Dolphin Beach Club

Dolphin Beach Club is in Daytona Beach, Florida. The area is known for its beaches that are so wide they literally started NASCAR in the area with racing on the beaches.

These days the amazing Daytona 500 is held annually and plenty of visitors still enjoy the wide beaches.

Video By Must Do Travels

Day One Travel and Arrival

As normal for a Florida vacation, I will be driving down. For me it is about 13 hours to Daytona, so I will probably stop and an inexpensive hotel on the way down, just to be safe and finish the last few hours of the drive afterward. Sometimes if the drive goes well, I do it all in a day, but not as often these days as I would have 20 years ago.

This drive went so smoothly that I did not stop until Jacksonville, Florida. The only reason I did this is that if you stay at an older hotel near the airport, there you can stay for a song, and the rooms are inexpensive and fine for the rest you need.

Staying near the airport in Jacksonville left me only a little over an hour and a half to go to the resort. Since I had time to wake up at 8 AM in the hotel, I went and enjoyed the free little breakfast, then I drove to see Jacksonville beach for a few hours before getting back on the road.

Jacksonville beach is nice my accountant lives there, so I stopped by to say hello, and heard about his favorite spots on Jacksonville beach.

I left and made the remaining trip of about 100 miles in about 95 minutes and found the resort with no problem. It makes it easier to do when they are right on the beach.

The resort has an old-school feeling that I like and the rooms have been maintained and updated nicely. The resort is 3 stories high with 14 rooms with oceanfront views on each floor.

The resort amenities are nice and the rooms offer everything you need. The rooms do not have washers and dryers in them but there are machines on site ready to use.

Villa Amenities

Resort Amenities

The outdoor pool here is right on the sand and had to be built up from the beach because of how close you are to the ocean here. This means the views from the 2^nd and 3^rd floors here are awesome. The first-floor view may be too, it depends on who is at the pool.

When you enter the room, the bed is close to the door, which I actually liked since you can opt to leave the blinds open and have a water view at night. The bed in my room was very comfortable.

The two models of rooms are very similar and around 600sq ft each. You could have a family of 4 here if the kids were OK to sleep on the pull-out together. If not, you would likely have one in a sleeping bag and have them rotate. For a family of 3, it would be perfect.

This reminded me of a place in Myrtle Beach I used to go with my Grandparents on vacations when I was young with my sister. Small rooms but in such a great location, and in good shape.

The kitchen is small but does have a full fridge, stove, and microwave. So more than enough to fix something for the family for a few meals instead of going out the entire trip. It is amazing how much money that saves for other things.

On this trip I am solo, so I may just eat out the entire time we will see.

Speaking of eating, I am hungry again. This meant a quick check online for what is close. About 4 blocks away I find Genovese’s Italian Cafe so I drive over for dinner. They had pizza and subs, as well as pasta dishes, and I opted for the pasta. I had a veal parmesan that was good and then after dinner, I parked back at the resort and went across the street to a local pub.

The Surfside Tavern was a fun little spot with a few pool tables and tons to drink. This has a local spot feel but certainly did not mind the travelers either. I had more than a few since I did not have to drive or even walk far at all. I felt free and could let lose a little.

Every Friday their top shelf Tequilas are only $5, which is fun, and while I did not spend $50 on Tequila but, I likely will feel that way tomorrow.

Day Two

I woke up to the sun in my eyes since I forgot to close the drapes. Still, when I woke bright and early it was not bad, and I actually feel great. I pondered if the salt air had anything to do with it. I did wake hungry again, so it was time to find breakfast.

Near the resort is the Cracked Egg Dinner. Now if that is not the name of a breakfast place, I do not know what is. Inside, I found everything I was looking for. Starting with homemade apple fritters. They make these with Granny Smith Apples and wow they are great!

After an order of those, I still somehow wanted pancakes, and when they came, they were amazing as well. With pancakes, they need to be a little egg-like and fluffy for me, and these were on the money.

Once breakfast was over, I pondered what to do. Should I go around town and play, or should I just go back and chill at the pool and the beach since it is such a great spot? It was not a hard call I voted for the beach and pool for today. Maybe it was the Tequila still somehow in my system encouraging the lounging?

No matter what I had chosen, this would have been a good day. The weather was that perfect, Florida 80 degrees with a nice wind over the water to cool you off some. Not enough breeze to stir up sand just enough to keep you cool.

Once during the early afternoon, I fell asleep at the pool for a few minutes and woke up a little red. Note to self, sun block must be applied.

I took a break to go back to the room and take a shower. That first shower after the sun is when you find out if you got too much sun. Luckily, I came out a bit like a lobster but not in pain, so I caught myself before it got worse.

After the shower, I figured I must have stayed out until closing last night and was tired, so I just took a nap. Nice to be on vacation.

For a late lunch early dinner kind of thing, I went just up the road from the Cracked Egg to Millie’s which had a nice seafood menu that was locally caught and fresh. I had Millie’s shrimp and grits and then some pineapple upside-down cake for dessert. The shrimp again was fresh and local and the sausage tasted like it was made in-house.

The chef came out and visited my table, which was nice for a small local spot like this. It made the entire experience more personal and fun. The food was great and I would recommend it to others. Their Google rating is 4.8 which, as you know, is nearly perfect, which is hard to do these days.

Check out those Google reviews and customer photos for yourself. This is the kind of restaurant food fans would love to own, do not miss this one.

Day Three Time to See the Town

It had been more than a year since my last visit. I wanted to check and see what has changed and visit some of the spots that I enjoyed on my last trip.

If I had kids with me, I would likely take them to the Daytona Lagoon which is a waterpark and more in the area. The price is affordable for an all-day experience and they also offer a discounted pass or ticket after 3 PM most days of the week. The price difference is nearly $20 a person so if the budget is tight start your day and the beach and do the after-3 PM tickets for the tribe. Kids going at full speed can have a ton of fun until they close at 7 PM during the summer. Check and see on their website the hours and options.

Another option for the family is the Daytona Boardwalk. I wanted to go check this out because I like the feeling of doing some of the boardwalk things like the skeet ball I did when I was young. In the summer, the boardwalk can be packed. This means keeping your kids close and having some plans in place should you get separated.

Something like meeting near the Ferris wheel since it can be seen from everywhere is a good idea. Summer also brings street performers, and live music, which is great and makes the boardwalk area fun.

The bands these days are mostly tribute bands, but it is still a ton of fun, and a flashback in time for parents and possibly grandparents.

I felt much younger today playing skeet ball, and even considered cotton candy, but I passed since they only had a few left. I would have hated to see a kid not get one that had waited all day. They also had those giant candy lollipop things. Those were a high-sugar screaming mess, but I can still remember the few times someone in the family let me have one. The only thing I did not see from my childhood was candy apples. Maybe they were sold out.

While in town you can also visit the Daytona National Speedway race day or not, there is still a museum and it is still a great place for NASCAR fans to visit.

I had gone the last time I was here, and it was neat. It would be a must for any true NASCAR fan for sure.

After my time at the Boardwalk, I headed in the other direction and went to the local Tomoka state park. This Park is thousands of acres and offers great fishing, wildlife viewing, hiking, and more. Entry is only $5 per vehicle, so if your group is tired of the beach (not likely, but it happens) this is a great inexpensive adventure that is very close by.

The Park is open 8 AM till Sundown every day of the year.

Daytona is amazing and I recommend it for beach fans, racing fans, and everyone that likes sun and fun live music.

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