
Alamo, Tennessee– I’ve always said that Daytona Beach is heaven on earth and my home away from home. It’s my happy place. It’s the place I like to go to when I need to clear my head. It’s where I feel closer to God at.
2020 was very hard on all of us but especially on me. My mother got sick with COVID worse than any of us. She had to be put on a ventilator and no one knew what was going to happen. We were all preparing ourselves for the worst but hoping and praying for the best.
To this very day, I still don’t know how she pulled through and is alive.
On top of all of that, I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer’s. That really tore me up because she had always been like a second mother to me.
Needless to say, when mama and I started talking about vacation, we both said that we wanted to go back to Daytona.
Yes, it’s a long drive (12-13 hours), but there’s something about Daytona that feels like home.
I don’t know what it is.
I haven’t been there since 2016. That’s when I met Reece Smith, the owner of the Jackson Generals baseball team.
Little did I know that it was going to be the last time I ever saw my friend Tom (he was over the umbrellas and chairs) again.
We went in the spring and he got killed in a motorcycle accident that summer.
When it happened, I told myself that I would never go back there again. That changed after about a year or so. I was ready to go back and I knew that Tom would want me to go back.
When what happened to mama happened, I really didn’t think I’d be going back.
Even though she pulled through, knowing how long of a drive it was, I thought there was no chance.
For once, I was glad to be wrong.
After a five year hiatus with one of those years being a year of uncertainty, I finally made it back to Daytona.
I have to say that it hasn’t changed much since the last time I was there.
The beach was just as beautiful as it was and the food was absolutely delicious.
We went to every restaurant that we used to go to which brought back a ton of special memories.
There were places that were surprisingly still open that brought back a ton of special memories.
However, just being back and seeing the most beautiful thing that God created was mind blowing. We relived a ton of special memories and made new memories as well that I will keep for the rest of my life.
I said I was going to take in every second and live it up. That’s exactly what I did.
I witnessed some unbelievable things while I was there and I learned some very valuable lessons that I will share in a later post.
This trip was exactly I needed.
I needed to get away from everything and everyone for a few days and just chill out and live a little.
What made this vacation more special was having my mother with me.
She’s the one that introduced me to Daytona Beach a few years back and not having her there would’ve ruined the whole trip.
Who knows when I’ll be back. It could be another five years.
For the time being, I’m holding on to these memories until I can go back and make more.
And believe me, I WILL be back!
That’s my view from the chair!