Driving on the Beach in Daytona Beach Florida

We woke up early to watch the sunrise over the ocean from outside our hotel room while the girls slept in. We enjoyed our coffee and chatted while the world woke up. The girls slowly woke up one by one. We ran downstairs to grab muffins and juice from the continental breakfast. We brought it up to our room and had breakfast together. It was lovely.

We got dressed and ready for the day. We had big plans and I was super excited. I visited Daytona Beach when I was 14 years old. It was the first time I laid eyes on the ocean. We drove down and parked on the sand. That was the day I fell in love with the beach and the moment my wanderlust began. That trip changed my life. I was too young to drive on the beach and I really wanted to. Thus my bucket list was born. Today was the day that I would finally get to drive on the beach!

We paid the attendant and got our ticket. You get to use it to enter twice. This was my moment. I had been waiting to do this for almost 20 years. It was incredible. I couldn’t stop smiling. Crossing off the very first item on my bucket list was deeply satisfying.

I love the idea of being able to park your car on the beach so you can easily bring your cooler, boogie boards, shade tents, and anything else you need for the family to spend the day on the beach. This day we were really just there to drive down the beach and spend the day exploring the pier and boardwalk area. We did park on the beach and stroll a little before moving on.

We parked near the pier and did a little browsing. The view from the pier was beautiful. We stopped to share a large order of fries and a couple sprites on the pier while watching the waves come in. People were sitting out in the sun on the beach below. The pier seating area was really quiet. We were sitting in a shaded area. It was a good place to feed Octavia.

We walked along the boardwalk and browsed for a couple hours. There are so many fun things to see in Daytona Beach. Octavia loved staring at all the pretty colors of the many clothing items we walked by. We all thought the clock tower by the beach was really pretty. Isabella said that it looked like a giant sand castle.

We continued browsing the shops until we ended up at a mall. It was very hot outside so we really enjoyed popping in and out of the blasting air conditioning in the stores. Honestly, we didn’t buy much. Ivy and Isabella each got a shell ring. We got three small bottles with Daytona Beach written on them so we could fill them with small shells and sand before going home.

We stopped at The Starlite Diner for a late lunch. We decided to share a couple things instead of individually ordering meals. We got a Mucho Taco Salad with jalapenos on the side, fried mushrooms, and chicken strips with ranch dressing on the side. The food was amazing and fresh! The atmosphere is super fun. It’s a great place for kids. The staff was really nice. It was a great lunch for around $30 plus tip. We went during a downtime so it wasn’t too busy. I understand that this place is crazy busy for breakfast and traditional dinner time especially on the weekends and during local events.

After lunch, we stopped at a discount shop to get Isabella a pair of flip-flops to wear to the beach. We found this cute mural on the way back to our car. It was a bit of a walk back. We had a great day in Daytona Beach, Florida!