Daytona 4: Daytona Turkey Run 1997

Thanksgiving in Daytona Beach is home to the Daytona Turkey Run

On a whim, my friend Corey and I decided to go to Daytona on a Saturday evening in order to be there bright & early for the showcase of hot rods and custom cars. I was actually working that Saturday afternoon when Corey mentioned going. I also thought it'd be a quick & fun out-of-town trip. Plus I had an aunt & #38;cousin in Daytona. I figured we'd show up & #38;one of them would let us crash for a night.

After a brief stop at home to grab a change of clothes, we hit the road & got to Daytona in the early evening. Showing up unannouced was acceptable in my extended family, though much frowned upon by my parents.

Being the mid/late 90's, we had no cell phones & long distance calling still had a per minute charge. So, we just showed up...at Home Depot. We were looking for my cousins husband, who worked there, or at least he used to a year or 2 before when I last saw him.

We found him stocking the Christmas decorations in HD. He rememberred me, just barely. We told him of our grand plan to crash on a couch at my aunts house. I forgot how to get to her house and this was STILL the 90's so the chances we even knew what Mapquest was slim. We asked for directions to her house which he could provide, however she was not home. She was actually returning from an out-of-town trip that evening and needed to be picked up at the airport.

All 4 of us (myself, Cory, my cousin and her husband) went to the Daytona Beach International Airport to wait for her plane to arrive. Now, this was 1997...4 years befor 9/11 so we were able to walk right up to the arrival gate for her flight. I hid behind a cloumn as her flight was deboarding. Corey didn't need to hide...he was a stranger to my aunt.

I stepped out from behind the column & she ran to hug me after she rcognized me. I introduced her to Corey & asked if we could crash on her couches that night. She was delighted to have us, so we got her luggage and drove her home.

The next morning my aunt joined us for breakfast then had chores to do before the work week started. After eating we had to drive down A1A, which is the main drag in Daytona Beach, as such it was already pretty busy with show cars. We saw some awesome classic muscle cars; some were stock restorations, others were customized either with fashion or function or both for those with the money to do such things.

Our original post breakfast plans were to drop my aunt off at her house so she could do her chores then Corey and I were going to Daytona International Speedway for the Car Show & Swap Meet. After leaving Denny's or wherever we ate (Its been a qurater century, exact details escape me) my aunt decided chores could wait, she wanted to go to the speedway with us.

Once at the speedway we parked and walked into infield of the most vast man made structure I've ever been to in person. It is so big it is near impossible to describe how small you feel just standing in a field and looking around at the race track and stands. It was breathtaking. We roamed around looking at the cars in the Car Show, souvenir vendors, swap meet for parts. We left without souvenirs except the memories of the day, which are priceless.