Long Run up to Palm Coast, FL -- June 4

Despite our comment in the previous blog about our taking it easy this trip, we ran for nine hours today and covered 114 miles. But we had a good reason for this, as the weather was good, with very little traffic AND we wanted to have a short run to Jacksonville the next day so that we could spend more time with our friends Tom and Cathy at their new place in Atlantic Beach. So here follows the travelogue...

North of Titusville the Indian River widens considerably and then ends with Cape Kennedy to the east. This picture shows one of the big NASA buildings there.


After crossing from the Indian River to the Mosquito Lagoon through a short canal (no locks) we headed north through the Canaveral National Seashore, which is wonderfully desolate. At the north end of the Mosquito Lagoon there is a long stretch of interesting but humble housing (there is something for every budget in Florida real estate). This photo is representative. 

The next big town is New Smyrna Beach and just north of that is Ponce Inlet, which has a lovely lighthouse. It is seen here approaching from the south, with the inlet off to the right.


And here it is looking back from the north.


After a short stretch of light development, we hit Daytona Beach and its suburbs. This photo shows some typical high rises in Daytona Beach Shores. Those in the distance are on the beach. Just a narrow strip of land separates the Atlantic from the backwater (which here is called the Halifax River).


As you get closer to downtown Daytona Beach the housing stock gets older and there are some handsome old places still around that are probably pre-WWII vintage.


There is an interesting collection of bridges in downtown Daytona Beach. The observant reader (who knows how to use the zoom feature) should be able to pick out five.


A few miles north of all the bridges is the town of Ormond Beach, which features John D. Rockefeller's Florida house among many lovely old homes. It was built in 1913 and has been restored as a museum. 


Our last photo features the Captain looking forward to pizza at some joint in the European Village in Palm Coast. This is one of those mixed-use shopping/restaurant/condo places which is even weirder because they tried to make it look like some generic European village. 


Comments

  1. Tim BrushJune 7, 2024 at 2:48 PM

    hope it was good! fun to read of your voyage as always

    ReplyDelete
  2. AshleyJuly 12, 2024 at 4:47 PM

    Love the “find all 5 bridges” challenge! What do I win?

    ReplyDelete

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