We crossed from the gulf side of Florida to the Atlantic and Ormond Beach. This time we had a small ocean front studio. Great view of the ocean, but the studio had an interesting layout. There’s an outside exit door in the bathroom. Weird, right?
The first night we went to a seafood place recommended by the hotel, Lulu’s. We both ended up getting the seafood buffet and in our opinion, way over priced for lackluster food. The next morning after Will made a visit to the dentist (he needed a crown recemented), we headed to the Daytona Speedway. If there are no events going on, they offer tours of the race track and grounds. It was an interesting tour and gave me a better understanding of what it takes to be a race car driver besides making left turns. The track is not flat. I always thought it was except for the turns. There are a couple of “flat” sections, but even those have a 3% grade to help shed rain. The tour made a stop at the start/finish line where there’s an 18% grade. We were able to get out and walk up. Yep, that was a climb. There is a Care Center on the grounds to deal with health issues that may occur or any births. Eighteen babies have been born during the 10 days of Daytona over the years. Our guide didn’t know if the babies were given a lifetime pass or any other special gift. We also learned about the history of racing, which started on the hard packed sand of Daytona Beach. This is the reason you are allowed to drive on the beach to this day. We found it entertaining as we watched a couple of vehicles get stuck in the sand and needed someone to tow them out. For lunch, we went to Caribbean Jack’s. Great, inexpensive seafood place right on the water.
The next morning the weather didn’t look that great by us. So, we drove down to Ponce inlet just 16 miles south. The weather was beautiful. We started at the Marine Science Center. The science center is doing a lot of work rehabilitating both fresh water and sea turtles. We learned that sea turtles will get bubble butt. Yes, when they start eating bad carbs it leads to some issues for them. Their tail end wants to be higher, which makes it hard for them to swim and uses a lot more energy. The center is a small place, but really nice for younger kids to learn about the turtles, other fish, birds, and touch a stingray. It’s then a short walk to Florida’s tallest lighthouse at 175ft. You’re able to walk to the top of the lighthouse (203 steps) and go out on to the cat walk. The views are great from there. There are also a number of outbuildings, including the homes for the main lighthouse keeper and assistant keepers. Inside some of the homes are various exhibits about the lives of the keepers and their families, and what their jobs entailed. There are also exhibits about the fresnel lens and how it works. We have been to a couple different maritime museums, but this little exhibit made it easy to understand why the lens is shaped as it is and why that works. The lighthouse went through an extensive refurbishment in 2001 and looks to be well maintained since that time. We then headed to the Tipsy Taco for lunch. It’s in Ormond Beach and we couldn’t resist trying it, based solely on the name. We both had the fish bowl, with freshly grilled cobia fish and rice with some vegetables and beans thrown in. We really liked it and although, it was a special, I wouldn’t be surprised if it makes their regular menu as our waiter said it’s been quite popular.
The next day we were headed down to Titusville for our sunset kayak adventure. As we had some time in the morning we walked over to the Casements. This was one of John D. Rockefeller’s homes and where he spent the last years of his life. It’s a nice one hour free tour. The home has been through numerous changes through the years and a fire in the 70’s destroyed quite a bit. The City of Ormond Beach bought it and had it restored. Now the house is used by the community for numerous programs and as a non-profit meeting space, and of course the house tours. You can also rent it out for weddings and other gatherings.
We headed down to Titusville. This is also the home of the American Police Hall of Fame and Museum. I wanted to stop here as they have a memorial for all police officers who have died in the line of duty. My first husband’s name is on the memorial and I hadn’t had a chance to see it before. They have a nice museum going around the outside of the memorial and some hands on displays. Survivor families enter for free and LEO’s, seniors, and military all have discounted rates. It was very nicely done.
Headed on down toward where we would be meeting for our kayaking adventure. We were given different instructions as our original meeting point was closed because of a rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Center. The detoured route was quite a distance away from anything and on a wildlife refuge. We managed to find the Camelot Country Restaurant for dinner before our meetup time. This place gets quite a crowd from the local RV park especially for their early bird dinner specials. Our meals were actually pretty good and we ate for under $20. Such a deal. Made it to our kayaking launch point. We had booked the Sunset Kayaking with Bioluminescence tour. The combo tour was only $20 more, so I figured, great, why not. Really great day for kayaking, sunny and warm. Well, got there and found out we were the only ones for the sunset tour. Nice! Had a great tour with our guide and saw quite a number of birds and got to watch the manatees play around us for a while. They really are gentle giants. Saw a beautiful sunset and headed back in to pick up others for the second half of our tour. We found out that the rocket launch had been postponed until the following day. The winds were much stronger in the upper atmosphere and NASA chose to hold off on the launch. Well, we thought we would be lucky and see a rocket launch, but sadly that would not be the case. Got out on the water with the rest of the group and went off to find the comb jelly fish and dinoflagellates (glowing algae). The comb jelly fish don’t sting and our guide was able to find some with her net. We all had the opportunity to hold a jelly fish and watch it glow before releasing it back to the water. The algae glow when disturbed, it was cool to dip our paddles in and watch the sparks of light fly. We saw a dolphin, raccoons fighting, manatees, an alligator and some more birds. I was surprised at how much wild life our guide was able to spot in our nighttime kayaking tour. I highly recommend BK Adventures. We had a great time and they really went over and above to ensure everyone had a great tour.
It was supposed to be nice weather in St Augustine, so the next morning we headed up the A1A. The A1A is a beautiful scenic drive up the coast of Florida. Really worth taking a drive on this highway, if you’re in the area. We had gotten free tickets for the St Augustine Trolley Tour so we headed on over to stop one to jump on the trolley. St Augustine is said to be the oldest continuously occupied European city in the continental US, established in 1565. New Mexico has some much older communities, Acoma Pueblo 1144, and Taos Pueblo 1450, but those were native settlements and not European. After our great experience in Asheville on the trolley, I was thinking the experience in St Augustine would be similar. We were disappointed. They stop constantly, sometimes passing the same site multiple times in different directions. Also, our trolley driver did not seem excited in her job and presented her spiel in a monotone voice. So, we hopped off at the distillery hoping the next driver would be more entertaining. We were hungry and heard the distillery also had a restaurant, the Ice Plant. Yes, the building the distillery took over was an old ice plant that the owners have transformed, but managed to leave much of the character intact. The food was great. Really enjoyed the shrimp and grits. Will ended up ordering a hamburger, which was also good. Then we went downstairs for our distillery tour. The tour is free and includes free tasting of their spirits. They distill vodka, gin, and bourbon and are trying to be mindful of the environment and source products locally as much as possible. It was all good and the old fashion was my personal favorite. However, their gin has won multiple awards. Back on the trolley and again wouldn’t you know it, Mrs. Florida was our driver. Well at least we were getting off at the next stop, the winery. Another free tour and tasting. We really enjoyed their port wine, which is finished in a bourbon barrel (maybe that’s why I liked it). The port has won several awards. After the tour, Will thought we were waiting too long for the trolley and so we opted to walk to the next stop, the chocolate factory. We were too late for a factory tour, but they also had gelato. Yum, yum. Started walking and caught up with the trolley at another stop. Back on Mrs. Florida’s trolley. Seriously, was she the only driver that day? At this point we decided to finish out the trolley route as it was getting late and places were closing.
We came back for day 2 of our St Augustine tour the next morning. Parked in the central parking garage by the visitor center. It’s a $15 flat rate for the day, but walking distance to the historic area. Walked over to the Castillo de San Marcos. It’s the oldest masonry fort in North America. Completed in 1695. We got there in time to see the firing demonstration of a cannon. The fort is something not to be missed when visiting St Augustine. Walked over to the historic section, which is 95% shops and restaurants. You can also find some museums, the oldest wooden school house, the oldest house and Flagler College, which was once the Henry Flagler hotel. Had lunch at the Athens Café. Good gyros and the baklava cheesecake was declared to be 2nd best by Will. He still ranks the Apollo Diner in Brooklyn, NY as first.
