Random Musings

Today was the first free day that I've had since I got to Florida.  It also marked the end of the first week at school. Here are two random things that happened or that I noticed, not in any particular order or with any particular linkage between them.

On Friday morning, there was an fire/explosion in one of the rooms of the hotel next to us. It turns out that the room was a makeshift meth lab. Go figure. It certainly made for an exciting day at school with all the police and news crews swarming the area.

Having spent a week in town now, I can say that my impression of Daytona Beach is very different from what I expected. While it's definitely a transient kind of town, it's a lot quieter and peaceful that I had expected, especially for a place well associated with the NASCAR races and spring break. In fact, with the number of vacant lots and empty commercial buildings in addition to the slow nights at the restaurants and bars that I've seen, I would venture to guess that the local economy has taken a hit in recent times and I'm witnessing some of the effects. Either that, or I'm here at the wrong time of the year. Nonetheless, I can say that Daytona's reputation for beautiful beaches has not been tarnished.