Okay, so I’m planning on moving in a few months, specifically to the Daytona Beach/Port Orange area. Being the OCD individual that I am, I’ve done a lot of research on various things; ie the quality of schools, crime rates, distance and driving time to Disney World, etc. But even in the age of the Information Highway, I know there are things which the internet just won’t tell you. And so I turn to you. I’ve been to Florida (and so has my fiancee) numerous times before, but it’s been about 11 years for me and 6 for him, and it’s not like MOVING there was ever on our minds at those times, so there’s a lot we don’t know. I beseech you, O’ Wise and Mighty Patrons of the Straight Dope:
What should I know before I move?
I’m not really looking for opinions here (as in what government officials are evil incarnte or anything like that.) Rather, more general and mundane fare. Are the highways well-lit? (Now we live in Columbus, Ohio, and some stretches of 270 are so dark even in town that it scares the bejeebers outta me!)
Thanks you guys, in advance. Beer at my house when I get down there.
I lived and worked around there between 96’-01’ and still have lots of friends that live around there. I had an apartment in South Daytona Beach and friends rented houses in Port Orange.
I loved that place and still miss it.
If your going back and forth to the Orlando airport to pick up visitors it’s actually quicker to go down 95 to Titusville and then cut across rather than going down I-4.
There’s some really fun mountain biking trails near the New Smyrna airport if your into that.
New Smyrna has an annual seafood festival that is nice.
The beaches are right over Dunlawton Bridge and Ponce DeLeon lighthouse is just down the beach from there.
Being down in Port Orange will keep you away from the heavy Daytona 500 and spring break crowds but during Bike Week expect a lot of Harley noise day and night around US 1, Dunlawton, and I-95.
Orlando is about an hours drive down I-4, Disney and Universal are a bit further down.
For a nice drive you can go up A1A to St. Augustine and pass through some nice little beach towns like Marineland and Summer Haven.
What? NO! I don’t WANT opinions. I want facts! As in, “Florida’s highways are generally well-lit, but the pavement is full of potholes” or some such. Grr. Whatever.
I have had friends come down from northern states ad tell me our back roads have better pavement than the highways up there. Mostly due to our lack of freezing conditions most of the year. We have some great beaches with the really fine sugar sand; not he rock or shell beaches I hear some other places have. There are a lot of great seafood places in the area you are talking about. Inlet Harbour, Boston Seafood, Norwoods, etc.
As stated before, lots of Harleys and Harley-friendly bars and such. I highly recommend the A1A north to St. Augustine mentioned above. We try to go every few months.
Key west is about 8 hours of so down I-95 or I-75. I prefer 75 as the pavement, travel is nicer to me. Disney, Sea world, Universal, MGM plus a couple hours south is Tampa with Busch Gardens and Lowry Park Zoo and MOSI (Museum of Science and Industry).
There is also the Kennedy Space Center about an hour or so south of you down I-95. Makes for a great day out.
Well thank you to everyone for giving me some good advice! Since the thread got moved snarl I guess I’ll take opinions too. What are the best little hole-in-the-wall Chinese places that won’t give me food poisoning? Do they have goth/alternative clubs in the area? (Not sure how to google that one without coming up with NSFKids content.) Which comic shops won’t treat me like a girl? Keep 'em coming, guys, I’m seriously considering subscribing and the responses I get just might influence my decision. (A little bribery never hurt anyone…)
I’m not really up on the subject but I recall a very popular comic & related item place called Enterprise 1701 in Orlando. Don’t know if it’s still there but might be easy to check in an onlone phone directory. The Chinese places question: seems like there is a buch like that in the Colonial Dr. and Mills Ave area. A Google map with that location and places of interest should show up a few. This site has some good tips on occasion.
Orlando is also full of AMAZING Vietnamese restaurants (as well as Asian shops and markets), but I have yet to find a really terrific Chinese restaurant here that knocks my socks off.
Hurricanes, IMO, are fun, but you will definitely need to keep a “survival kit” with canned food, water, batteries, flashlights, radio, etc. Our hurricane season runs most of the year (June 1st-November 30th) so it’s always good to have those items handy.
I hope you like lightning- I personally live in the Lightning Capital of the US, but I assume it’s much the same in other parts of Florida. And during the summer (the rainy season) it’ll rain just about every afternoon like clockwork.
The waves on the west coast are monsters, much rougher than the Gulf.
Be prepared to deal with 3-inch long flying roaches (I know, they’re actually palmetto bugs).
St. Pete (southwest of Tampa) has a lot of museums (7 I believe)- art, history, etc. Good place to spend a weekend.
Air conditioning and sunblock are necessities, sometimes even in January.
The Ponce/New Smyrna inlet is a nice place to hang out and it’s where the local surfers go (it’s also the shark bite capital of Florida).
Because it’s Florida and hot food isn’t always that apetizing I ended up frequenting Larry’s Giant Subs quite a bit. They have a couple locations in Port Orange.
Being in Port Orange your also a stones throw from The Cabbage Patch which is a tiny but very popular biker bar further inland. Dead most time of the year it becomes biker central for both Bike Week and Biketoberfest. The field adjacent to it becomes a camp ground and they have nightly cole-slaw wrestling.
Go futher inland from there and you’ll find the town of Cassadaga, self proclaimed psychic capital of the world. Teeny-tiny town where the majority of residents are psychics. Go further down and your into Sanford and Flea World, the biggest flea market I’ve ever been to. Daytona has their own flea market but it doesn’t compare.
Florida isn’t all sandy beaches, flamingos and palm trees.
There really is a middle part of Florida that has beautiful live oaks, scrub oaks, beautiful springs and rivers.
Take a day and ride an inner tube down the Itchnatuckee River. Go to Cedar Key. Find out how beautiful old Florida really is. Then, please, feel free to bitch about progress and overpopulation.
Florida in general doesn’t have a big goth scene in comparison to other areas. In Tampa (which is stupidly far to go clubbing from where you’re moving), there’s a club called The Castle. According to most of my friends who’ve been there, it’s quite fun. I’m not too familiar with your area of Florida, as, well, I haven’t gone clubbing around there. Midnight Calling is a goth 'zine whose writers/members are based out of south Florida, but they do travel around a bit. One of them might be able to give you a suggestion as to where to go for nightlife in your area.
There’s one amazingly big Asian supermarket near one of the branches of Valencia Community College that even has a fresh/live “fish” section. This, of course, includes eel and a big ol’ garbage can of frogs. Neat place, lots of stuff, and definitely some good bargains in there if you like DIY Asian foods.
