Daytona

Although the rain is past, this has nevertheless been a drab day with heavy cloud cover and temperatures only in the low 50s.  We didn’t stay home, however.  Since we hadn’t yet driven around the Daytona area, today was the day.

Conveniently located on the coast, is Florida’s tallest lighthouse.  Standing tall at 175 feet, Ponce Inlet Lighthouse was on our list of things to see.  Apparently, it was on everybody else’s list, also.  When we got there, the parking lot was almost full.  I mostly wanted a picture of the lighthouse to go along with all my other pictures of lighthouses, so we didn’t buy the ticket to climb the 203 steps to the top.  However, if we were in the mood to tour a lighthouse, this would have been one to tour.  This lighthouse complex is somewhat unique in that it also has most of the original light keepers’ dwellings and other original buildings.  One of the buildings houses a large collections of historic Fresnel lenses.

Daytona is famous, of course, for the beaches which are covered during spring break season with several square miles of burnt flesh.  With a stout wind and chilly temperatures, the beach was nearly deserted today.

Another event which puts Daytona in the headlines is the NASCAR Daytona 500 (running in just a couple weeks).  One of our readers suggested we take a tour of Daytona International Speedway.  That sounded like a great idea until I found out the tour cost $50.  I’m not that much of a fan.  I’m not sure we could have gotten a tour today anyway since they seem to be all involved with something they call the Rolex 24.  We did drive by, though.

Just so happened that Barnes and Noble Bookstore was across the street.  We spent a very relaxing couple of hours sipping coffee and looking through a variety of books and magazines.

Tomorrow, we move to Silver Springs where we plan to stay for a month.