Day Three: Myrtle Beach, SC - Daytona Beach, FL - Sunday, February 14th

Day # 3 route

Day three was another long day of travel with 422 miles between Myrtle Beach, SC and Daytona Beach, FL.  It was also very rainy - even MORE rainy than it was the day before. My mom was sort of disappointed because there were some very nice cities (Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA) on our route that she hoped to explore for a little bit, but it was literally downpouring.  Just like we did the day before, we made the best of our day and saw what we could from the car.

Rain all day

One thing that was pretty cool to see was that we were now far enough south the have palm trees all over the place.  As we were leaving the hotel in the morning, I saw what I thought was a baby palm tree,  My mom thought it might just be a certain type of palm tree that only grows to a shorter height, however we are not sure if she is right or if I am right.  Either way, the "baby palm tree" was just as tall as I am.  An extra bonus to the day is that it was Valentine's Day.  My mom packed some of her homemade pastry hearts as a Valentine's Day treat.

Baby palm tree??

Pastry hearts for Valentines Day

As you can see from the weather radar, we were in rain all day.  We briefly drove through Charleston, South Carolina to see if there was anything we could check out indoors.  We came across a Slave Mart Museum.  In the 1800s, when slavery was legal, Charleston had a slave market where slave owners came to buy and sell slaves.  Although this is a disturbing part of our country's history, my mom felt that it was important to learn about it.  Unfortunately, the Slave Mart Museum was closed on the day we were in town.

Entering Charleston, SC

Slave Mart Museum - Charleston, SC

We also drove through Georgia.  Georgia is known for its peach crops.  Right at the border of South Carolina and Georgia, we stopped at a cider store that sells peach cider.  My sister and I LOVE apple cider during the fall, so we thought that it would be nice to sample peach cider.  It was so yummy that we bought two bottles.

Peach cider
(although they look like wine bottles, it's non-alcoholic!) 

So much rain that you can barely see the
"Welcome to Georgia" sign

As we entered Florida, the sun started to slowly clear up and the temperatures started getting warmer.  Although Florida's state motto is "The Sunshine State", it wasn't fully sunny as we entered the state, however the weather forecast looks promising.

"Welcome to Florida" sign 

Florida is also known for growing oranges and producing orange juice.  As we entered Florida, my parents decided to stop at the Florida Welcome center.  To welcome visitors to Florida, the welcome center gives everyone a sample of Florida orange juice.

Florida orange juice

Our day's travel ended in Daytona Beach, FL.  If you are a race car fan, you might know that Daytona Beach is popular for a very large NASCAR race called the "Daytona 500".  Although my family doesn't follow NASCAR, we thought it would be interesting to drive past the raceway - especially since we arrived on the same day as the Daytona 500 race.  It was amazing how HUGE the race track was.  Unfortunately, the cars weren't racing as we drove by because of a rain delay, however I am certain that if they were racing, the roar of the cars would've been near deafening.

Daytona Beach, Florida

Daytona Speedway
(sorry for the sideways picture)

Finally, we arrived at our hotel in Daytona Beach.  After dinner, I was able to open all my Valentine's from my friends at school.  It was so nice to celebrate Valentine's Day with you (even though it was from afar).  Thank you for the Valentines!

Thank you for my Valentines!