Daytona Beach

    Vacationers have been flocking to the Daytona Beach area for more than a century. During the late 1800s, the area caught the attention and imagination of many wealthy northern tycoons who found the land favorable for investment. One such mogul, Mathias Day, founding father of what was then called Daytona, built the first hotel, the Palmetto House, in 1874.
    The trend continued with other entrepreneurs endeavoring to build a city of commerce and vision. Commodore Charles Bourgoyne began by building a community center in Daytona Beach in the early 1900s. Bourgoyne organized concerts along the riverfront actively promoting the town's events to travelers. Later, John D. Rockefeller, discovered Ormond Beach's immaculate golf courses and made his winter home at The Casements.

The "World's Most Famous Beach" is Daytona Beach. Its 23 miles of beautiful white sand beaches are famous the world over from the very early 1900's when automobiles were first raced on the beach. Speeds were incredible for the day, the top speed in 1902 was an amazing 57 miles per hour. The last land speed record set on the beach was in 1935 when Sir Malcolm Campbell drove the world famous "Bluebird" at 276 miles per hour on the beach!
    Today driving on the hard-packed sand is allowed only on an 18-mile stretch of the beach during daytime hours and speeds are only 10 miles per hour. Five miles of beach are now reserved for visitors who wish not to have to share the beach with cars.
    The beach is famous for many other things besides cars and racing. With 23 miles to play on people have found an almost unlimited amount of activities. Sunbathing, surfing, frisbee, sandcastle building, people watching, volleyball, swimming, running, bicycling, car cruising, bikini watching, kite flying, picnicing, riding floats, relaxing, riding motorbikes, sitting under umbrellas, looking for shells, sailing, jet skiing, skim boarding, fishing, enjoying beauty contests, eating "beach dogs" or snowcones, going up in the space needle, walking the boardwalk, playing video games, enjoying the skyride, taking a giant swing, sail boarding, jogging, enjoying free concerts, comparing tans, meeting new friends, or taking a romantic walk on the beach at night with the moonlight sparkling on the water, etc...whew! And we haven't even left the beach yet!

Known for high speed thrills, the “World's Most    more >>