Going upstate is obviously a very big attraction in the Jewish communities once summertime rolls around. However, more and more people seem to be traveling to Florida. Florida was traditionally thought of as South Florida (Miami). However, as COVID-19 took its toll on our world, there came the need for other destinations because of the very restrictive New York state policies.

Orlando became THE PLACE to go, the hotspot, even surpassing South Florida. This was true even with Disney World and all of the other parks being closed for a long period of time.

Many wonder why Orlando became such a hotspot. Is it the beaches nearby? Is it the great weather? Is it the beautiful scenery? Is it the affordability? In reality, the one thing that does make Orlando a truly remarkable vacation spot, is that it has one of the best accommodations anywhere in the country. There are houses that are available with large kitchens, game rooms for kids, and have between six and 15 bedrooms. Yes, 15. You cannot take away the incredibly comfortable accommodations that Orlando offers. However, many people feel that this comes at a cost, and not just financial. Being in Orlando, you are kind of limited to enjoying yourself by staying at home or going to very expensive theme parks, which is not much of a vacation, in my opinion. Alternatively, your options involve going to expensive restaurants to take out food and bring it with you to extremely expensive theme parks that, let's be real, are not for everyone to enjoy. Let's not forget the intense heat. Now, I do realize that the intense heat is part of the fun when you come to Florida, but intense heat can have two very distinct feels to it. One is refreshing and one is not.

I live in Ormond Beach for almost 12 years now. My family moved when I was 8 years old. I've loved photography since a very young age, which I guess makes me very partial when it comes to the beauty that Ormond Beach offers.

However, a lot of visitors mention that it is extremely refreshing to get away from Orlando. Orlando is a tourist city through and through. It has a lot of traffic, everything is spread far apart, and it has many tourist trap style stores. It can be a lot of fun. But, many people love to come to Ormond Beach from Orlando for a day or two or three and experience a much more natural type of fun. One where there is no traffic. A type of fun where there are many smaller tourist attractions that are very fun in their own right.

The weather feels like someone turned a fan on when you are near the beach. Yes, it is very hot and sunny, but the breeze coming off the water certainly helps. There are kosher vacationers, three Kosher (Cholov Yisroel & Pas Yisroel) restaurants, as well as synagogue services and a supermarket with a kosher section that has plenty of kosher options, and everything is located within a short 5-milestretch, how convenient 😊

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