Daytona: Young, Wild, and… Surprisingly Chill?

Ponce Inlet is really more Port Orange, but it all feels like one continuous blob of beach towns to me, so I’m including it.

The Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse is stunning. Completed in 1887, it is the tallest lighthouse in Florida at 175 feet. It’s a National Historic Landmark and, if you are brave enough to climb the 203 steps to the top, offers incredible views.

Here’s the thing: I have a weird personal obsession with lighthouses. When I was a child, my Grandfather lived near the Bolivar Lighthouse in Texas. Before the age of cell phones and tablets, I spent hours staring at it while waiting for the ferry, making up stories about who lived there. At one point, that lighthouse came up for sale cheap because it needed massive repairs. My parents almost bought it. I wish they would have. And so began my lifelong obsession.

Besides the amazing view from the top—which shows the convergence of the Halifax River and the Indian River North as they meet the Atlantic Ocean—I greatly enjoyed the museum exhibits at the base. Two stood out:

• The Science of Light: They used interactive exhibits to show how the Fresnel lenses refract and reflect light. It was the first time I actually understood how they work.

• The Cuban Raft Exhibit: There is a small, powerful exhibit featuring Cuban rafts that washed ashore near the lighthouse. Seeing these vessels puts you out in the open water. To imagine the innovation it took to build rafts out of scrap materials, and the bravery to venture forth on one, is humbling. Personally, if someone has that level of innovativeness and “get-it-done” spirit, I say welcome to America, buddy. That bravery is what this country is all about.