u/83austin83

First of all, for those in the path of the storm, my prayers are with you. Please evacuate and be safe! Property can be rebuilt, lives can not.

For those private property owners who constantly harass and try to make their beach "private", well the time may have finally come. What are you going to do if this storm causes massive beach erosion on your "private beach".

Don't even think about asking for one cent of taxpayer money from the state of Florida unless you are ready to fully give up any claim to any beach area beyond the dunes, and the beach in front of your property (which is already public btw) officially becomes public.

If not, then enjoy possibly losing your beach.

I know for me, living in Orlando, it's taken Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach or New Smyrna Beach off the list for me. I'm curious what you all think.

I know Volusia County leaders probably don't care, as February to August they have more than enough tourists. But we are now in the time of year when tourism drops dramatically and local/regional visitors are the ones who keep the beach communities going. There isn't that much tourism in September, October, November or December. Not really until Christmas Week, and then after that it doesn't get back up again until the Rolex 24 and Speedweeks in late January and February.

The fact that I can easily get a hotel room on the beach in Daytona Beach or Ormond Beach right now for $100/night or less on a weekday and $125/night or less on the weekend shows it's the slow time of year.

And yet the Park Volusia program has completely been a middle finger to those of us who live close by but not directly in Volusia County.

Am I really going to pay $20 when I may be on the beach for 2 or 3 hours?

The Park Volusia program hurts Floridians the most. Visitors don't care since they are on vacation and they get parking through their hotel. Volusia County residents are fine since they get parking for free. But for those of us in other inland Florida counties, it's taken away one of the last few free things to do.

I feel like one of the following two things needs to happen:

- Park Volusia needs to go to an hourly rate. Say $3/hr. or $4/hr. This allows people to come to the beach for 2 or 3 hours without getting screwed and paying a daily rate. This also would help people wanting to visit local businesses.

- Offer an Annual Pass option for Florida residents (who aren't Volusia County residents) for say $50/year, instead of the $100/year offered to anyone currently. I would probably be okay with $50/year, but I'm not paying $100/year for an annual pass and then feeling like I don't have the option to visit other beaches in Florida.

While I have no doubt it's a financial windfall for Volusia County, I have to imagine these parking fees are going to really start to hurt businesses in Daytona Beach, Ormond Beach and New Smyrna Beach now and through the entire fall and early winter, when tourism goes down and these cities rely on local and regional (100 miles or less) visitors until the visitors from up north start coming down again in February. Thoughts?

I’m coming up to West Virginia this October for fall foliage but debating what week. Specifically I’ll be in Southern West Virginia, around Greenbrier/Lewisburg, Hinton/Bluestone Lake and New River areas.

I am looking at staying at a cabin but debating between October 14 - October 17 or October 21 - October 24.

Any recommendations on which date you would choose for fall foliage?