February has definitely been an exciting month! Not only did we have a quick getaway to Paris, but I was also invited to attend the Daytona 500 through work. I’m not one to pass up a new travel opportunity, though the real fun was that my family was invited to join in! We packed up the kids and hit the road for the ultimate racing experience.
Day One: Fresh From Florida 250
We kicked off our Daytona adventure with a packed car and high spirits. We left around 11 a.m. and made a pit stop for lunch at McDonald’s (as one does on a road trip). After a quick bite, we were back on the road and headed straight to the Daytona Grande Oceanfront Hotel. We had just enough time to freshen up before meeting my team for dinner at 4Rivers.
During dinner, the kiddos needed a bit of a stretch break, so Tyler brought them outside to explore – where they also scored some CW swag. From there, we took a golf cart ride to the track, cruising through the tunnel and onto the field for the pre-show. There’s nothing like standing in the middle of a racetrack! The best part was that we got to meet the legend himself, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who kindly signed an autograph for our son. We enjoyed a few laps of the race, but between the long day of travel and the noise (even through their headphones), we called it an early night.
Day Two: United Rentals 300
Everyone enjoyed sleeping in before we grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel. We then headed over to PopStroke for some mini golf with the team. The kids had a fun time – especially our oldest, who also discovered their on-site playground! We ate lunch there as well, then headed back to the hotel for naptime.
After some much-needed downtime, we drove over to the track and rode the golf cart in. We were lucky enough to be able to watch the race from a suite, which the kids (and I) preferred to being on the ground. Not only did we have a better view, it also wasn’t nearly so loud! To everyone’s surprise, we made it through the whole race.
Day Three: Daytona 500
This was our longest day at the track! We had breakfast at the hotel again before making our way back to the track. We squished on to a golf cart with some other attendees, and returned to the suite. This was a great place to meet everyone and settle in before our garage tour.
This tour proved to be a bit much for both kids. Not only was it a lot of walking around, it was also hot. We ended up bailing early, and making our way back to the suite for lunch (and for the oldest, a power nap). This worked out well because we had some serious excitement: Pitbull kicked things off with a concert, the Thunderbirds had an impressive air show, and the President actually made an appearance.
Anthony Mackie had everyone start their engines AND we spotted Michael Jordan in the suite next door, so we definitely started the race strong. Of course, they then announced a rain delay after only eleven laps – and we called it. Since we had a long drive ahead of us, we didn’t want to try to power through. After all, we did get quite a bit of race watching in! We hopped onto a golf cart for the ride back to the car and started our journey home.
As any NASCAR driver would tell you, pacing is key. With our two young kids in tow, we quickly realized that long race days can be a lot to handle. We ended up leaving two of the races early and broke up one day with time back at the hotel. Did everything go exactly to plan? Definitely not. But did we have a good time? Yes. And when we’re traveling with kids, that’s all I can ask for.