Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse

Thursday
Today, we had a change and drove up the coast to New Smyrna Beach, which is located just south of Daytona Beach. Between the two is the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, the tallest in Florida, and the second tallest masonry lighthouse in the country, and a National Historic landmark. We climbed the 203 steps to the top of the 175-foot tower and took in the wonderful views up the coast to Daytona Beach, Ponce Inlet, and surrounding inland waterways and wetland areas. The restored lighthouse keepers' cottages, originally constructed in 1887, are also open to visitors, and offer a glimpse into the history of the Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station, the United States Lighthouse Service and the town itself. Next, we headed to Smyrna Dunes Park, located on 73 acres of pristine land at the northern tip of the New Smyrna Beach peninsula. To protect the sensitive sand dunes from foot traffic, two miles of elevated boardwalks, picnic areas, pavilions and an observation tower were built, allowing visitors to travel through the park without damaging the sand dune environment. From the park you also get a distant view of the lighthouse, see lower right photo. As we walked along, we saw many prickly pear cacti in flower, and a number of Gopher tortoises and their burrows, including two tortoises having quite a prolonged battle with each other (see extras)
Step count: 7,751