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Ormond Beach Florida Vacation Pictures

This is part of an 18 week, 7,532 mile, Vanabode road trip detailed in the book from Amazon
titled Big City Wild Country East Coast Road Trip on $20 a Day for just $2.99
See East Coast Road Trip for more pictures, itinerary, maps and trip overview.

Ormond Beach Florida Vacation Pictures  |  Travel Information

Ormond Beach has a lot of history dating back to the mid 1700's. Staring as a British colony with rice and indigo plantations, to being owned by Spain and then becoming a U.S. territory in 1981. The Seminole Indian war took place in 1835 over the freedom of movement and hunting and fishing grounds. Sugar and cotton plantations were destroyed, the railroad line was built and cars raced on the beach. Rum runners brought alcohol by boat during prohibition and the world's richest man spent the winters in Ormond Beach.

Above: Picture of the Ormond Hotel that was opened in 1888 and built by John Anderson and J. D. Price. It was then bought by railroad magnate Henry Flagler who added on to it to accommodate 600 more guests. John D. Rockefeller visited the hotel in 1914 renting an entire floor for him and his staff. After four years of wintering in Ormond Rockefeller bought the Casements.

Above: Picture of the original Cupola from the Ormond Beach Hotel in Fortunato Park.

Above: This picture is taken on the scenic route in Ormond beach. This is not a sidewalk but a one way street that we were riding our bikes on. Magnificent live oak trees and sabal palms living harmoniously for years between the Halifax River and the Atlantic Ocean. The Ormond Beach Scenic Route starts at The Casements and is only one mile in length before ending at the busier Halifax Dr. and continues along the Halifax River.

Above: I think this might be the first time I've ever seen an oak tree form a hole in the trunk. This hole in the oak can be easy to miss but can be seen along on the scenic drive in Ormond Beach.

Ormond Scenic Loop & Trail is a little over 33 miles total. On different days we drove through some of this and rode our bikes along other parts. We spent a few hours at Bulow Creek State Park hiking a little over three miles. A very easy hike, more like a walk through the forest. The trails are cleared and wide, either blanketed with fallen leaves, pine needles or sand. And because this is Florida and the trail does parallel salt marshes I suggest mosquito spray or long pants and long sleeves. The best months of the year to hike here is November through March when it is comfortable to be outside and bugs are at their minimum.

Above: Picture of me standing in front of Fairchild Oak. It is approximately 400 years old and has withstood hurricanes, fires, droughts and wars.

Bulow Creek State Park has one of the oldest Live Oaks known. It is called the Fairchild Oak. Its easy to find and you can walk up to it but can't climb on it. A few limbs have grown down to the ground and then curved back up, some are long and jet out horizontally. Spanish moss hangs from every branch. We got there at about 10 am on a weekday. It was quiet and cool. We found that people were quick to visit and take pictures before driving on. From the parking lot of the old oak tree are two hiking trailheads. One is the Whaler Trail a very quick circle through the trees, about 10 minutes start to finish. The other is the long 6.8 mile Bulow Creek trail. We only hiked to Clam Island and back to the Vanabode, probably 3 miles total. We then drove through the park and across on High Bridge Road stopping twice to take pictures. The drawbridge was up and two sailboats were coming through on their passage south for the winter.

Above: Picture of sailboat going under draw bridge on a very narrow section of the Halifax River. October is probably the busiest month for boating snowbirders to sail south through the Intracoastal Waterway.

Above: Picture taken at Fortunato Park on the Halifax River across from the Ormond Hotel. There is a lot of green grass here to kick a soccer ball around and let the kids play on the playground. Or just sit on a bench facing the river and watch the boats sail by.

Click Daytona Beach camping details for more information and pictures.

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