10 Things To Do in Daytona Beach, FL

I was given complimentary accommodations, meals, and entry tickets to the following locations in exchange for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

As a native Floridian, I have always felt like I have a pretty good handle on all-things-beach. I mean, I grew up and now live about 30 minutes from 5-6 beaches. I could go to the beach at the drop of a hat on any day. But, I don't. Maybe it's because the novelty has worn off? I mean, growing up I went to the beach every weekend with my mom. As a teenager I spent a lot of weekends at the beach with my friends. When our kids were little we took them to the beach every now and again. These days we rarely go. Sad, huh? You guys who have to drive HOURS to the nearest beach probably think I'm nuts for not going as often as I possibly could. I just feel like there's nothing new to see. Until now. That is, until I went on a short trip to Daytona Beach, FL a couple of weeks ago. I was able to truly spend the weekend at the beach like a true tourist would. And I enjoyed EVERY MINUTE.

I'm here today to share with you 10 Things To Do in Daytona Beach, FL. These are just a handful of the activities we were able to take part in and enjoy to the fullest. So, here we go, in no particular order. At the end, tell me which are your favorites, or which you will surely go to on your next trip to Daytona Beach.

1. Go shelling on the beach. The ocean is FILLED with beautiful treasures that will wash up on shore. Put on a hat, lather on some sunscreen, grab your sand bucket, and go walk along the shoreline. You never know what beautiful sea shells or beach treasures you may find!

2. Are you a NASCAR fan? I'll be honest, I'm not. Or, I wasn't. BUT, after visiting Daytona International Speedway, and seeing the race track and hearing cars woosh by with such speed, I LOVED the atmosphere! When you take a guided tour you are told stories and history about many racing legends like, Dale Earnhart, Richard Petty and Jett Gordan. The Daytona International Speedway truly is a Daytona Beach must-see!

3. Visit a museum or two. Daytona Beach has quite a few museums. This museum pictured is the Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art. Cici and Hyatt started their collection of fine art back in 1997 with two 19th century watercolors of the old St. Augustine gate. Over time, their love for fine art grew and grew...and grew into what is now a collection of more than 2800 works of art. That tidbit of information sheds light on why they had a need to build their own museum. While not every piece is on display at one time, you can view an exquisite collection of Florida art and more. So, while in Daytona Beach, go to a museum!

4. Wake up early enough to catch the sunrise. I know, I know, you're on vacation, you don't want to get up early. But, trust me, Florida sunrises are the best. You'll want to watch the sun rise over the ocean. If you're staying at beach front property, simply open the window and curl back up in bed. Or, if you aren't able to see the ocean from your bedroom window, take a blanket and go down to the shore. Either way, you'll be glad you woke up early. 

5. Be a kid again! Ride the roller coaster and play in the arcade at the Daytona Beach Boardwalk and Pier. There's so much to do at the boardwalk and pier. Ride go-carts, grab some World's Most Famous saltwater taffy from Zeno's Boardwalk Sweet Shop, have a slice of pizza at Pizza King, or dine at Joe's Crab Shack. You can also get paddle board lessons from the folks at Oceanside Paddle Sports. You can truly spend an entire day at Daytona Beach Boardwalk and Pier.

6. Check the calendar for a list of festivals going on during your stay. Listen to local musicians, buy local art or handmade goods, and spend the day with the locals. Festivals are a great way to take a break from beach activities and still enjoy the day with your family.

7. Drive to nearby DeLand to shop along historic and beautiful Woodland Boulevard or New Smyrna Beach’s fun and beachy Canal St. and Flagler Avenue. There are so many quaint shops and eateries in DeLand. Stop into Pat and Toni's Sweet Things for a slice of pecan pie. Oh my yum, it is so delicious. There's also a super hip art gallery, The Hub on Canal, that you won't want to miss. Local artist set-up their easels {or whatever their medium is} and create works of art right there where you can watch them. It's a real treat to see an artist at work. New Smyrna Beach is a short drive from Daytona Beach, you won't want to miss it. 

8. Tickle your tastebuds. There are SO MANY amazing restaurants and eateries in Daytona Beach. Visit DaytonaBeach.com to look up nearby restaurants that feature cuisine you're craving. May I recommend Aunt Catfish's on the River for more seafood choices than you can catch with even your largest shrimping net or Racing's North Turn for, not only good food and great service, but racing history from right where racing got its start! 

9. Need to add a little fun competition to your days? Are you going to Daytona Beach with your children? Well, you could even do this with an all adult crowd. Create a scavenger hunt for you ALL to participate in. Go on a hunt for the beach, a sea turtles nest {remember not to disturb it, it's against the law}, sea shells, a crab, a sand dollar, a seagull, the pier, bits of sea glass, and anything else one might find at the beach. You could even make a more detailed list with things like, "a girl in a polka dot bikini" or "a man wearing jeans on the beach." Let the prize be a trip to get ice cream cones together or. {we didn't do this on our last trip, but doesn't it sound like tons of fun??? I think I'll suggest it for the next time!}

10. After you've had quite possibly the best day ever, but before you hit the sack, watch the sunset. And then, dream of all of the fun you'll have tomorrow. 

Daytona Beach is such a beautiful destination in Florida. There's SO MUCH to see and do. Have you ever been? Did you do any of the activities I mentioned? Is there a place that I've not mentioned that should be visited? Let us know about it in the comments. 

As Seen on Blissfully Domestic {June/July}

Blissfully Domestic is ALWAYS on fire but, MY favorite time to write is End-of-Summer/Back-to-School season! With four kids in school full-time this year, I feel like these topics speak volumes for me. The last few weeks have been especially fun for me! I've gathered a bunch of ideas and recipes for Blissfully Domestic readers AND myself!

Here are a few of my most recent posts.

• 7 Back-to-School Teacher's Gifts
• 7 Healthy Back-to-School Lunch Ideas
• 10 DIY Craft Ideas to Relive Summer

• 7 Back-to-School Organization Ideas
• DIY Beach Bags for Every Budget
• Fruit Infused Water Recipes for Summer

Which of these posts are your favorite? What would you like to see me write about next? Tell me in the comments.

Blessings and the Beach

Sometimes life has a way of putting you in places that bring you close to someone you never would've met otherwise. Really, we know it's God who does that. Read on to hear what I mean.



Last weekend we had a big weekend. It was Memorial Day weekend. Saturday was a busy day and we went to bed late. When the alarm went off on Sunday morning for us to get up and get ready for church we hit snooze. And then hit snooze again. We had decided before even getting out of bed that we weren't going to church. Enter the feeling of conviction and knowing we needed to drag our rumps out of bed and get to church...even if we were late.



On the way home from church we needed to stop and get gas. {because I'm notorious for letting my truck get to E...or, maybe below E. But, whatev.} As soon as we pull into the gas station I noticed a woman on her cell phone with a bottle of oil in her hand and her car hood up. Clearly, she wasn't just getting gas. After pumping our gas my {amazing and always helpful} husband asked if she needed any help. She was quick to say YES! Bless her heart, that car had given her more trouble than it was worth in the short months she owned it. Hubs poured the oil and the coolant into her car, closed the hood and sent her on her way.



Stick with me. I promise the story gets good.



So, we leave the gas station and head the few short blocks home. We weren't even a mile up the road and I noticed a car sitting on the side of the road. It was the same lady we just helped. Her car had over-heated and was not in any condition to be driven. Hubs stopped {because he's amazing} and walked to her car, offered to take her to our house to call a tow truck, have lunch and well, not sit in the nearly 100 degree weather just waiting. Remember, we didn't know her from Adam and she didn't know us. Helping her, in the only way we could, just felt like the right thing to do.



When we got back to our house an instant friendship was born. Ms. Cindy is a retired school teacher so she loved my wild and crazy kids. While she no longer lives in our area, her family all live nearby. Her and Hubs were able to talk about how much the area has changed over the years. She told us anytime we wanted to go to the beach we could come to her house on the beach...in ST. AUGUSTINE. {St. Augustine is my most favorite place on earth. Most. Favorite!} It's like God set up this divine appointment. We were absolutely meant to meet one another!



Sadly, the tow truck called and said they'd be to her car in just a few minutes so we needed to take her up there and say goodbye. How would she get home after that? Oh, she would take my husband's car. To recap, we met her just a couple hours prior, brought her home, became fast friends and was about to let her drive off with my husband's primary source of transportation to and from work. I mean, it's just stuff...and she needed it more than we did at that very moment.





God is so good, y'all! The next day we got up and loaded up the truck and, as a family, drove to St. Augustine to spend the day with our new friend, Ms. Cindy. She graciously opened up her home to my wild bunch and took us down to her favorite spot on the beach. She showed Jett, my animal lover, a fresh sea turtle's nest. She even spotted the turtle's tracks and explained them to Jett. McKinley and her went on a walk combing the beach for sea treasures. Jonah and Jake body surfed on a couple of boogie boards she let them borrow. She even held Mabry while I shot a bunch of great pictures of my kids enjoying their day.





At the end of the day we gathered all of our beach stuff, loaded the kids up and said our "see you next time"'s. There will be a next time. Soon.



Spread LOVE everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving HAPPIER. -Mother Teresa

Polar Vortex of 2014? What Polar Vortex?

What do you do when the entire country is sharing photos of their below zero temperatures on their dashboard thermometers? Or, when you've seen a million and one pictures of snow filled front yards? How about when you've seen screen shots from every mid-west and northern state's weather forecast? You dig into your Flickr feed and find the most recent beach pictures to daydream on. Because it won't stay this cold forever! And, quite frankly, you're over the #polarvortex of 2014! This too shall pass. {Thank goodness...cause even in Florida it's in the thirties. And that's COLD!}

This post is pretty photo heavy. But, the sand, the surf, the tan lines...I'm ready for summer again! {And this wasn't even summer! It was in November, in Florida!!}

My mom and step-dad have a time share in Daytona Beach, FL. This year it worked out that we could go spend a night with them in their condo and enjoy the ocean views, heated pool, sunrise, and family time. In just one evening and one full day we packed in the fun!






Jett was loaded with silly faces this particular day!




I think he was giving me his best zombie impression. We may or may not be The Walking Dead fans.








Hubs was doing school work and Jonah and Mabry were with my mom in the condo during this beach play. {In case you were wondering where they were.}


This is probably my favorite picture from the trip. He was just so filled with silliness!





I told Hubs before we went to bed that I would love to see the sun rise over the ocean. Bless his heart, he got up early enough to make sure I was awake to see it.




Amazing, right?! I don't remember the last time I saw the sun rise. {who gets up that early?!}

After breakfast, we spent a lot of time in the pool and then headed down to the boardwalk to see what we could enjoy. It was November...and apparently, not many folks vacation at the beach in November. We had the entire boardwalk pretty much to ourselves.


Jake and Papa rode the go-carts all by themselves.








Jonah and Hubs rode the roller coaster, just the two of them.



And then McKinley, Jett, Mabry and myself rode the ferris wheel. Just us.

I joked that the people should let us ride these rides for free to lure folks into the attraction. :o)









One last shot...of my favorite guy.


Thanks mom and Ray for inviting us to come crash your joint for a night. We ALL had a super fun time!! Next year??

sunny days.

what do you do when there's a storm brewin' in the caribbean that you're certain will have you holed up in the house for the next few days???
you pick the kids up from school and head to the beach.
that's what you do!

and that's what we did last friday.



















this one is way over-exposed...and this is the best picmonkey could do to fix it...but, there's just something about it that is beautiful.
gosh, i love this girl!