Florida North

There’s a good reason that Florida’s known as The Sunshine State. Florida is world-famous for having one of the best year-round climates in the entire U.S., and is known as a destination spot for college kids on spring break, as well as an optimum place for retirees to spend their Golden Years in the sun. With credentials like those, it’s obvious that Florida has something for travelers of all ages.
Starting in the north, our origin point is Jacksonville Beach. With its miles and miles of uncrowded beaches, we shouldn’t pass up the chance to break out the gear and enjoy the sandy shores by the sparkling Atlantic. This city is also host to the Pecan Park Flea and Farmers’ Market, which runs each Saturday and Sunday from 8 to 5, and features over 300 dealers. No doubt, we’ll be able to find something new to add to any type of collection.
Jacksonville is a huge sports-oriented town; if we’re traveling during football season, we could even catch a live home game of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the local NFL team. And with 50 golf courses there’s no excuse not to break out our clubs and play a round or two. If you’ve never played, now’s the perfect time to start!
We head south on the historic A1A Highway, cruising past fifty miles of warm, sandy beaches. Maybe along the way we should kick off our shoes and walk along the waves, or rent a couple of kayaks and enjoy the warm, salty sea air. We pull over to stretch our legs in St. Augustine, a great city to visit any time of the year. In spring, we can enjoy golf, tennis, and hiking; summer is a perfect time to enjoy the warm weather and spend days at the beach, or maybe even take an exhilarating parasailing ride over the Atlantic. In the fall, we have the Old City Ghost Tour, and St. Augustine is festively lit and decorated for the holiday season when winter comes. One spot not to miss, no matter what time of year we visit, is the Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum. What makes it so interesting is that it’s a “living” museum, in that it’s staffed by craftsmen - and –women who demonstrate what it was like to live in the 1700s. These talented individuals show their skills at leatherworking, carpentry, and blacksmithing. Going to this museum is like stepping back in time to experience all the sights, smells and experiences of the day.
St. Augustine is also the site of the first Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum (there are currently 27 in existence), which showcases various oddities and strange artifacts gathered from all over the world. It’s guaranteed you’ll see things here that you never dreamed existed – believe it!
Fifty-five miles further on the southbound A1A, we come to our final stop, Daytona Beach. One of the cool things about this area is the rich influx of Cuban culture; the art galleries, the décor, the music, and especially the food, are all geared towards giving us a taste of downtown Havana. But easily the most famous attraction in Daytona Beach is the Daytona Speedway, where hundreds of thousands of NASCAR fans gather every year to watch world championship stock car racing, especially the Daytona 500, which is the biggest and most prestigious race on the NASCAR circuit. Previous winners have included Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty and more recently Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon. If we’re in the area during the season, we shouldn’t miss the chance to witness an adrenaline-pumping piece of sports history.
Other Area Sponsors in Florida: Big Pine Key & Florida's Lower Keys Boyd's Key West Campground Copley's RV Center Flamingo Lake RV Resort Highland Pines RV Resort Lion Country Safari KOA Paradise Island Pecan Park RV Resort Port St. Lucie RV Resort Road Runner Travel Resort Tallahassee RV Park West Jupiter Camping Resort Yacht Haven Park & Marina