Deb and Larry have a home in the park that they live in year-round. It has a full-size RV port as well as space for storage. The screened room in the back looks out onto a lovely lake. They invited Sasha over to play for an hour or so last evening, and a good time was had by all! We're contemplating returning to Willow Lakes for an extended period of time, because everyone we met was so friendly and accommodating. Deb and Larry have become, in a short time, a couple we would thoroughly enjoy spending more time with!
Earlier in the day, we took a drive to the Canaveral National Seashore, specifically Playalinda Beach. The beach has a number of parking areas scattered along it's length, but we stopped at only two. The first beach crossing was beautiful, with a crossover that preserves the dune vegetation in a natural state.
We went to the end of the service road, noticing that parking at that point was very crowded. We were fortunate to score a spot and took a casual stroll over the dunes to find that we had stumbled upon a nude beach! I'm still puzzling how this could happen at a Federal facility, but I guess this is the 21st century......I will say that what I saw in the 7 hours I stood and stared....no, more like 7 seconds...was not appealing. Note to participants: do this in your backyard, OK?
Scurrying out of Playalinda, we took a 7 mile nature drive through some awesome natural landscape. Complete with thousands of birds, 'crocs, and small game of all stripes, the leisurely journey was very interesting.
A bit north of the nature drive, on US 1, we came across the Haulover Canal, a canal built to connect Mosquito Bay and the Indian River.
The Canal is known as a prime Manatee watching area, and we weren't disappointed! A dozen or so wild Manatee(s?) were frolicking in the water, splashing and playing as only an animal the size of a Volkswagen can!
We stopped in the village of Oak Hill for a quick lunch at a dockside restaurant. Donna and I shared some shrimp and a bowl of beans and washed it all down with Sweet Tea! Does it get any better?
returning to Willow Lakes along US 1, we happened upon the Cape Canaveral National Cemetery.
This cemetery is under construction, and is only about 30% complete, with 100% expected next summer. I know this because one of the workers is staying in Willow Lakes, and stopped to chat, saying he had seen us at the cemetery.
This will be a beautiful site when it is complete, as it should be.
Today, Wednesday, we left Titusville, and drove a never-ending 42 miles north to the International RV Park in Daytona Beach. Arriving just after noon, we set up and went to see the Number 2 thing to do in Daytona Beach.....the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse.
Built in 1887, the Lighthouse continues to guide mariners as a private navigational aid. The Coast Guard has established a beacon at a nearby location, and abandoned the lighthouse in 1970, but a group of private citizens formed the Lighthouse Preservation Association, and the city of Ponce Inlet purchased the property, so that preservation, maintenance and restoration could be done.
At 175 feet tall, the lighthouse is the tallest in the state of Florida, and one of the tallest in the country.
The grounds include several buildings used to provide support to the light operation: oil storage for the lantern, privy, and pump house, which incidentally is still supplying water to the site! The Principal Keeper's Dwelling is open for viewing as is the First Assistant Keeper's Dwelling, and the Second Assistant Keeper's Dwelling.
One building houses a collection of Fresnel lenses once used in this and other lighthouses.
The 203 steps to the top of the lighthouse beckoned me, so off I went. Donna stayed below as the cheering section while I climbed. I only climbed two flights of stairs before I had to stop and rest, and this became my method all the way to the top. About half way up, I came across these two signs:
With this encouragement in mind, I continued to the top, where a sweeping vista of Daytona Beaches awaited my tired eyes!
The sandbar to the south of the lighthouse is called Disappearing Island, because when the tide comes in, it.....disappears! This is the inlet to Indian River, which starts here and flows south.
With a bunch of facts and figures floating in our heads,
We drove north on Highway A1A into Daytona Beach.
This building resembles the Capitol Records Building in Hollywood, CA!
Back at the RV park, we checked out the wifi (marginal), the ATT hotspot (marginal), and the local TV channels (gangbusters). We'll struggle along for a few days, since we're getting the 50% off Passport America rate, and only pay $28 per night! The park is completely booked for the weekend with a rally taking place here, and, we're told, a big concert in town this weekend. We are located on an end spot, so we have a much better feeling of spaciousness than some sites, and we're grateful! While the sites are somewhat close together, there remains a comfortable distance between, and the paved sites in our section of the park make for a clean, comfortable parking area.
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