Daytona Beach Hilton hotels for Speedweeks and Bikeweek 2016

A lot of folks come to Daytona Beach in February for Speedweeks and then Bikeweek.  The area has many hotels, some on the beach, and others closer to the racetrack.  Here is an easy to use list of the Hilton properties in this area.

Hilton Daytona Beach Resort/Ocean Walk Village

Hilton Daytona Beach Resort/Ocean Walk VillageThis one is located close to the Main Street Pier on the no driving portion of the beach.  I’ve stayed here before and it’s pretty large and centrally located in the tourist district.

Hilton Garden Inn Daytona Beach Oceanfront

Hilton Garden Inn Daytona Beach Oceanfront
Also on the beach.

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Hampton Inn Daytona Beach/Beachfront

Hampton Inn Daytona Beach/BeachfrontAnother beachfront hotel.


Hampton Inn Daytona Shores-Oceanfront

Hampton Inn Daytona Shores-OceanfrontThis is on the beach but down in Daytona Beach Shores.  Close but not in the main tourist district of Daytona Beach.


Hilton Garden Inn Daytona Beach Airport

Hilton Garden Inn Daytona Beach AirportThis is close to the airport and walking distance to the track and the Volusia Mall.


Hampton Inn Daytona Speedway-Airport

Hampton Inn Daytona Speedway-AirportAlso close to the airport, track, and mall


Homewood Suites by Hilton Daytona Beach Speedway-Airport

Homewood Suites by Hilton Daytona Beach Speedway-AirportIt’s also close to the airport, track, and mall.

Whether you are a Rolex 24, NASCAR, or Harley-Davidson fan, picking a hotel that’s close to the action is going to keep you out of event traffic and avoid the associated stress and lost time.

Disclosure

Learning a language using the Babbel app

Over the years I’ve managed to pick up some Spanish vocabulary here and there.  Sometimes it was from co-workers or from living or travelling in places where it was spoken often.  I also have watched plenty of television programming with either Spanish subtitles or audio.

When I began travelling more for work, I wanted a better way to practice and expand my Spanish vocabulary and pronunciation.  I downloaded about a dozen free apps onto my phone and used each of them as a way to drill and generate the repetition that helps me remember the words and their uses.

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The Babbel app was the one I liked the best, and the one that I had the best results with.  I decided it was worth it to subscribe to a monthly package that offered access to even more courses.  Here’s a screen from my tablet showing the progress I’ve made to date.

Starting a Spanish lesson in the Babbel app
Starting a Spanish lesson in the Babbel app

Four out of the 22 lessons in the Spanish Beginner’s Course 1 so far.  One nice thing about how this works is that your progress synchronizes across multiple devices logged into your account.  If I complete a lesson on my tablet today, and tomorrow I go to my phone to take the next lesson, it knows where to start.  There is plenty of control to limit the use of cellular data if you are roaming, and only update when using WiFi.

Downloading updates in the Babbel app
Downloading updates in the Babbel app

You will be prompted if there are any updates to the courses and lessons you have downloaded.  There is an option to download these in advance so you can learn while offline.  This means the learning doesn’t have to stop while you are in a plane with no access to data services.  If you are at home or somewhere with a data connection, there’s no need to download in advance, but my habit has always been to do so anyway.

Continue reading “Learning a language using the Babbel app”

Shiner Holiday Cheer – Beer tasting

Shiner Holiday Cheer beer
Shiner Holiday Cheer beer

A friend recently provided a bottle of this seasonal winter beer from the Spoetzl Brewery in Texas for me to sample.  I’ve had plenty of the regular Shiner beers but this was the first time I had seen this variety.  That’s surprising to me since it’s not new this year, and I’ve spent a lot of time in Texas where distribution of Shiner is pretty widespread.

I like Dunkelweizen style beers, which this one is.  There’s  slight fruitiness about the flavor, but not over whelming.  It’s not as spicy as some other holiday beers can be.  Even though it’s darker in color than other styles of beer, it’s taste isn’t a heavy one.

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I waited a while to let it warm up a little after my first tastes, to see if the taste would change.  It did help make the peach and cherry flavors easier to discern.  I also began to taste the malt flavors.

If I had bought a 6 pack of this, I wouldn’t have a problem drinking the other 5 but because it didn’t knock my socks off, I’m glad to have been able to try it using a single.  I would have one of these again if I found it on tap somewhere.

Stouffer’s Chicken in Barbeque Sauce

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Stouffers Chicken in Barbeque Sauce

I eat more chicken than any other kind of meat.  The BBQ sauce that’s used on this Stouffer’s Chicken in Barbeque sauce meal is nice and tangy, and the side of cheddar bacon potatoes is pretty good.

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When the local grocery store offers these on sale as a buy 1 get 1 free, or some other deal that put’s the pricing between $2-$2.50 I will usually buy a half dozen different Stouffer’s meals, and this is always going to be one of the ones that’s placed into my grocery basket.

They also sell the cheddar bacon potatoes as a stand alone product.