Ponce Inlet - Ponce Inlet, FL

The kids had been asking to go to the beach and I wanted to do something a little different than normal.  After much research I found a beach that in 2007 was rated the 9th best beach in the US, Ponce Inlet.  It is 9 miles south of Daytona and right above New Smyrna.  10:00 Monday morning we were off and arrived at the Lighthouse Point Park around 11:30.  We paid $5.00 to park and then were instructed that our parking pass could also get us out on the beach if we were interested in driving out.  We decided to do a little scouting before getting all of our stuff out to see if we wanted to walk it or go back out and drive on the beach.  Once we were down we were able to see that the driving side of the beach was packed but their was the area that they couldn't drive to that had barely anybody at.  So we went back to the car to get our stuff and we were off.  I just can't say how beautiful it was.  The inlet was on one side of the Jetty and the ocean on the other.  The boardwalk ended in a jetty that you could climb out on and fish off of.

We spent quite a few hours playing in the water, throwing the frisbee around and exploring the little slice of heaven that we had found.  Around 2:00 we decided that we were going to call the beach a day and headed to the car to put our stuff away.  Back at the parking area there were restrooms and beach showers so we were able to leave the sand at the beach and not in my car. 

We drove down the street a little and headed towards the Ponce Lighthouse.  This lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in Florida with it's 205 steps to the top.  It is only $5.00 for adults and children are $1.50.  We all made it to the top.  I am not sure how I did it, my legs were killing me already half way up. Coming down is definitely much easier.

Our day of fun in the sun with a little Florida history cost us a whopping $26.00 (plus snacks and gas).  It was so worth it and I think Ponce Inlet is now my favorite beach.

If you are interested in artistic pictures of the lighthouse, please visit my friend Christy Buonomo's blog.