Today I began my drive to southern Florida to be a Guest RumXP judge at the Miami Rum Renaissance Festival. Driving down can be tedious but it allows me to make a few stops along the way, do a little rum hunting, and have a car available during the festival.
Today’s drive included clear skies and cold weather. I managed to do some rum hunting during the day picking up some El Dorado rums (El Dorado 15, 8, 5, and Dark), an old stock bottle of the now defunct Deep Sea rum, and a bottle of Charlie Noble Copperstack Spiced Rum. I don’t have high hopes for the Charlie Noble rum but the label is kinda cool.
I stopped in Ormond Beach, FL for the night and grabbed dinner at the Tiki Hut Pub & Grill in Daytona Beach. Not much in the bar is authentic tiki, it primarily caters to college drinking crowd, but their Mahi Mahi fish tacos were top notch. The three lovely ladies sitting next to me at the bar were the real entertainment. Watching them enjoy their $2.50 Landshark beers and a seemingly endless amount of shooters reminded me of my own college days; I hope they feel okay in the morning.
After dinner I drove by Daytona Beach’s Aku Tiki Inn to snap a couple of quick night pictures. The large Moai out front looks good at night.
Tomorrow the fun continues. I plan to stop at Roy’s Liquors & Fine Wines (Ft. Pierce, FL) in search of the elusive Kohala Bay Dark Rum from Jamaica. I am also going to visit South Florida Distillers to talk about their FWAYGO rum line before finishing the drive to Miami.