Downtown Daytona

We didn't have a long time available to be tourists so once we were tied up to the dock, we went for a walk in the historic downtown area.  The Halifax River Yacht Club has been a part of the cityscape in 1896.  It is the oldest, continuously active club in the same location on the entire Eastern Seaboard.  That is quite the claim!  The city has obviously made a tremendous effort in revitalizing an aging area.  Beautifully landscaped parks line the river and the old buildings are full of shops and restaurants.  The main drag, Beach St, is divided into distinct districts from the Harbor, to Arts, Historical and Garden.  There is a nice pavilion giving a short history of the city and all it's parts.  Of course, most know about the car racing but the first racing was actually on Indian (Harley Davidson) motorcycles.  My mother's father used to have an Indian a little over 100 years ago.  When he seriously started courting my grandmother, her family made it clear that the bike was not looked upon favorably.  True love for her won out, and the cycle was history.

The original clubhouse wasn't replaced until 2006.  The membership commissioned
a very lovely club.  The interior is full of original parts in display cases.  One entire
hallway is dedicated to the club history.

Most of the dining and lounge rooms open on the the river.

Fire station #1 is immediately next door.  It was built in the early 20s.

There were a few of these, to us, weird retention areas along the waterfront.
They held back water a few hundred yards between the road and the water.
There was no inlet and only these little dams for overflow.  All we could
figure was some type of erosion protection during storms.

This is the detention area next to the club.

These stately palms line about a 2 mile stretch of Beach St.  Commerce on
one side with park on the other.

One stretch of the park had these shaded benches for footsore pedestrians.

All the side roads have been converted to pedestrian only walkways.
These attractive arches delineate the streets.

This cute pair of ducks kept looking to us for handouts.

This turn of the last century post office was built of the local dredged
coral called coquina.

The landscaping ends.

I never knew I had a summer condo!!