I enjoyed Lake Mary Cars & Coffee and Daytona Cars & Coffee so much I wanted to attend all of the local events, at least once. So on August 9, 2020, I drove down to Winter Park (where the event is technically located) to attend Orlando Cars & Coffee. I found a space at the end of row and touched up any dirty spots on my Porsche Boxster (981).
After some photos of my car, it was time to browse the lot to see what was there. I walked over to the entrance to start. I would work my way back to my car.
Some interesting cars are shown below.
First was a group of Mazda Miatas, one NB and two NC generation examples.
I saw one MINI Cooper S that looked familiar, although I didn’t find the owner.
Next was a beautiful grey Porsche 911 Turbo Convertible with a creamy white interior.
Also, a bright yellow Porsche 911 Carrera S (997).
There was a pair of Honda S2000s.
Nearby was a rare BMW i8 hybrid car.
The supercars section included the usual examples by Ferrari, McLaren, Lamborghini, and Porsche.
Although not a first-generation TT, I liked this grey Audi TT RS. One of the best car colors of all-time.
And finally, another Porsche. This one was a 911 GT3 RS (991).
After attending an enjoyable Lake Mary Cars & Coffee two weeks prior, I wanted to attend my local Daytona Cars & Coffee. On July 25, 2020, the first Daytona Cars & Coffee at ONE DAYTONA was held. I made plans to meet up with my neighbor, Dan, who was showing his new BMW M4 CS.
I arrived and parked my Porsche Boxster (981) next to a Porsche 911 Carrera S (997). Then I spent a few minutes with last-minute polishing and took some photos.
I met Dan and we wandered around the parking lot browsing the cars. I took photos of just a few favorites: a Porsche Boxster (986) and a Lotus Elise (Series 2).
The ONE DAYTONA plaza was reserved for cars whose owners had paid an entry fee for charity. Some favorites there were a Porsche 914 and Porsche 911 Carrera (964).
Dan had entered his BMW M4 CS, a special edition M4 with lots of carbon fiber bits.
I left Dan there and walked down the main street exploring the cars. The most interesting of them was a 1991 Honda Beat, a Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) car. The Beat is a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-seat convertible.
On July 11, 2020, Lake Mary Cars & Coffee held their inaugural event. Lake Mary is less than an hour’s drive from Daytona Beach so I decided to enter my car in the show. I woke up early and enjoyed the morning drive, arriving at the shopping center location just before 8:00 am. I drove in and parked at the end of the Porsche row. I took a few minutes to clean up my car before having a look around and photographing the cars. I started with my Porsche Boxster (981) and the Porsche row.
At the other end of the Porsche row was a beautiful white Porsche Boxster Spyder (981).
Behind us was a row of Subarus.
Next, I wandered through the exotics and supercars section. The show included an assortment of cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, and several others.
BMW had its own row with a great turnout.
The event was to support a charity, so I made a donation and received a souvenir car towel with the event name stitched on it.
Finally, I walked back to the Porsche row, which had a few different cars parked next to mine. We made a group of three convertibles.
Although the show hours were from 8:00 am to 11:00 am, most cars began to leave around 10:30 am. So, when most of the other cars in my row left, I headed for home—a morning well-spent enjoying some great cars.
After a short drive from the Lake Proctor Wilderness Area, I arrived at the Geneva Wilderness Area around 11:30 am. I ate a quick lunch in my car before starting the next hike just before noon.
There were others approaching the trailhead with their dogs, so I quickly started down the trail ahead of them. This was going to be a short hike but I could tell that the trail was going to be crowded.
After less than ten minutes walking, the trail reached a lake with a fishing pier reaching out to the center. On the pier I stopped to have a look around and take photos (see first photo and above). The water was calm and clear. I noticed people waiting for me to finish, so I quickly headed back to the trail.
I continued on the Loop Trail which cut across a thin strip of land between the two lakes in the park. I stopped to take some photos of the larger of the two lakes, on the left of the trail (the lake the Loop Trail encircles).
Off to the left of the Loop Trail, a short side trail took me to an outdoor chapel. Here I explored a little before taking a short break in shade of the chapel itself.
I rejoined the main Loop Trail where many hikers and mountainbikers were walking, riding, and resting. I passed them and continued south, past a small canal. This was the end of the shady half of the hike. Also the last of other people, as it turned out.
At the southern end of the Loop Trail I emerged into an open and sunny area with a wide and sandy trail. For the next few hundred yards it was very hot and very hard walking in the thick, soft sand. At the junction of the Flagler Trail, I turned left to continue around towards the lake. There was a marked (detour) trail to the right—which wasn’t in the 50 Hikes book—so I continued straight to the lake.
At the lake the trail was flooded, so I skirted along the far right side of the trail trying to stay on dry land. I had to jump a few puddles of water and did get my shoes wet once. Just past the flooded trail, the detour trail rejoined the main trail and I realized I could have avoided the flooded section. No real harm done! I might let the authors know so they can update their book, however.
The trail followed the lake shore and provided views across to the chapel where I had rested earlier. This section was also very sunny and hot with no shade.
Past the lake, I soon arrived at the Ed Yarborough Nature Center. On the right side, there were man-made houses for both bees and bats. I took a rest and enjoyed reading about them. Unfortunately, it seemed there were no bees at home and I also did not see any bats in the middle of the day.
I was hot and thirsty and nearly done. There was just one short section of trail left, passing through a gate, and along a sandy road back to the trailhead. This 1.9-mile hike took just over an hour to complete. The temperature at the end was 89°F.
I returned to my MINI, which was parked in the shade in its own little corral. I ate another sandwich before leaving the park just after 1:00 pm.
My drive home would take me near Sanford, so I planned to have my post-hike beer at one of my favorite local breweries, Wop’s Hops. In the parking lot I changed my shirt, socks, and shoes. Inside I ordered a pint of their Tipsy Trip C American Wheat Beer and found a table in the restaurant side of the building. Unfortunately, since it was Sunday neither of the owners, Greg and Pete, were there. Even so, it was a cold and refreshing way to reward myself for finishing two hikes from the book in one day.
Lake Proctor Wilderness Area is located in east Seminole County, less than an hour drive from Daytona Beach. This was the first of two hikes on this day, so I arrived early around 9:15 am.
From the trailhead I followed the Red Trail north, passing the Orange Trail and the Blue Trail. I intended to hike those trails on the way back.
The Red Trail was a wide, shady trail and a perfect start to the day.
Just before reaching the northern end of the Red Trail, I spotted a smooth white rock with the words “CATS UK” and a smiley painted on it. I assume it is from the Painted Rocks Game, but I did not try to look it up. I took a photo and left it where it was.
At the northern intersection of the trail, I turned right and began the Red Trail Loop. When the trail split, I turned left to hike the loop clockwise. Almost immediately a blaze on a short post sent me into a bushy area with no clearly marked trail. I followed it around as best I could until I found another blaze on a post where it rejoined the normal trail.
I continued through some tall scrub on a winding trail before coming into a clearing and arriving at a shelter. I perused the posted information while resting and drinking some water. Soon I was heading around the western point of the Red Trail Loop.
Suddenly I heard voices behind me and wondered how someone might have caught me so soon after leaving the shelter. However, I arrived at a wide, sandy cross-trail where I saw three people on horseback approaching. I stopped and stood still to let them pass, although the lead horse did flinch a bit on seeing me. I briefly chatted with the riders as they passed and then continued on my way.
The day was heating up and after a bit more hiking through the scrub, the book told me to follow the power lines road back to the top of the loop. This section was hot and sunny. But soon I reached the top, turned left, and walked toward the Blue Trail, passing the end of the Red Trail.
Now on the Blue Trail, I came to another rain shelter. Again, I stopped to read the poster and have a few swigs of water. I knew that from here, most of the remaining trail was shaded and the most scenic of the hike.
I hiked south and soon arrived along the shore of Lake Proctor. Patches of open, glassy water were broken up by groups of lily pads. A few structures could be seen on the opposite shore. It was very quiet and peaceful.
The Blue Trail meandered along Lake Proctor, approaching the shore several times. At one point a short side trail cut through a field of tall flowers where several butterflies floated around me. Here there was also a Hydrologic Data Collection Site for the St. Johns River Water Management District.
The Blue Trail left the lake and ended at the Red Trail where I turned right. Very quickly I reached the Orange Trail and turned right, hiking back towards the lake.
Near the southern end of Lake Proctor the Orange Trail passed through the Eastbrook Wetlands, named for the local school.
The Orange Trail curved partway around the southern tip of the lake where I took my last glimpse (and photos) before walking the last section to reach the Read Trail again.
Back on the Red Trail it was only a few minutes more until I hiked out around 11:20 am. The hiked lasted exactly two hours.
I wanted to get some minor work done on my car in Merritt Island, so I scheduled it early in the morning so that I could fit in one of two Titusville hikes from the book. I arrived at the Enchanted Forest Sanctuary a little before noon. Before finding the trailhead, I took a moment to have a look at a gopher tortoise living in an enclosure in the middle of the parking loop.
Since March I have been eager to continue my hikes from the 50 Hikes book. State parks finally re-opened, so I picked an easy hike nearby to begin. After refreshing my knowledge of the two hikes in Tiger Bay State Forest, I headed out after lunch. The day was party overcast and a warm 82°F.
I had often read about The Little Free Library project where people build small boxes and fill them with books for anyone to borrow (or keep). The idea is that people donate books so that others can read them.
In February 2018, when my neighbor Lisa suggested we start a small library for the residents of our building, I quickly agreed. We took over the shelf above the mailboxes in the building’s lobby. She created a sign and I contributed some metal bookends. Together we seeded the initial inventory from our spare books. On March 1st we started with an initial collection of 26 books, shelved by author.
Over the next two years, the library’s collection grew and changed many times. Residents borrowed and added books. We eventually added DVDs and computer software. The collection changed and was rearranged so often that I finally gave up alphabetizing them. It seems our little Loft Library has been very successful.
When I last saw Steve Berry at The BookMark in January, he announced that he would be back on March 6, 2020 for his new book The Warsaw Protocol. Last time, I left work at 5:00 pm and arrived at the bookstore just in time for the talk. This time I decided to leave work at noon and spend the afternoon in Jacksonville beforehand.
My car was originally sold by Porsche Jacksonville. I didn’t get any service history when I bought the car and I hoped that the Jacksonville dealership would have it. So my first stop was to visit the Service department. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any records after the initial sales preparation. I did buy a shirt in the shop, so I didn’t leave empty-handed.
Red Pig Brewery, to be precise. Red Pig Brewery officially opened on March 2, 2019, and I was there. I had been looking for a new local hangout when I heard about this new craft brewery opening just two miles from my place, in Holly Hill, Florida. I knew I had to visit for the grand opening.
I arrived at noon just as they opened. Inside, the brewery is long and narrow with windows lining the length of the long stone walls. The bar itself is made of three large pieces of reclaimed cypress wood. The kettles and fermenting tanks line the far end of the back wall. Opening day was sunny and warm so we could take advantage of the courtyard. They had a food truck parked out front.
