December 25 & 26 , 2021
DAYTONA BEACH
“Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida. The city is histrically knwon 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 and Road Corse hosted races for over 50 years. This was replaced in 1959 by Daytona International Speedway.” Wikipedia
To me there is nothing more cathartic than spending some time on a beach. I’ve discovered that beaches, even in Florida, have different properties and distinctions. I found the hard-packed sand of Daytona to be great for walking. For $20 one can drive right onto the beach in certain areas, park and spend the day, which made the atmosphere seem a little more party-central than other beaches I’ve visited.
I visited the beach on two different days, the first was near the city’s center, the second was the south end near Ponce Inlet Park. Watching the surfers at Ponce Inlet was interesting.
Santa fishing on Christmas day.
I thought it interesting that these guys just took off their shirts and laid down to do some tanning, no towels or other beachware.
Playing in the surf.
Three different species of birds.
Cooling off in the surf.
The Ponce Inlet Lighthouse as seen from Ponce Inlet Park (they are separate entities).
The lifeguard tower at the beach.
My first view of surfers.
This is the only time I saw this young guy get up on the board.
Loved the smile on this guy's face...obviously having fun.
Parasailing, it actually looked fun.
There was a lot of waiting and watching for the next wave.
The surfing was right next to this fishing jetty.
And this guy was fishing on the other side of the surfers.
Swimming, trying to catch the wave.
A Snowy Egret stopped by to check things out.