Tomoka State Park is wedged between Route 1 and the Halifax River, which is also the Intercoastal Waterway. This 2000-acre “hammock” – thick THICK forest - is listed as one of the oldest in eastern Florida. Obviously, by the picture of the road on the way here, you can tell that it’s true! Here in the campground the sites are carved out of the woods and are surrounded by thick palmetto shrubs and covered with a canopy of live oaks and Spanish moss. The road thru the campground is narrow, winding and sand! But – the facilities are new and very nice! It’s our first time here – but they do not have any patches for my jacket. The “Outpost” is the general store/restaurant and the view of the lake is very peaceful – even on a gray rainy day. We had breakfast there on Monday morning. Pretty good biscuits and gravy!
Sunday afternoon we headed out to explore the local area as we normally do and ended up on the beach in Daytona Beach. H just has to get sand in those shiny new wheels! We found a spot to park and headed up and over the main street walkway to the Oceanside Mall. We finished up our stroll along the boardwalk and seawall between the fancy hotels and the pounding, roaring waves of the ocean. The beaches were pretty much void of pedestrians and instead were dotted with shorebirds and splattered with dead smelly seaweed.
While enjoying our “Buy One Get One” Whoppers it started to rain. It rained all afternoon. It rained ALL night! It rained all day Monday! According to the news, it has set a new record! Reminds me of the amounts of rain that Toledo and vicinity received during November! Even part of the seawall in Daytona Beach was to have been washed out – the only thing holding it together is the wooden steps over it.
Last evening we met out neighbors from the site next to us. Brenda and Jim left Alberta Canada last October and are touring the coastal states for 6 months! Of course – H shared some of his knowledge of his favorite parks and other places to see in Florida! Brenda’s accent was not nearly as defined as Barbee from British Columbia but still distinctive and brought back a slew of great memories of the times we spent with her, both here in Florida and in her native BC!!!
Tuesday morning we’ll hook up and pull back out onto the long road west to the Ocala National Forest! 56 miles – it’ll be a long day on the road, eh???
