Join us for a sunrise to sunset drive across the Florida peninsula (mostly) via State Route 44. We will start on the Atlantic Ocean side to catch sunrise on Saturday the 15th. The meet-up place is Esther Street Beachfront Park in New Smyrna Beach Fl (551 Esther St, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169) Sunrise is 7:02 a.m. so get there plenty early – the park opens at 6 a.m. (and has restrooms). After sunrise, we’ll hop in the cars and head to breakfast at the Wake Up Cafe at 749 E 3rd Ave, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169. This café is 1.2 miles from the park and is near the eastern terminus of State Route 44 in the Indian River Village next to Publix.
After breakfast, we’ll hop back in the cars and head West on the Jimmy Buffett Memorial Highway, which turns into SR44 over the causeway. SR44 takes us all the way to Crystal River where we will have lunch at The Crab Plant on 201 NW 5th St, Crystal River, FL 34428. The drive to Crystal River is three hours, 120 miles, so we will make a few sightseeing stops, such as Henderson Lake, along the way to break up the ride and re-group.
After lunch, we’ll head out to Ft Island Beach on County Road 44 which is a 20-minute ride out to a cool little beach hanging out in the gulf. The next leg is south to Pier 60 Clearwater which is a two-and-a-half hour ride down Route 19. Again, we’ll make a stop or two along the way to stretch the legs. In Clearwater, we will watch the sunset at 6:22 p.m and then have dinner at Bait House Tackle & Tavern on 45 Causeway Blvd, Clearwater, FL 33767.
To make logistics easier, you may want to stay Friday night at a hotel near New Smyrna Beach. For those staying Friday night, we will meet at 7 p.m. for dinner at The Breakers Ocean Front Restaurant & Bar on 518 Flagler Ave, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169. Likewise, staying Saturday night in Clearwater may make sense for the East coast members. Of course, the hotels are optional should you want to get up early and/or just head home after sunset and dinner. We may also meet for breakfast Sunday if there is enough interest – we can discuss this at dinner.
A detailed route will be provided a few days before the event. This published route, with stops, will make the trip easier since we won’t necessarily need to keep each other in sight or travel in a pack. Feel free to skip the route and make your own way to breakfast, lunch and/or dinner as well. Just please RSVP to srswans@gmail.com and identify which sit-down meals you will attend – this info is needed to make restaurant reservations.
