Ormond Beach Weekend

My family and I spent the past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Ormond Beach. We stayed at a old, reliable (and inexpensive) hotel there, with a fourth-floor room and balcony facing the ocean. Everyone got to do pretty much what they had wanted to do at the beach. And there were different things to do: go out into the ocean water (which was very calm throughout our stay), use the hotel’s pool (much more suitable than the too-shallow Hard Rock Hotel pool at Universal in Orlando), get in the hot tub, go running along the beach (I ran 2.35 miles on Saturday), or just sit on the balcony enjoying the scenery, pleasant conversation, or just one’s own thoughts.

We experienced only one storm during the stay, and even that turned out in our favor (although a palm branch was blown off a tree, crashing onto a lounge chair that a woman had been lying on only a few minutes before). The storm’s aftermath left a relatively cool beach for me to do my run down as well as making the sand a better running surface. Being able to see the Daytona Beach pier from my hotel, I originally had entertained thoughts of running there and back, but discovered that it was a little further away than I had thought (four miles). I haven’t yet attained my 1975 running level of eight-mile runs (although I have such a course in Gainesville already mapped out).

Nighttime beach walking has become more pleasant on the Ormond/Daytona Beach area in recent years. One reason for this is that, in order to protect hatching sea turtles on the beach at night, hotels that used to drown the coastline in their lights now have to turn them off or turn them away from the beach. I loved to just stand there facing the ocean, taking in the sounds, wind, stars, and night ambiance.

We also ate out a couple of times, did some shopping, and even bowled three games (none of us are avid bowlers, and it showed Saturday night). I did note, by watching other bowlers, that how fast or slow one rolled the ball seemed to make very little difference regarding the number of pins being knocked down. My daughter once got a strike by simply aiming well while rolling the ball at a very slow speed!

All said, our trip to Ormond Beach was a very pleasant experience. I would like to express my gratitude for the cooperation of the weather while we were there. And the hotel staff and management were helpful and courteous.