March 19 - 20
In 1959 Daytona Beach hosted the first Daytona 500, now regarded as America's most prestigious stock-car race. The hard compressed shoreline enticed such names as Louis Chevrolet, Ransom Olds and other notables who didn't, at that time, have an asphalt road to race on. Hyped up sand competitions inaugurated one of the first large spectator races in 1903 when Alexander Winton drove his "bullet" at a then unbelievable speed of 68 mph. To this day they allow cars on the beach.
For the first time we took a few hours to go to the "World's Most Famous Beach" and relax in the sun and sand. Later that day we visited the Museum of Arts and Sciences and took a nature hike in the Tuscawilla Preserve, After our fist attempt to walk to the museum which was over 2 miles from the dock it turned out to be closed! Tuesday we caught the bus to the museum and went to the planetarium as well. The museum had many interesting exhibits and featured water colors from famous Florida artist, a Coca Cola exhibit, old weapons, drug store, and a 13 ft tall skeleton of a giant sloth which was excavated in 1975. Approximately 130,000 years ago, the giant ground sloth lived in the coastal area of Florida. Our anchorage by the bridge was perfect and the dingy docks were close by so we were able to tour the town and beach. We had fun in the sun!
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| Ponce de Leon lighthouse first lit in 1887 |
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| Ocean front amphitheater was built in 1938, |
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| Clock tower overlooking the beach. |
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| Famous Daytona Beach |
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Spanish moss growing on live oak trees in Tuscawilla Park
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| Florida's Giant Sloth |
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