Market Days

Monday-Tuesday, February 17-18, 2014
The weather the past few days has been drop dead gorgeous!  There was very little track activity on Monday and Tuesday, so we branched out and visited a flea market, a meat market and a fish market!
There is a HUGE farmers and flea market near the track.  It is a series of hundreds of booths lined up under canvas tents.  We visited Monday afternoon, and got lost wandering the aisles.  Last year we discovered “strawberry onions” at this market, and found them again this year.  These onions are grown in between the rows of strawberries, and take on a sweet flavor from the strawberries.  We bought a couple of them, along with “candy corn” (bi-color corn..not quite as good as Indiana corn, but couldn’t pass up fresh corn at this time of year.) Also at this market were plenty of race souvenirs, but we passed, and got a soft-serve ice cream cone instead!
We were treated to a lunch of Cajun jambalaya, cooked up by a neighboring rv from Louisiana.  He had a huge iron pot, and stirred all morning with a paddle that looked like an oar.  He invited neighbors to bring their own bowls and join.  It was very tasty!  He called it something different, because it had spaghetti in it, but I can’t remember the name.
This afternoon, we drove south of Daytona to Ponce Inlet, a dog-friendly beach, with a beautiful lighthouse. 

We sat at a little restaurant on the bay and watched the fishing boats come in.  Even Spot had a ringside seat!  They provided a water bowl, and brought him a special treat.


The restaurant had a dress code…the sign explains it!
On the dock, they unloaded the fish which were very different from those we caught in Alaska.  These looked to be tuna, shark, and some smaller fish.

Spot found a personalized seat on the dock:
We went down to the ocean, and Spot frolicked in the surf. He’s going to be worn out tonight!
Two Goodyear blimps were circling the area, reminding everyone it is race week in Daytona!.
On the way home we stopped at Gaff’s Meat Market…an annual stop for us.  It is an old-time meat market that Jim remembers from the 70’s when he came down for the race.  We got some yummy things for grilling dinners this week….beef kabobs, cranberry stuffed pork chops, pecan crusted tilapia, herb crusted cod, and twice baked potatoes.  Dinners always are better grilled at the track—I’m getting hungry just writing about it!
As we returned to the track, we met up with two more couples from our Alaska caravan who are here with a caravan put on by the same company.  It’s their first time at this race, and we enjoy getting everyone excited. We have more visiting to do this evening—we are really having a great time just getting together with new and old friends!