Casey Capers - USA: Vol 23 No 10

Light up Volusia at the Ocean Centre, was Saturday evening, 30 November. Diane and I walked to it, just a block from the house.

Website: The Ocean Center will host the ninth annual Light up Volusia from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, on the east plaza of the convention center. The public is invited to kick off the holiday season with this free fun-filled holiday event.

Highlights include a live performance by country music artist Kaleb Lee, the lighting of a 50-foot holiday tree at 7:15 p.m., the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Claus, holiday refreshments, children’s activities, holiday showcases and a gingerbread house competition.

Additional entertainment includes Linda Cole; Johnny Bulford & Heidi Raye; the Sunshine Mafia; the Grinch; face painters; balloon artists; caricatures; several mascots, a photo booth with souvenir pictures and more.

A community showcase will include Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue, Marine Science Center, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company/Mai Tai Bar, Daytona Lagoon, Joe’s Crab Shack, Ponce de Leon Inlet Light House, Sloppy Joe’s, Sky Zone and more.

A lovely group of 'angels'!

Cookies for all!

Hot chocolate and marshmallows!

Popcorn and nachos stall.

This lovely and talented group of young performers kept people entertained inside the Ocean Centre. They had Christmas suits, and very festive.

This was a great show - not sure of the name of the group.

Image may contain: 1 person, hat and indoor

This photo stolen from the Facebook page - my photo was blurry, but these characters were fun!

The outside entertainment we watched was Johnny and Heidi - they are great entertainers! Johnny Bulford and Heidi Raye - husband and wife singer/songwriter duo.
Then the lights and decorations were lit up!

At 7.15pm the switch was flipped and the trees lit up.

Also the next entertainer was Kaleb Lee: He was a semi-finalist in 2018 14th season USA "The Voice", his coach was Kelly Clarkson, and he appears on her talk show and she has featured in his songs. He lives in Ormond Beach - and several of his songs have 'Daytona Beach' references, and he performs locally at bars, and festivals.
This is the first time I have seen him perform, and he is a great talent. Sang some of his own songs and Christmas songs.

Sunday morning, 1 December, Diane and I walked to the beach. Jim is still weak from his surgery, but improving.

Sunday evening, we walked to the Convention Centre to take more photos of the lights with out the crowd, and with my Nikkon camera.

Monday morning, I walked down A1A, and the lights at the Ocean Centre were impressive in the early light.

Then continued my walk via the beach for the sunrise.

On Monday, Jim, Diane and I went to the cinema as the Ocean Walk Shoppes and saw Ford V Ferrari - a great movie and we all enjoyed it.

Diane and I went to the movies the next day to see Frozen II, and we both enjoyed it, as well.
The first four days of the week were cold, we did not go for morning walks. Jim and I ventured out a little later on Friday, 6th.

The beach has developed 'gutters', and concerns about the beach 'disappearing' have been in the local news.

More Christmas decorations at the Ocean Walk Shoppes.

Saturday, 7 December Jim and I drove to Ocala.
After checking into our motel, we decided on dinner at Big Hummock Brewery & Bites in Ocala.
It has only been opened for a year, and are having some problems with their alcohol license. so only had 'guest' brews available. Great food though! and we enjoyed a local Florida beer there

Clown Shoes Churro Sombrero Porter!

The Historic District of Ocala - light fittings.

For the evening we headed to the Bullring at the Marion County Speedway to watch the Flat Track racing. Joe and Jimmy had two moto guzzi dirt bikes ready to race. An enthusiastic group of guzzista for support as well!

The TT Race for quads.

The T-Shirts!

L to R: Joe, Ward (the rider), Derek, Jimmy, Helena, Jim, Bill, Tim and Tim.

The bikes ran very well, but the driver crashed in the last race. Ward is OK , just bruising. Jeremy was riding the other bike, but the race cancelled after Ward crashed. Bike has minor damage. So no awards this time.

Jim and I headed back to Daytona Beach mid-Sunday morning, Jim wanted to watch the football game and Diane and I had tickets for The Nutcracker, at Peabody Auditorium by the Volusia Civic Ballet at 2pm. There was a big crowd there, and a beautiful warm, sunny afternoon.

Internet: The Nutcracker is an 1892 two-act ballet. Although the original production was not a success, the 20-minute suite that Tchaikovsky extracted from the ballet was.

However, the complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s and is now performed by countless ballet companies, primarily during the Christmas season, especially in North America. The ballet's score has been used in several film adaptations of Hoffmann's story.

Tchaikovsky's score has become one of his most famous compositions.

My camera takes poor photos in low light, so I have scanned a couple of pages from the program.

It was a fabulous, entertaining and professional performance - we totally enjoyed it.

Monday morning, 9 December, Jim and I went for an early morning walk to the beach - it had warmed considerably from the previous week.

Some of the spider lillies at Breakers Park were flowering and frangrant.

Pigeons enjoying the warm morning sunshine.

Tuesday, 10 December - walk to the beach, warmer temperatures.

Ocean Walk Shoppes.

Tuesday, early afternoon, Jim, Diane and I went to the Ocean Walk Cinema and saw A Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood - a great movie.
A few raining. overcast or cold mornings - Wednesday, 11 December, Diane and I walked to the beach. then stopped in at Starbucks. We got a little damp from a light shower of rain!

Main Street Christmas decorations.

Friday evening, Jim and I caught up with Kevin and Rie at the Beach Brewpub in Ormond Beach, then to Don Peppers for a Mexican dinner. We had been missing them for a couple of months - either they had commitments or Jim and I had plans. Great to see them this time, and dinner at Don Peppers was great!

Saturday evening, 14 December was the Holly Jolly Christmas Parade on Beach Street. Most departments of local government were represented, as well as the area schools.

International Speedway Blvd Bridge in the background and the Halifax River.

Sheldon, the mascot for the Tortugas baseball team.

Jim and I arrived early and found a spot on the median and set up our chairs. The lady sitting in front with her dog turned around and said 'hello'. the after a few seconds, she said 'Hey I know you two". We recognised her face but could not place her. She was one of the nurses taking care of Jim during his recent hospital stay, Tina and her beautiful dog, Lucy.