Blue sky meets 13 miles of white sand at New Smyrna Beach, consistently voted one of Florida’s “Best Beaches” by a variety of publications.
Driving on New Smyrna is a tradition that dates back to the earliest days of the automobile. This past Sunday, Maggie and I took our first leisurely cruise on the wide, hard-packed sands. Of course, I had to lean out the passenger window for photos. 🙂
New Smyrna lies at the mouth of the Indian River, 5miles from a rocky ledge (in the Atlantic Ocean) that creates steep, wedging waves that break near its inlet. Despite being off-season, hundreds of cars lined this laid-back surfing outpost, so we banged a U-ey, and headed south:
As you can see, clouds were forming in the southwest, beginning a slow build toward the late-day downpour typical of Florida’s east coast.
Realizing we wouldn’t find a good parking spot on the sand, we decided to exit onto Flagler Avenue, a quaint seaside strip of restaurants and shoppes. Finding a way off the beach is easier said than done, though! We kept driving….
and driving…but when we finally reached the Flagler “exit” it was just another one way egress! (click on pic below for an enlarged view of the entrance ramp)
So we forged on:
Finally, beyond this next group of entrepreneurs, we found the way out:
Seeing the huge “Food” sign reminded us we’d skipped breakfast! We wound our way back to Chuckeyta’s Surfing Sea Monkey Shack, the best little coffeeshop on Flagler.
We ordered two Jamaica Me Crazy coffees and enjoyed the wonderfully air-conditioned interior. For those who don’t mind the heat, outdoor porch seating is also available:
There’s more I’d love to show you about New Smyrna, but my smartphone died as we left the coffeeshop! On our next trip there, I hope to visit the historic Little Drug Co., a 100yr old drugstore with a real, working soda fountain, and the old Egyptian-styled canals that date back to British colonization in 1768. New Smyrna Beach was recently placed on a list of the ‘100 Best Small Art Towns in America’ so there are galleries to explore and a Surf Film Festival to attend this Fall and again next Spring.
So much to see and do!
Until next time……
🙂 🙂 🙂
Related articles
- Paddleboarders fight waves off NSB in benefit race (news-journalonline.com)
- Five beaches we love (orlandoweekly.com)
- New Smyrna Beach! (jrcsingstar.wordpress.com)
12 thoughts on “Let me tell you about New Smyrna Beach!”
Comments are closed.
small house/BIG GARDEN 
yay!! NSB (as those in the know say) is such a gem 🙂 such a fun day out!
it was! we have to go back to see those canals…and I read there’s a Timucuan totem pole somewhere around, too! That would be well worth a look!
Is this what they refer to as cruising the beach front…
absolutely!
We watched the same trucks cruise back and forth, sometimes with girls sitting on the open tailgates. hahahahaha! gives new meaning to the term “pickup truck!”
I would rather walk the beach than drive, but it looks like a fun place to be!
It really is a fun place. the little town is so quaint!
When we lived in Florida, we used to go to New Smyrna Beach. We stayed at the River View Inn, it used to be a nice little place to stay. It looks like the little town has grown since our last visit.
Your favorite inn is still there and looked busy! We passed it several times in our travels and noticed lots of activity there!
Wonderful photos. Although being in Florida thrice, we have not visited Smyrna beach. I love the tour thru Your photos.
Thank you, Sartenada. 🙂 what cities did you visit when you were here?
Also recommend Treats on the Beach (which is actually on Flagler Ave but close to the beach) – soft serve in just about any flavor you can think of and regular ice cream as well.
we were lucky enough to get a parking space right in front of Treats on the Beach! The place was packed with people!
We will def be going in, next visit!