I lived in Daytona for a couple years in the early ’80s. It’s definitely not California. The culture is completely different. The weather is different.

The Daytona 500 is the high culture event of the year there. It’s not as redneck in Daytona as it is 15 miles inland from Daytona (you might hear banjo music out there). But everything there is a few notches in that direction (as compared to California). And it’s just generally quite a bit scruffier there than it is out here. Main Street (when I was there, anyway) was populated with scruffy drug addicts and strippers. The oyster bars were some loud, shit-kicking places. And the low-rent bars had low tooth counts and a violent vibe.

Spring break is a massive party. But it’s all kids and, at my age, it would be more of a pain in the neck than anything else.

It’s obviously quite humid there, but I liked the weather. Lots of thunderstorms in the summer. Nice, warm nights. Great water-skiing weather and lots of lakes to ski on (watch out for alligators and water moccasins).

The beach is fantastic. You can drive on parts of the beach and park right there on the sand (back then the whole beach was driveable; I think it’s more restricted now). The water is warm. The waves aren’t usually as big, but they’re body-surfable.

I don’t remember the bugs being as bad as everybody says. Except the cockroaches. Almost everybody had them and they were extremely difficult to completely eliminate. The mosquitoes were only really bad in the swampy parts.

It’s a culture shock from California, and I wouldn’t live there again. But it’s not all that bad.