A look at Daytona's Boot Hill Saloon
When Bike Week roars into Daytona Beach for its annual 10-day run starting March 1, one of the must-do experiences is a visit to the venerable Boot Hill Saloon on Main Street, among the landmark watering holes forever tied to the event. Longtime fans of the bar, however, don't need a special occasion to make the pilgrimage to the establishment that marked its 50th anniversary in 2023. “I've been coming here about 30 years,” said Coleman Leonard, 71, a retired cabinet maker from Edgewater, who rode his Harley- Davidson Street Glide to Boot Hill for a quiet beer on a recent afternoon more than two weeks before Bike Week's opening day. “It's the history of the place,” he said as a vintage Deep Purple song, “Child In Time,” wafted from the speakers above his head. “It's always here, always a good time.” Here's a look at the Boot Hill's history and its appeal to the Bike Week crowd: As Bike Week evolves, Boot Hill remains 'authentic' Among the afternoon crowd on the bar's front deck, Tom Prusaski, 61, said that has been patronizing Boot Hill since the mid-1980s, a time when Bike Week was more like the “wild, wild west,” compared with the corporate sponsorships and tourism promotion that characterizes the event nowadays. “This was a hardcore biker bar,” said Prusaski, a retired auto mechanic, who traveled from Grant in Brevard County for a Boot Hill visit during Speedweek. “They didn't sell T-shirts in the Boot Hill in the 1980s and it wasn't always pretty, either.” Although Bike Week and the Boot Hill have lost some rough edges over the years, the bar still offers a genuine biker experience, Prusaski said. “This bar and the Iron Horse (in Ormond Beach) are two of the older bars that are still pretty authentic,” he said. “Things have definitely gotten more commercialized, but we always come here when we can.” Boot Hill shifts into high gear for Bike Week At the inside merchandise counter, around the corner from the bar, there's a new assortment of Bike Week T-shirts on display, part of an inventory of merchandise that also includes doo-rags, ballcaps and other trinkets. Many of the items offer a nod to the Boot Hill's famed slogan that “you're better off here than across the street” at the Pinewood Cemetery. During Bike Week, the bar also will host a lineup of dozens of bands on multiple indoor and outdoor stages throughout the 10-day event. The marquee out front touts the “Boot Hill Saloon and Museum,” but evidence of the latter is hard to find unless you consider a bra once worn by serial killer Aileen Wuornos a historical artifact. It's displayed behind the bar, where dozens of less famous under-garments also hang ceremoniously from the rafters. Almost every inch of wall space is cluttered with ancient business cards and faded snapshots that document the bar's history. So maybe it is a museum? For its fans, Boot Hill offers family connection Beyond the T-shirts and the bands and the beers, Boot Hill has endured because it offers a family connection, said Patti Raimondi, who handles merchandise at the bar. “People feel like they're home,” she said. “They have that comfortable feeling and that's pretty much it. You just feel like you're with friends and family. Great food, great friends, great fun. What else is there?” For more information on the Boot Hill and its upcoming Bike Week events, visit boothillsaloon.com or the bar's Facebook page, facebook.com/boothillsaloon
Opening day set for Costco at One Daytona. What to expect from membership club.
The huge Costco store nearing completion at One Daytona now has an official opening date: Feb. 22. An official with the One Daytona entertainment/retail complex across the street from Daytona International Speedway confirmed the opening date. The official referred all further inquiries to One Daytona President Roxanne Ribakoff who is on vacation this week and unavailable for comment. The News-Journal could not reach Costco officials for comment. Here's what to know about the project: It's going to be massive The 161,774-square-foot Costco will be One Daytona's largest tenant when it opens. Bass Pro Shoppes currently holds that distinction at 67,068 square feet. The CMX Daytona 12 Luxury Theatres directly east of Costco is 50,000 square feet. The Daytona Beach Costco will also be bigger than the nearby membership wholesale club stores of its two biggest rivals: The Sam's Club store that opened in 2019 across town at Tomoka Town Center is 140,000 square feet. The BJ's Wholesale store that opened in 2013 in Port Orange is 85,000 square feet. It will include a members-only gas station The Costco at One Daytona will also feature a 24-pump members-only gas station and a tire store with five loading bays. Costco is known for its competitively low gas prices, which could spur other area gas stations to keep their prices low as well, similar to what's happening with Buc-ee's and the Sam's Club gas station across the street next to the Interstate 95/LPGA Boulevard interchange. It will sport a unique Daytona-specific exterior design The new Costco store will feature an exterior look that is unlike any of its other stores: a checkerboard design similar to Victory Lane at the Speedway. "It's a nod to the rich history of motorsports racing at the Speedway," said Ribakoff in an interview with The Daytona Beach News-Journal in September 2023. It will create hundreds of jobs David Sherwood, a spokesman for Costco, told The News-Journal in September that the chain's stores typically employ "somewhere in the range of 500 people." He added that he did know the specific number planned for its Daytona Beach location. What's the cost to join? A personal "Gold Star" membership to Costco is $60 year (not counting sales tax) and includes two cards. The chain also offers "Executive" memberships for $120 a year. Like its competitors, the higher-level membership comes with perks beyond what basic members receive. In comparison, Sam's Club offers basic "Club" memberships for $50 a year and "Plus" memberships for $110 a year. BJ's charges $55 a year for basic "Club" level memberships and $110 a year for "Club+" memberships.
Sixth-Straight Drop as Mortgage Rates Hit 7.03%
It’s down from last week’s 7.22% average for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan. Freddie Mac’s chief economist says they need to drop more, but it’s a “welcome relief.” LOS ANGELES (AP) – Home loan financing costs eased again this week, as the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate slid to its lowest level in four months. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage dropped to 7.03% from 7.22% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 6.33%. The last time the average rate was lower was in early August, when it was at 6.96%. Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners refinancing their home loan, also declined this week, with the average rate falling to 6.29% from 6.56% last week. A year ago, it averaged 5.67%, Freddie Mac said. This is the sixth straight weekly drop for rates, echoing a recent pullback in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing loans. The yield, which in mid-October surged to its highest level since 2007, has been falling on hopes that the Federal Reserve may finally be done raising interest rates in its bid to tame lower inflation. “Although these lower rates remain a welcome relief, it is clear they will have to further drop to more consistently reinvigorate demand,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. The average rate on a 30-year home loan climbed above 6% in September 2022 and has remained above that threshold since. In late October, it reached 7.79%, the highest level on records going back to late 2000. The recent downward shift in mortgage rates is a welcome development for prospective homebuyers facing a housing market that remains unaffordable to many Americans. While sales of previously occupied U.S. homes are down 20.2% through the first 10 months of this year, home prices have kept climbing amid a stubbornly low supply of properties on the market. But as mortgage rates ease, they boost borrowers’ purchasing power, increasing how much home they can afford. Still, the average rate on a 30-year home loan remains sharply higher than just two years ago, when it was 3.10%. The large gap between rates now and then is contributing to the low inventory of homes for sale by discouraging homeowners who locked in rock-bottom rates two years ago from selling. So far, the pullback in rates has spurred a pickup in demand for home loans. Mortgage applications notched their fifth consecutive weekly increase last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Several housing economists are projecting that mortgage rates will continue to ease in 2024, though the forecasts call for the average rate on a 30-year home loan to remain above 6%, still about double what the average rate was just two years ago. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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