Road Trip - Day 3

Day 4 was an emotional roller coaster ride. Once we got past Flagler Beach, we hated everything. Everything. You name a hare-brained scheme, and we were coming up with one so we didn't have to live here. We couldn't even find a nice cafe by the beach to have lunch - it was Taco Bell or McDonald's (no quiero...). By Daytona, our mood was darkening, and by the time we reached Cocoa Beach, we were hating life. We kept saying something was either 3-D (drab, depressing, dingy, dated, dank, dirty, dumpy - pick 3) or "wasn't that terrible." It wasn't going well. Ugh. There is so much ugliness. Dirty concrete buildings, streets, medians, malls, parking lots, strip malls, mobile home/RV parks. So many strip joints, I mean "gentleman's clubs." AAGH! Why does anyone want to live this way?! It was on the water - so what - it was still ugly.

And it was hot!

Then we drove through Melbourne, then Sebastian, and then Vero Beach. Aah, praise be, we finally liked an area again. There were huge nature preserves nearby, a wild Atlantic side and a calmer Indian River side, and we were on a quieter stretch of road (A1A). We were excited once again. The negatives were that we would be isolated if we wanted to make friends, and the shopping area was a little hectic (Rt 1), but that's something we'll have to weigh later.

We decided to cut across the state on Rt. 60, where there was pretty much a lot of nothing.

We were in the land of animal-feed stores, smokeless tobacco, and gun-shooting ranges.

When was the last time you had to wait for a train to pass?

And then we were in Tampa. We went through the main part of the city, which was quite fun for a few blocks, but then went to poo. If we thought the shopping area for Vero Beach was hectic, try a 4-lane highway with exits to other highways, surrounded by stores you'd have to get to/from. Oh, hell no. This was followed by a very pretty, long causeway over to Clearwater before our mood tanked once again. No question 3-D, and the traffic lights! We sat at each one for what seemed like hours. It took forever to get to the gulf. We needed to see the water, see the beach. We neeeeeeded it!

We finally got to the gulf, but it was still insane. It was so touristy! Just full of...stuff. Ugh. We kept driving south, and started relaxing once we got past Clearwater. Hmm, Indian Shores isn't terrible, neither is Redington Shores. By now, the sky was starting to get ugly, and we were getting tired, so it was time to call it a day. There are lots of high-rise condos around, but all the motels look like the Bates Motel. The 1st one we pulled into had huge cockroaches around, a door that wouldn't open, and a guy who could barely speak English and clearly made up a price - of over $100. No, thank you. The next one, we pulled into the parking lot, and back out. Sigh. Just as we were working ourselves up again, Michael swung into a cute place (Hotel Isis), and we were able to get a clean room, right on the beach, with free wifi, and with a pool/waterfall - all for under a $100. Relief.

And the water's warm!

Tired of sitting, we walked down the street to see if we could find a place for dinner. You walk down a busy road, basically. First we found a very loud, dark bar. Nope. Then a closed Thai restaurant, and then a seafood place we had a coupon for an appetizer. We walked in and were deafened by the band. Seriously?!! Just when we thought we'd break down and lose it entirely, the host escorted us to a second building, away from the speakers. We were seated right next to the window with a bay view, which almost made up for the loud talkers sitting next to us. The $2 beer helped too.

We were so ready for the beach. The quiet beach. After our salad dinners, we cut across to the beach, and saw a whole 5 people the entire walk back to the hotel (about a mile). This huge beach, lots of people in the area, and only 5 people are on the beach? My first thought was safety. Is it not safe to be on the beach at night? I shrugged it off, decided I'd research it later, and enjoyed myself. We sat out in front of the hotel, watching lightning over the water, and just let the day melt away.

We have one more day. I'm starting to feel like I'm in an episode of House Hunters International. You get 3 homes to choose from - none of them are usually all that great - but a choice has to be made (in our case, most likely to be based on rental costs and likelihood of work).