“Hey Siri, Take Me To….Daytona Beach”: Mini Adventure Post Series

Hi friends! Today marked the day of the first of many mini adventures that I will be taking as I continue to learn more about my new home. The first mini adventure was heading about 20 minutes north from New Smyrna Beach; good ‘ole Daytona Beach. The main reason why this is the first location is because I was looking to sell some clothes that I do not wear any more at Plato’s Closet. Y’all, if you do not know about Plato’s Closet, you need to Google that crap and see what it is all about and see if there is one near you. There is nothing like this in Maine (or at least that I know of) where you can sell your items and get paid right on the spot if they accept any of your items. I heard about this thrift store on TikTok, where so many people do hauls from their thrifting. When I heard about Plato’s Closet, I was intrigued and wanted to try it out. This is not my first trip to Plato’s. I went last weekend just to try it out (brought a small bag with about ten items in it) and then browsed the store while I waited. The store actually had some pretty decent stuff that was priced really well. When they were finished going through my items, I was thinking that they would take zero items and I could just enjoy the experience. Well, they ended up taking four items and paid me $10. Now that is not a ton of money but it was more than I was expecting and now ya girl was $10 richer, so BOOM. This got me inspired to look at other items in my closet since now all I was seeing was dolla dolla bills y’all (in the voice of Wyclef Jean from the song Sweetest Girl Dollar Bill - look it up for reference to see how clever I am). Today, I brought about two bags full of items just hoping for at least another $10. Guys, I made $35 this time for 15 items! THIRTY FIVE DOLLARS! Again, I know, not a ton, but gotta make some extra bucks some how and this seems like a freaking no brained. There were some items that they said to bring back another time since they are not in need for them right now, so gotta get my wallet prepared for that haul.

Now before I found about my sick payout, I went on a walk to explore the area more. Well let me tell you that this walk did not disappoint. Guess what was right across the street from where I was? DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, that’s right, DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY. It was the coolest thing to see in person. You could also hear people driving on the track for practice I am assuming. I will say that I am not a NASCAR fan, like I don‘t get it. You are literally watching people drive a car for a bajillion laps for like 10 hours. I know that there is much more that goes into that but I just can’t get myself to watch it. But seeing this track in person was amazing and I was totally fan-girling. As I was taking pictures (peep below) I discovered that there was a Wawa not too far from where I was parked at Plato’s Closet. Cue more fan-girling. I have always wanted to go into a Wawa to see what it was all about and try one of their seasonal drinks. After I got my monaaaaayyyy, I drove right on over. Wawa did not disappoint. I obviously ordered a drink with caffeine and (cue basic white girl drink in the fall) got a pumpkin spice mocha latte. Freaking amazing. The best part about Wawa was the absolutely adorable older couple I met. They could clearly see that I was a newbie to Wawa since I went to the wrong place to check out and asked me if I had ever been there before. I then went on to tell them that I just moved to Florida a few days ago. They both got super excited to tell me about the wonders of Wawa and the surrounding areas outside of Daytona. They kept saying that this is so fun for me moving from New England to Florida (seriously they were the cutest). The older woman proceeded to tell me that another place I need to visit, similar to Wawa, is Buc-ee’s. I am not as familiar with this place but had seen some people talk about this on TikTok (clearly my only means of information these days..and y’all know it is the same for you, don’t deny it). She mentioned that they have a great coffee station, cheap gas like Sam’s Club but without the membership, and freshly prepared brisket all day everyday. Hold the dang phone (I said in my head). BRISKET ALL DAY EVERY DAY?! I’m in. I thanked them for basically being adorable, went to my car, and Google Mapped where the closest Buc-ee’s was. God Bless America there is one 9 miles away. “Hey Siri, go there now!”

More fan-girling started occurring as I was driving to my new destination. When I say that I was not prepared for what I saw pulling up to the parking lot, I mean I had to pull over and FaceTime my mom to show her what I saw, not prepared. I was thinking that this would be the size of Wawa and similar concept. Boy oh boy was I wrong. This monstrosity is a combination of the front store of Crackel Barrel, the pit stop style of a Dysart’s, and then a mishmosh of other random things. The first thing I did was take an obligatory picture with none other than Buc-cee himself (peep picture) and walked into the store. Holy guacamole. There were so many people there and I can understand why. The store itself had amazing knick-knacks, clothes, decor, toys, pet stuff, car necessities, you name it, they had it. Then you get hit with this glorious smell of deliciousness (imagine when a cartoon gets swifted away by a glorious smoke of smell). GUYS, THEY HAD A HOMEMADE FUDGE STATION AND A BRISKET STATION IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GOSH DARN STORE. The also had a deli that, no no, was not for deli meats and cheeses. It was for THEIR 20+ HOMEMADE BEEF JERKY. Like where am I. You better believe I got myself some brisket, their homemade potato chips (these are made fresh at the brisket station) and homemade pimento cheese dip and brought that back to my car and ate that crap like I was Augustus Gloop eating chocolate from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. But it is okay, because apparently that is what everyone does after you order the food at Buc-ee’s. You bring it to your car and either eat it on the hood, trunk, truck bed, or front seat. I am literally fitting right in here. After I went into a food coma, I obviously filled up my car with the cheap gas, and drove my butt home for a nap.

Let’s just say Daytona Beach was a great mini adventure. I know that there is much more to Daytona and this trip/post sounds more like a food blog than anything else but oh well. I will definitely be doing another mini adventure here and please drop ideas in the comments or connect with me! Peace out girl scouts.

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