This year, we decided to drive home to New York City from our Christmas Vacation in South Florida. Renato, Nina and Alex (age 9) and I started our journey in Key Biscayne. We stopped in Fort Lauderdale for lunch with our dear friends Stacy and Troy, and then made our way to Daytona Beach. With just one night at this location, we were not able to see very much, but here’s what we did in Daytona Beach with kids on New Year’s Eve 2019:
Evening Activity – Daytona with kids on New Year’s Eve
We were so lucky that the Magic of Lights festival was still available on December 31. This is a drive- through experience that features over a million lights fashioned into various holiday inspired themes (such as The 12 Days of Christmas and The Nutcracker Suite). Upon entry, signs instructed us to tune into a certain radio station. It was unfortunate that the songs were not in sync with the visuals. The lights show is located at the Daytona International Speedway which was perfect for us since we knew that we wouldn’t have time to see this landmark during the day. We thought it was so cool to drive under the grandstands at this massive stadium! This event only cost $20 per car, which I felt was very reasonable.
Where we stayed
We had a courtyard suite at The Hard Rock Hotel in Daytona. Here are our impressions:
- EXCELLENT location: beautiful pool overlooks the beach
- Bright and welcoming, the lobby is also entertaining because of its collection of music memorabilia
- You can find all kinds of fun little treats here including surf board showers and guitar decorated doors and pillow cases.
- The rock and roll music playing in the common areas is cool during waking hours, but it was so loud that it made it very difficult for me to fall asleep.
- The bathroom light had a motion-sensor that kept shutting off while in mid stream (if you know what I mean). That drove me nuts!
- WORST water pressure EVER in our shower!
- Room lights were all fluorescent and very dim which is a negative in my book
- The fireworks for New Year’s Eve on Daytona Beach were set off just outside of our hotel. They were surprisingly fabulous!
Where we ate
Since our stay was so short, we only dined in the hotel restaurant, Sessions. Dressed up for the holidays, there was a happy vibe here. The hook-up-trailer patterned table cloths made me chuckle, and I liked the menu covers.
I ordered the vegetarian linguini which wasn’t very good, but Renato enjoyed his tuna tartar that looked shockingly fancy in presentation!
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