After our wedding last year we decided to do something special for our honeymoon but waited until our baby boy was able to come with us. This year we took two weeks away and visited Orlando in Florida - famed for theme parks. After four very intensive days of roller coaster rides and sensory stimulation overload, we took the pace down a few notches and hired a car.
We opted for a 292bhp Dodge Charger and equipped with our
steed we headed for the beach. The particular beach in question had sand just
like any other but for a car enthusiast this was the place where the American
muscle was created; where the growl of a racing V8 was first heard by the masses and the place where NASCAR was born: Daytona Beach!
Decades before, this is where a group of men (who originally
modified and tuned their cars to outrun the police with moonshine in the
prohibition era) gathered to compete against each other. They would race on
the sand to see which car was quickest. Eventually they formed the National
Association for Stock Car Auto Racing and the rest as they say is history!
In some ways, Daytona was like visiting the holy-grail. The
activities of the 1930’s and 40’s came to life and no longer existed in just a
book or TV documentary – they were real, reinforced by the spectacle of the Daytona
Speedway. The best thing though is I can tell my son it was the first place in
the whole world he sat on a beach and his Dad took him there in a muscle car.
