping center where we just weren, where I stopped at Zona Fresca, a quick service Tex-Mex restaurant in my area where I picked up a lunch consisting of three tacos (2 chicken and a grilled fish taco) along with sides. This stop was followed by the TJ Maxx across the street, where we picked up wee wee pads and my Mother's cosmetic item she needed. Before driving, I nibbled a bit on my tacos before we started driving again. Feeling a bit tired due to the very high temperatures that day, we decided to head home, only stopping for gas enroute as my tank was empty. Once we got home, I ate more of my delicious lunch/now early dinner from Zona Fresca, finished packing, and spent time with my Mother and our dogs. When I was home, I felt a little work sick, as I missed seeing my friends/coworkers, since most of my friends come from work and I would not be seeing them for over a week! Nonetheless, I was looking forward to our trip! I did not need to go out until much later, when I went to the
Walmart nearest my home in Delray Beach on Military Trail to pick up some last minute toiletries, namely razor cartridges, as well as a couple of cases of Perrier and a few jugs of spring water to take with us for the trip. Once I was done in Walmart, I then headed home, got ready for bed, and went to sleep around 11:00PM, excited for the day that lay ahead!
*Thursday, August 15th, 2024:
Thanks to the fact that I would not have to wake up early for the day we would leave for Saint Augustine, I was able to sleep in a little bit. Our plan was to leave home at about 3:00PM, which would enable us to spend time with our dogs as well as do any last minute preparation. Compared to if we had left our plans to go to Vegas intact, we would have had to have been up well before sunrise, so we would have been able to make it on time. However, since we did not have to worry about making it on time to the airport, we would be able to leave on our own clock. Thanks to this fact, I was able to get up at 8:00AM, which was a refreshing change of pace for my time off as on days when I am working morning shifts, I get up at 5:00AM. My Mother got up a short time later, ate her breakfast, and did some stretching. As for me, I continued to get ready, cleaning myself up and changing into my day clothes. Once I was ready, I then packed my last minute toiletries, my chargers, and my digital camera. Although I use my iPhone to take pictures more and more these days, as their cameras seem to get better and better as time marches on, I still like to kick it old school sometimes, as there are certain situations where a digital camera still bests a smartphone. Anyway, I digress. Once I was done packing my belongings, I loaded my suitcase as well as my backpack into the trunk of my car, which we would be taking for our trip, which is a Kia Forte, since I would be doing a majority of the driving and have a lot more experience driving the Kia verus my Mother's Dodge Charger R/T, with its screaming 5.7-liter HEMI V8! Although my Kia may be a mainstream compact car, as the Peddler from "Aladdin" says, "Do not be fooled by its commonplace appearance. Like so many things, it is not what is outside, but what is inside that counts." And of this Kia I love driving, it definitely holds true as while it may not look like much to some (although I find it quite snappy looking), it is a terrific car thanks to its comfortable and roomy cabin with supportive seats, powerful and very efficient four-cylinder engine, high equipment levels for the money, and its impressive safety!
A little later, my Mother then had me load her suitcase into my trunk. Next, I prepared a large amount of a hash of kosher ground turkey and broccoli that my dogs eat for one meal a day in addition to dog food, as they get some human-grade food as part of their diets.The morning was going by quickly and by about 12:30PM, I was feeling peckish. With that in mind, I made some lunch of some gluten-free pasta, a little bit of fresh mozzarella I had left over, some parmesan, and marinara sauce. This worked out perfectly, as I was able to use up the last of these ingredients so they would not go bad. Additionally, I had plenty of food for lunch, so I would be able to fill myself up for most of the day. My Mother also took a break from getting ready and joined me for lunch, although she made herself a salad. We had a relaxing lunch and after that, I just needed to make one stop at our local dry cleaners, as my Mother had a jacket she was having dry cleaned. She would wear this in case we decided to go out for a nice meal at WDW, so she wanted to have this jacket ready. I drove from our home to the cleaners, which is located less than five minutes west of where we live on Atlantic Avenue (FL-806) and Hagen Ranch Road. Once that quick stop was complete, I drove back to our home and continued to pack.
Next up, my Mother had me pack some of our food items we would take with us to both St. Augustine and WDW, as we like to have food with us, as we never know when we will get delayed G-d Forbid and more importantly, we have some dietary restrictions. My Mother had multiple food allergies, is limited in her diet due to an ulcer she had years ago, and additionally, keeps kosher to a large extent, following Jewish dietary laws. As for me, I have fewer food allergies than my Mother, being allergic to eggs and to all grains except for corn and rice, so it is not too difficult for me to eat out and especially at WDW! As far as my keeping kosher, I am more lenient outside of the house by far since I will eat at non-kosher establishments (although I don't eat pork, which is forbidden in kosher diets), but at home, I am more strict, since for the most part I only buy kosher ingredients for cooking out of respect for my Mother and my Maker. Anyway, this meant we had some food and drinks to pack, like canned fish for my Mother, some iceberg lettuce we purchased the day before (my Mother likes to make a lot of salads) and for me, some cheese, corn tortillas (for me, it is a cheaper alternative to gluten and egg free bread, which is not easy to come by since most of the gluten-free breads I have found contain egg. Also, the few brands found lacking gluten and eggs are pricey! The brand of bread I used to buy used to be available at Publix, but since COVID-19, it has only been found at the much pricier Whole Foods), and even junk food like potato chips. Of course, if need be we would still have plenty of access to grocery stores at our destinations if need be. We even had a few insulated bags, which would help in keeping perishables fresh! Once our food was organized, I packed it into my car and we were almost done getting ready! We spent some more time with our dogs and once all of our tasks were complete, we did a final check to make sure we had everything we needed for our trip and only 25-minutes later than we planned, we locked up our home and we were finally in my Kia. Additionally, for those wondering, we gave our pet sitters one of our garage openers, so they were able to get in and out of our home without issues. Since our hotel, the Homewood Suites by Hilton St. Augustine San Sebastian was not loaded as a POI in my Kia's GPS system due to being a newer property, I input its address of 10 Prawn Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084. From what I remembered, it said the drive would take 3.5-hours with a distance of 269 miles. Nonetheless, we were not in too much of a rush, since we would have to make stops anyway.
We then pulled out of our driveway, leaving our neighborhood and making our way to Atlantic Avenue (FL-806), where we turned left to head eastbound towards Interstate 95, Downtown Delray Beach, and local beaches. We followed Atlantic Avenue (FL-806) east past the array of residential developments and shopping centers encompassing the suburban portions of Delray west of the downtown and four miles later, we reached the interchange for I-95. We then followed the signage for I-95 north towards West Palm Beach and were now on the highway. Due to the time we left, we hit the beginning of rush hour in South Florida, as at this time of day, you usually have drivers heading home from work from the Miami and Fort Lauderdale areas down south, as they have been major commercial centers for South Florida for years. Additionally, thanks to South Florida's growing population, the areas north of Miami up to as far as Jupiter in Northern Palm Beach County have grown a lot, of course leading to more traffic over the years (although it is still not quite as bad as the New York City Area, where I used to be from, as I feel the roads here are better equipped to handle all of the traffic.). Because of this, traffic moved a bit slowly as we drove through the remaining portion of Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lantana, Lake Worth, and West Palm Beach. Once we reached Exit 70: Okeechobee Boulevard-Downtown in West Palm Beach, traffic opened up and we were able to move freely through the rest of West Palm, Riviera Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens. As we were driving, we contemplated where we would pick up some perishables to keep in our hotel room in St. Augustine. Since me and my Mother love fresh salmon and we usually buy it in Trader Joe's or Costco, as they have the best quality at the best price in our book, we decided to stop at the Trader Joe's in Palm Beach Gardens, since it was not too far off of our route. Why didn't we opt for a Trader Joe's closer to St. Augustine? Well, unfortunately, the closest one was in Jacksonville, about 30 or so miles north of St. Augustine. With this in mind, I left I-95 at Exit 79A in Palm Beach Gardens for FL-786 (PGA Boulevard) eastbound, which took me through a developed area of beautiful Palm Beach Gardens, which had an assortment of shopping centers, office buildings and the northern campus of Palm Beach State College along the road. About a couple of miles east of I-95, we arrived at Trader Joe's at about 4:10PM. We did not have to do too much shopping, as we only needed salmon at this point in time, so we were in and out in no time! About thirteen minutes after we got back to my car, we had 239-miles until we would reach St. Augustine, with an updated arrival time of 8:01PM.
Once we were buckled in again, I got back on to FL-786 (PGA Boulevard) westbound. For the next couple of miles, I continued to pass various office buildings, the southern perimeter of the Gardens Mall, and shopping centers until I reached the signage for the I-95 interchange. I followed the flyover ramp for I-95 northbound towards Daytona Beach and for the next over 200-miles, I would be following the open road! Once on the highway, we found traffic to be very light as we passed through the remainder of Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter in Northern Palm Beach County until we hit the Palm Beach County-Martin County line. The topography changed in Northern Palm Beach County and became even more beautiful as this portion of I-95 passed through forested areas, making for an especially beautiful drive! We continued to pass this forested land as we drove through Martin and St. Lucie Counties until we reached Exit 118: Gatlin Boulevard/Tradition Parkway to FL-716 east/Florida's Turnpike (FL-91) in Port Saint Lucie. We decided to exit here as my Mother needed to use the restroom. Lucky for me, thanks to my GPS as well as limited area knowledge, I knew that there would be plenty of businesses with restrooms at this exit. How did I know about Port Saint Lucie? Well, long story short, me and my Mother had considered moving to this area of Port Saint Lucie, known as Tradition, which is on the western fringes of Port Saint Lucie and is made up of many newer communities. What happened was that due to financial reasons as a result of my Mother's divorce, we had to sell our beautiful home we used to own on the western edges of Delray Beach. Since owning a home was out of the cards due to finances, an ex-neighbor who had a second home in Port Saint Lucie suggested their second property, which they were putting up for rent. Although the house was beautiful and located in a very nice 55+ community, the timing was not on our side, so we lost out and for the past few years, we have remained in Delray Beach, albeit renting. We are still grateful to be in Delray Beach as we love the area and it is more familiar to us, so all is working out, even though we miss our old home. Anyway, I digress. The home we looked at in Port Saint Lucie was near this exit, so I remembered that there was a Publix nearby, which worked out well because in addition to being a fantastic conventional supermarket, they usually have very clean restrooms, making it perfect for our stop! Wasting no time, I turned left to head westbound on Tradition Parkway and immediately after, turned right to head slightly northbound onto SW Village Parkway, and then turned left into the shopping center anchored by Publix. We arrived at about 5:30PM and after parking, we entered this Publix, which was on the larger side, immaculate, was well-lit, and had a cheerful atmosphere! We first used the well-kept restrooms and feeling much better, we took advantage of this stop to stretch our legs for a little bit, getting lost in the supermarket. We ended up in the Produce Section, where some delicious looking Cotton Candy Grapes caught our eyes. In addition to being on sale, they looked absolutely delicious and in addition, we also picked up some delicious looking peaches, with both items making for fine "boat snacks," as Maui from "Moana" would say. With our boat snacks in tow, a young lady took care of us at the checkout line in the traditional friendly and efficient Publix fashion. We went back to my car and once there, I repositioned the Driver's Seat slightly, as my Mother offered to take over driving for a little bit, so I could rest and additionally, she would be able to do a lot of driving before sunset, since it is little harder for her to drive at night these days. Before driving, we noshed on some Cotton Candy Grapes which tasted even better than they looked, thanks to being super sweet, slightly tart, very juicy, and refreshing! The perfect boat snack for our boat ride, or drive haha! Once we were done eating some Cotton Candy Grapes, we left the shopping center, heading back to I-95 via SW Village Parkway southbound and Tradition Parkway eastbound. We reentered I-95 northbound towards Daytona Beach, continuing to breeze through the rest of Saint Lucie and Indian River Counties. About an hour after we left Port Saint Lucie and 3-hours since we left Delray Beach, we were 14 miles from Vero Beach, 123 miles from Daytona Beach, and less than 200 miles from Saint Augustine.
Time was flying as we passed some scrubland and palm trees and before we knew it, we were one mile from Exit 147: FL-60-Vero Beach, Lake Wales.
Traffic was moving quickly in our direction, but on the southbound side of I-95, traffic was jammed after entering Brevard County, home to the city of Melbourne, which has gotten more and more popular thanks to being peaceful but still conveniently located to other metro areas of South and Central Florida, like the West Palm Beach-Miami and Orlando areas respectively. Additionally, if I am not mistaken, thanks to Melbourne's proximity to Florida's "Space Coast," it has a lot of operations for companies related to the aerospace industry.
As we were driving, my Mother, who had not driven my car in a while, as she usually uses her Dodge, remarked how much she loved driving my car, as she said that although it was a 147-hp 2.0-liter four cylinder, it felt very peppy and that it really wanted to go if you were not careful with modulating the gas pedal. Additionally, she said that the handling was quite sporty and that the seat was very comfortable. Although she is not trading in her Dodge anytime soon, it just reinforced her opinion that Kias (as well as related Hyundais) are great cars, which was why she supported and encouraged my decision to go with them for my past couple of cars. Traffic continued to be light on I-95 northbound as we passed through the remainder of Melbourne, Viera, Rockledge, and Cocoa until we were 1.5-miles from Exit 205: FL-528 (Beachline Expressway)-Port Canaveral, Orlando; with access to: Orlando International Airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport, Walt Disney World Resort, SeaWorld, Universal Orlando Resort, Orange County Convention Center, and Kennedy Space Center.
Time was flying as we breezed through the remainder of Brevard County and by about 7:30PM, we had reached the Brevard County-Volusia County line. Since the sun was starting to set, me and my Mother decided now would be a good time to stretch our legs, use the restroom, and more importantly, have me take over for the remainder of the drive. I used my car's GPS as well as the exit signs to determine a suitable stop, preferably, a Starbucks or Dunkin', since a coffee would be in our futures. Needless to say, there was a Dunkin' only a mile east of the Interstate at Exit 249: FL-44-DeLand, New Smyrna Beach, Wildwood and my GPS confirmed it, so I added it as a POI along our route. A few minutes later, we exited I-95 at Exit 249, taking a right turn onto FL-44 eastbound towards New Smyrna Beach. As we drove along FL-44, although it was a different landscape than the towering palms commonly found in South Florida, this forest, which looked to have been Spanish Moss trees, based on what I have seen in the Tampa area as well as parts of Orlando, were absolutely enchanting! If I may add, one of the things I love about living in Florida most would have to be its diverse natural beauty, as although many from outside of Florida would think it is all palm trees and beaches, that is far from the truth, as you have many forests in the Central/Northern portions of the state and many other natural areas, like springs. I must say that although myself and my Mother were taking our time getting up to Saint Augustine, it was wonderful to see more of the State where I have called home for 7.5-years at the time of this trip.
If you have seen the first installment of Disney/Pixar's "Cars," when Sally Carrera and Lightning McQueen are taking a drive through the mountainous landscapes around Radiator Springs, Sally reminisces how in the days before Interstate 40 bypassed Radiator Springs, there was far more business in the town. Once I-40 was constructed, business decreased severely. However, as Sally and Lightning McQueen reminisce about the old days when Radiator Springs was popular, long before McQueen set up his racing headquarters there, Sally states: “Cars didn’t drive on it to make a great time. They drove on it to have a great time.” This quote held true to our trip so far, as although the drive between South Florida and Saint Augustine is four hours nonstop, we were taking far longer, but that was OK, as even with all of our stops, it was refreshing to just take in the small moments, see new scenery along, the way, and not rush, as making memories along the way was part of the fun! Anyway, about a couple of minutes after leaving I-95, we arrived at the Dunkin' in New Smyrna Beach.
Once inside the Dunkin', we were warmly greeted by the young lady who was on duty. While my Mother went to use the restroom, I opted to order our coffees, which would be in the form of a Medium Hot Black Americano (my Mother is a Starbucks drinker most of the time, but actually prefers a Dunkin' Americano to Starbucks) for my Mother and as for me, I kept it simple with a Medium Iced Coffee with Whole Milk and 2 Sugars. Since we were the only guests in the store, the young lady prepared our coffees right away and as she was doing that, we started conversing with her. The young lady mentioned how she had recently moved from the towering redwood trees of Central California, as she wanted to be closer to family in the New Smyrna Beach Area. My Mother asked her how she liked Florida and she said that although she missed California's topography, she was grateful to be closer to family. Additionally, I told her that she should definitely check out the more forested areas of Florida, which piqued her interest. She said she had checked out the forested areas of Florida and was liking its natural beauty more and more! With our drinks now prepared, we bid the young lady at Dunkin' farewell and were on our way once again! From this point, I would drive until we reached our destination. However, before we hit the road, we enjoyed our coffees, which were sublime! Once underway, the sun had set and the time was 8:00PM, so we wasted no time and got I-95 northbound towards Jacksonville. We continued to fly down I-95 and as we passed through the remainder of Volusia County, about 15-miles after I had reentered I-95, I saw a billboard for the Daytona Beach outpost of Buc-ee's, a well-regarded Texas-based chain of massive convenience stores/gas stations that has been expanding into other areas of the U.S. thanks to its popularity. Needless to say, my interest was piqued, especially thanks to my friends and coworkers singing its praises. Additionally, I was starting to feel hungry, so I followed the few billboards I saw guiding me towards Buc-ee's and left I-95 at Exit 265: Volusia County Road 4019 (LPGA Boulevard)-Holly Hill, Daytona Beach. Once I exited the highway, I made a right turn onto LPGA Blvd and thanks to clear signage, I found Buc-ee's without issue! Once I found the store portion of Buc-ee's, I parked in the massive parking lot and my excitement built, as this would be my first time experiencing Buc-ee's.
From what I could tell, the building housing the convenience store was massive, being roughly the size of a Walmart if I had to guess? Of course, above the entrance, there were two neon signs, with the circular one on the top having Buc-ee Beaver and the one beneath it spelling out Buc-ee's in red lettering. Looking to my left, I could see the gas station portion of Buc-ee's. Above the canopy of the gas pumps, of which there must have been at least 100, there was a standing sign with Buc-ee Beaver's head in a circle with Daytona Beach written on the rectangle below that could be seen from the road. Buc-ee's didn't leave electric vehicle drivers out of the fun, as I also saw Superchargers that were installed by Mercedes-Benz.
Upon entering Buc-ee's, my first impressions held true, as it was indeed massive! At the front of the store, I passed a row of cash registers, manned by warm and attentive cashiers, and of course, a plethora of merchandise.
This Buc-ee's car caught my eye thanks to its antique styling, dark red paint on the majority of the body, and an emblem of Buc-ee Beaver on the doors definitely were the icing on the cake in the retail section of the store. If that wasn't enough, this Buc-ee's car was festooned with Buc-ee's plushies all over, including a life-sized Buc-ee in the driver's seat.
Feeling hungry, I ended up towards the center and back of Buc-ee's, where the majority of food counters are located. Front and center was a counter of assorted fudge, which looked sublime! If I were in the mood for something sweet, I would have been glad to purchase some, especially being so reasonably priced, however, I did not purchase any
.
On the perimeter of the store to the right of the Fudge Counter was the Jerky Counter, which had possibly every type of jerky imaginable! Additionally, the gentleman manning the Jerky Counter, whose name escapes me, was kind and very enthusiastic!
Not depicted were counters serving up warmed nuts and kolaches, which are a popular pastry that has sweet (and sometimes savory) fillings that was introduced to rural Texas by Czech settlers in the mid-to-late 1800s and have since become a popular part of Texas cuisine (
https://www.southernliving.com/food/desserts/pastries/what-is-a-kolache). There were so many delicious foods, however, the smell of barbecued meat was calling my name, thus leading me to the Barbecue Counter. Overall, this sensory overload was kind of making me feel like Belle during "Be Our Guest," when Lumiere and the castle staff are welcoming her to the Beast's Castle for an incredible feast! Nonetheless, I was feeling very hungry and barbecue would fit the bill, so to the Barbecue Counter I went. Once there, I was assisted by Corey, who was gracious and professional. It was tough to decide between the BBQ Brisket and BBQ Turkey, but the Turkey won, so Corey prepared me a BBQ Turkey Sandwich without the bun due to my aforementioned food allergies and for a side, he recommended the Beaver Chips, thin slices of potatoes that are deep fried, almost like a freshly made potato chip. These Beaver Chips were also up my alley, so I ordered them in addition to my sandwich. A few minutes later, my food was prepared and then I headed back up front to the registers, where I was assisted by Donna, who was kind and efficient. Although Buc-ee's was fairly crowded even at close to 10:00PM, the large number of employees and their efficiency meant I didn't have to wait long. My meal was about $11 in change, not bad considering the quality and good portion size. I then tucked into my meal, which was excellent, as the turkey was moist, tender, and had a smoky note and I also loved the Beaver Chips, which were crunchy with an earthy potato flavor that melded with a slightly spicy and smoky flavor thanks to the seasoning. The barbecue sauce which I used a bit of went especially well with the Beaver Chips, with savory, sweet, and slightly spicy notes.
