Smart Traveller

Today, we’re looking back at some of the best driving holiday posts on Smart Traveller. If you’re planning a car hire holiday to the U.S.A. for 2010, these should give you some ideas about great places to go.

USA Car Hire Holidays

• Route 66 - find out more about this legendary American highway.
• California Highway 1 - learn about one of America’s most scenic roads.
• The Florida Keys - explore U.S Highway 1 on a trip from Miami to Key West.
• The Blue Ridge Parkway - learn more about one of the most beautiful drives in the U.S.A.
• The Seward Highway - find out more about this National Scenic Byway in Alaska.

You can also read about Florida’s famous A1A Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway and the adjoining Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail in our in-depth series of posts:

• Florida’s A1A - Orlando to Ponte Vedra Beach
• Florida’s A1A - St. Augustine
• Florida’s A1A - St. Augustine to Flagler Beach
• Florida’s A1A - Flagler Beach
• Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail - Part 1
• Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail - Part 2
• Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail - Part 3

In the previous post in our series about  Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail, we looked at some of the things that you can see and do in Tomoka State Park, if you stop off there during your Florida car hire holiday. In this post, we look at some of the attractions further along the route.

Once you’ve explored Tomoka State Park, if you head south and then drive across the Granada Bridge, you’ll arrive at Ormond Beach. The city has a number of attractions, and there are also hotels, shopping malls and restaurants, so it’s a great place to stay for a few days.

Ormond Beach is known as “the birthplace of speed”, as it was here that the automobile races that were the forerunners to NASCAR racing took place  more than a century ago. In 1906, Fred Marriott set the land-speed record for a steam-driven car in the Stanley Rocket on the sands of Ormond Beach, a record that still stands today. Although the racing later moved to Daytona, there are still many racing-related events held in Ormond Beach in order to celebrate its history and you can drive on the beach for a small fee.

Historic attractions in Ormond Beach include The Casements (25 Riverside Drive, Ormond Beach), which was the winter home of John D. Rockerfeller between 1918 and his death in 1937. The Casements was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and was later bought by the City of Ormond Beach for use as a cultural centre. The building is currently undergoing extensive renovations.

Other attractions in Ormond Beach include the Ormond Memorial Art Museum and Gardens (78 E. Granada Boulevard, Ormond Beach, Florida). The museum holds regular temporary art exhibitions and you can also explore the gardens. There is a parking lot at the south end of the gardens, so you can leave your hire car there while you are visiting the museum.

If you fancy wandering around the shops, head for one of the city’s shopping centres and malls, which include Trails Shopping Center (300 N, Nova Road, Ormond Beach, Florida). There are many restaurants in Ormond Beach, including La Crepe En Haut Restaurant (Fountain Square, 142 E. Granada Boulevard, Ormond Beach), which specialises in French Nouvelle Cuisine, and the Charlie Horse Restaurant (810 South Atlantic Avenue, Ormond Beach, Florida), which is known for its “all-you-can-eat” crab legs specials.

Ormond Beach’s hotels include The Cove on Ormond Beach (145 S. Atlantic Avenue, Ormond Beach, Florida) and the Jameson Inn (175 Interchange Boulevard, Ormond Beach, Florida).

Once you’ve explored Ormond Beach, head north along the coast road back to Flagler Beach via the small town of Ormond by the Sea to complete your tour of the Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail.

Image: Ebyabe

In the previous post in this series, we looked at some of the things that you can see and do in Bulow Creek State Park, on the first part of Florida’s Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail. In this post, we look at some of the other attractions you can see if you follow this trail on your Florida car hire holiday.

Once you’ve explored Bulow Creek State Park, head south along Old Dixie Highway in your hire car and you’ll arrive at the entrance for Tomoka State Park. The park covers about 1,800 acres of land and there are more than 100 campsites there, so you can take a break from your rental car and spend a night in the great outdoors.

Tomoka State Park is a paradise for nature lovers. More than 165 species of bird have been spotted in the park, including pelicans, herons, loons, cormorants, cranes, vultures, bald eagles, hawks, kestrels, woodpeckers, hummingbirds and owls. There are also more than 150 species of plant in the park.

The Tomoka River runs through the park, which is on a peninsula, to the Tomoka Basin, and you may be lucky enough to catch sight of West Indian Manatees, bottlenose dolphins, river otters or American alligators in the water.

You can hire a canoe or kayak from the park store and explore the rivers and creeks, or go fishing in the Tomoka River for fish such as tarpon and spotted sea trout. Visitors to Florida need a license in order to go fishing, but you can get one from bait shops and shops selling sports equipment.

There is also a 0.5 mile nature trail in the park, which will take you to the site on which Nocoroco, a Timucuan Indian Village, once stood.

We’ll take a look at more things to see and do on the Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail in the next post in this series.

Image: moultriecreek