Labor Day 2008 Get-away - Flagler County Revisited

Weekend trips are an excellent way of maintaining one's good Mental Health and what better time than a long weekend, to get away.

SO..... we got away for Labor Day.

This was supposed to have been a very cost effective getaway.

An acquaintance of ours owns a Condo at the European Village Resort, in Palm Coast, Florida.

Several months ago we had talked to Roy and we arranged to use his Condo at the EV over Labor Day weekend. All was set; we would pay only the house keeping fee. We were thrilled.

Friday -
Well, Labor Day weekend Friday arrived, and we were contacted in the morning by Roy's representative that they would meet us there to give us the keys to the Condo because the front desk was going to be closed.

OK. That seemed plausible. This is a privately own resort so it would not be out of the question that the front desk staff may have been given the Labor Day weekend off.

So, we finish our work day and head out on our trip which is only 90 minutes away from home.

When we were almost there and ready to meet the rep, named Reno, he called us on the cell phone to tell us that they were having troubles with the air conditioning system in the condo and that we were welcomed to stay but the temperature was 80+ degrees.

We thanked him for his call, and told him we would find other accommodations for the weekend.

We discussed the possibility of turning back, but that was just a fleeting thought. We are very resourceful and determined so we said, let's find another place. It is now almost 7:00 PM but we knew we would find a room.
So we decided to explore the general area of the European Village Resort and found one of the major resorts booked for the weekend. On our way out we stopped at the EV and we found the front desk to be open and staffed. (We had been told that it was not open earlier that day by our"friends") They had rooms available and we decided to take one for the night. They check us in and give us keys an off we went to the assigned room. Once we get there we discovered that the magnetic entry key would not open the room because it was dead-bolted shut. We called the front desk and they explained that the owner of that particular condo must have inadvertently locked the room shut not thinking that guests would not be able to enter, since it was his intention to lease it out in his absence.
So they assign us another room. This one was in a building whose elevator was not working, so they explained how we had to take the elevator up to the second level in one building, then walk across a connecting walkway to the other building and take the elevators in the middle, not the one on the end which of course was not working.
We travel the maze they described to the room and we found it to be totally disheveled and unmade. It smelled unpleasant and the entry lights were not working.
At this point we were less than enamoured with this "resort" and decided to withdraw our intentions of staying and requested our credit card receipt back. The front desk attendant was put out that I requested my signature authorizing the charge back. It was his belief that I should have just trusted him to tear it up. Well, that is something I was not willing to do after the less than favorable experience we had just been through.
Upon further discussions with people at the European Village Shops and Restaurants which occupy the ground level of the resorts, we found that the home owners association which oversees the condos is made up of a bunch of absentee owners who care very little about the day to day appearance of the residential floors. It seems that the retail businesses have their own association and they manage to keep the ground floor running smoothly and in a clean manner.
There is a Real Estate company on site, that manages the rental of some of the more conscientious owners to individuals looking to stay at the resort for a night or two. (Please look at our restaurant review section for 2 reviews of the EV restaurants, One during Memorial Day Weekend and the other during Labor Day weekend 2008)
We decided that the residential portion of this resort should be referred to as the European Ghetto until steps are taken to make the place cleaner and more appealing.
However most of the restaurants that we have tried ( The Piazza Cafe, The Royal Restaurant and Grill, Shakespeare) are above average in quality and service. I am sure we will be back since there are still a few places we have not tried. We will keep you posted on those.
We recommend you visit this resort to shop and dine, but for now, stay some place else.

We got back in the car and decided to travel south to Flagler Beach, a place we had enjoyed during Memorial Day. Ken used his I-phone to get several names of Hotels and Motels in the area and we called one we knew after having eaten at a restaurant within called Blue.
The Hotel is called Topaz and we were told that they did have availability for the evening.
We made our way to Topaz hoping that the room would ab acceptable considering it may be one of the last ones left due to the fact that it was past 8:00 PM.
We get there and the very helpful front desk clerk asks us if we would mind having an ocean front room for the night. We were floored. It couldn't have worked out better. It appears that the people that had reserved that room decided against it when they arrived because of its proximity to pedestrian hotel traffic. We didn't think that would be a problem and in fact it was not. During the day folks can not see inside and we had the beautiful view of the Atlantic Ocean, out of two picture windows and at night you can't see the ocean so we had the drapes drawn. The room was ample as it was a kitchenette with a small kitchen , dining and sitting areas, as well as the sleeping accommodations. We liked the room so well we renewed our stay and were there Saturday and Sunday night as well.
After we had unpacked, we decided to stay close for dinner and ate at Blue. (See review in Restaurants Section of this Blog).

Saturday -
The next morning we slept in late (till about 8:15AM) and opened the curtains to a great view of the ocean. It was a powerful surf because Hurricane Hanna churning in the Atlantic Ocean. They had a strong surf advisory posted and warmed against swimming due to potentially strong riptides.

So, even thought we love to spend at least a couple of hours in the water when we go to the beach, we heeded the warnings and decided that this time we would enjoy the sights and sounds of the water.

We got ready and went to a late breakfast at Piazza Cafe where we had a great meal. (See Restaurant Review section of this Blog).
After breakfast, since it was a cloudy rainy day, we decided to drive up to St. Augustine's to catch a movie. Again the I-phone was very useful in locating a theater nearby that would suit us based on the time of arrival. We settled on the Regal Cinema located within the Ponce de Leon Mall complex located on....Ponce the Leon Blvd. South. Imagine that.
Based on our timing, Tropic Thunder selected us as the movie to see. (See Movie Review section of this Blog)
After the movie we stopped at Bealls Department Store to buy some picture frames to put family pictures I had been recently given by my sister. We selected the two frames and resigned ourselves to paying the sticker price. When we got to the register. a lady named Dorothy said that the frames were on sale and that they would cost 66% less than the sticker price after she applied a special coupon. I said thank you St. Dorothy and left the store elated that we had save dozens of dollars.

After shopping it was still cloudy but the rains had stopped so we decided to stop by The Golden Lion Cafe, back in Flagler Beach. This is a beach side restaurant and bar that allows you to sit outside enjoying all of the fresh air and sea breezes as you sip on a rum runner or another drink of choice while listening to live entertainment.

We went back to our room to relax before getting ready for dinner at 8:00 PM.
Dinner tonight was to be at the Flagler Fish Company. Because of it popularity we were not seated till 8:50 PM but we made good use of the time. (See Restaurant Review section of this Blog)
After dinner we opted for a quiet evening and a late movie on TV.

Sunday -
Sunday we opened the curtains to the beach and it was a beautiful sunny day. The ocean was still rough and unavailable but the day was bright and clear and a great day for a Sunday drive.
We left the hotel and drove to the Flagler Beach entrance of the Tomoka Basin Geopark. This is a 22 mile quiet back way to Ormond Beach, that travels in the dark cypress swamps and historic live oak forest of the Tomoka Region then through the Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation area of Flagler Beach. We took it south on a quiet two lane road which was beautiful on this sunny day.
After the morning drive we decided to go to brunch. We decided to try another one of the restaurants at the European Village, this one named Barbara Jean's. This is a chain restaurant of Home Style, country cooking. I am not sure what country they were hoping to emulate but the food was terrible. (See Restaurant Review Section inn this Blog).

After leaving the restaurant, hoping that the experience had not left any permanent emotional scarring, we decided to drive back to St Augustine but this time we would take the old beach front side of AIA that loops away from the city and hugs the beach front hotels of St. Augustine.
We decided to continue the beach side drive and took old AIA, also called Ponte Vedra Blvd at Mickler's Landing just north of St. Augustine, all the way to Jacksonville. On the drive north, at first the houses were casual and inexpensive at around $600,000 to 1,500,000 right on the Ocean. Then they became mammoth estates around Sawgrass and Ponte Vedra where I am sure some were worth more that 5 million dollars.
Once in Jacksonville we took the 202 west to 95 and took the fast route back to Flagler Beach.

We made our way back to the hotel by way of the Golden Lion Cafe where we people watched for an hour before heading back to the room to change for dinner.

Since our goal was to experience as many of the eateries that we could at the European Village we went back there for dinner this evening. We ate at the Royal Restaurant and Grill, a very nice Portuguese restaurant, and dinner was very good. (Please see our Restaurant Review section of this Blog)

After dinner we went back to the hotel and relaxed listening to the sounds of the turbulent ocean, but by now it was the distant affects of Hurricane Ike causing the rough seas.

Monday-
We got up to another beautiful sunny day and packed our bags so we could be out before check out time at 11:00 AM. We decided that we would have a repeat visit to Piazza Cafe since it had been so very good on Saturday morning. (see Restaurant Review Section of this Blog)
We were back in town before we knew it; stopped for some groceries and went home to relax for the rest of the day.

Overall, this trip to Flagler Beach was a great time. We rested, did some sight-seeing and ate well and paid no mind to the failed promise of a free condo for the weekend. In fact I think that like most things, this happened for the best.
We also looked at many houses for sale and wrote down contact information for Realtors in the area so that when we win the lotto we know who to call to make us a deal on a beach front home.
One day, our dear readers, friends and family, we hope to be writing to you from our study overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Wish us luck.

Until next time, we wish you all good health and happiness.