Welcome to Daytona Florida and Daytona Beach. It is home to the Daytona 500, which has it’s history linked to the historic beach you can drive still drive on. We had traveled around and walked on many beaches, but none that would let passenger cars and trucks on it. We wanted to see it and it was “local”.
The city is historically known for its beach where the hard-packed sand allows motorized vehicles to drive on the beach in restricted areas. This hard-packed sand made Daytona Beach a mecca for motorsports, and the old Daytona Beach Road Course hosted races for over 50 years. This was replaced in 1959 by Daytona International Speedway. The city is also the headquarters for NASCAR. (source)
Local / One tank trips
We call these local trips “one-tank trips”, generally because you can get there and back on just one tank of gas. We have often told friends and family to know what is around you. When Teresa and I lived in Indianapolis, we often asked others questions about their travels. One of the questions we often asked was “have you ever considered vacationing in Indianapolis?” and the answer was often, “no”. Some would ask, “no, but what is there”? Well besides the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, more monuments than any other US city (expect Washington DC), a Children’s Museum consistently ranked #1 or #2 in the country (depending on the source), and more… there is something for pretty much anyone.
Now that we are in Tampa, we don’t ask that question. When you live in/near a city that hosts a lot of tourism, many know what you have to offer. Still, we have friends who don’t know why we stay down here and not move back. Well, weather is just part of it. The majority is that we are 30 minutes from a beach (45 minutes from good beaches), 20 minutes from an amusement park, 50 minutes from Disney and just over an hour from Universal. We have one of the US’s longest parades with the “Gasparilla Pirate Invasion” too. Want something historical and unique and ranked in the top 10 of the BBC’s best list? Check out the Tampa Theatre. We could go on, but this trip is about Daytona and the area around it.
Daytona Beach
As I said, the beach here is so packed that you can drive on it. of course, there are limited areas and while there are no “lanes” painted, it is understood. There are tow vehicles, just in case too. It was fun to “cruise” the beach.
The beach was just one of the things we wanted to see in Daytona. There was Cape Canaveral where a shuttle was being launched for the last time, the historic Flagler Beach and the oldest city in the US, St Augustine.
Shuttle Launch (Titusville/Merritt Island)
I have always been fascinated by space and space travel. Whether it was Sci-fi like “Star Trek” or the real life adventures getting to the moon or exploring space with Hubble, I love space. I was sad to see the retirement of the shuttle program (with no replacement). And am excited to keep up with Mars exploration. We timed this trip so we could see the final launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was amazing, to see the launch before hearing the launch of the engines.
STS-132 (ISS assembly flight ULF4) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission, during which Space Shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station on 16 May 2010. STS-132 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on 14 May 2010. The primary payload was the Russian Rassvet Mini-Research Module, along with an Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light Deployable (ICC-VLD). Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center on 26 May 2010.
STS-132 was initially scheduled to be the final flight of Atlantis, provided that the STS-335/STS-135 Launch On Need rescue mission would not be needed. However, in February 2011, NASA declared that the final mission of Atlantis and of the Space Shuttle program, STS-135, would be flown regardless of the funding situation. (Source)
The next day, we went north along the coastal highway. We ended stop
Flagler College (Source)
Henry Morrison Flagler (January 2, 1830 – May 20, 1913) was an American industrialist and a founder of Standard Oil, first based in Ohio. He was also a key figure in the development of the Atlantic coast of Florida and founder of what became the Florida East Coast Railway. He is known as the father of Miami and Palm Beach, Florida.
Henry Flagler invested further into rail and tourism, including the historic “Hotel Ponce De Leon”, now known being used by Flagler College. The history and architecture is amazing.
St Augustine
We continued up the coast to St Augustine, America’s oldest city. There was a fort, ghost tours (if we stayed for the evening), a light house, some local (and national) artists and so much more. We were only here for the day. We will have to come back.
St. Augustine, known as The Ancient City, is located between Northeast and East Central Florida and is convenient to Jacksonville, Orlando, and Daytona airports. North Florida boasts a year-round mild climate perfect for strolling St. Augustine’s delightful historic district, with its cobblestone streets, quaint cafes, bars, unique shops, and bed and breakfast inns. Experience the beauty of an early morning that slowly comes alive with locals and tourists setting out on foot to explore significant landmarks including the Castillo de San Marcos, Lightner Museum, Flagler College, and Fort Matanzas. (source)
ST. AUGUSTINE LIGHTHOUSE & MARITIME MUSEUM (Source)
Open to the public for a small fee, climb to the top for a spectacular view. We did.
A Spanish watchtower, built in the late 1500’s was the predecessor of the present St. Augustine Lighthouse. St. Augustine is the site of the oldest, permanent aid to navigation in North America. A series of wooden watchtowers evolved into Florida’s first lighthouse,. It is likely that some of these early towers held a flame, as is indicated on several archival maps and documents. However, officially the first light in St. Augustine was lit in an existing coquina structure in May of 1824 by Florida’s American territorial government. By 1870, this “Old Spanish Watchtower” as it was known, was threatened by shoreline erosion and the US Congress appropriated $100K for a new tower. Construction began in 1871, and it continued for the next three years. Alabama brick and Philadelphia iron work combined with a new hand-blown, nine-foot-tall, Fresnel lens, from Paris, France. This beacon was installed and lit in October of 1874 by head keeper William Russell and remains one of only a few such operating lenses in the United States. The old tower succumbed to the sea during a storm in 1880. At this time Brev. Major William A. Harn, United States Army (retired) was head keeper. Harn was a veteran of most of the major battles of the Civil War including Fort Sumter and Gettysburg.
Celebration on the Beach
Of course, this was our anniversary trip. My aunt sent us something nice to fill our picnic basket. We drove back down the coast and found a nice place on the beach to stop. The sand, the surf, and the sunset was a very romantic .
