The Travel Channel had the top ten Florida beaches on last night. I think Siesta Key was number 2. I really want to see it some day. Most on the Orlando Board recommend the Gulf, but it's about an extra hour. Here's some info I gave to someone on the Univ board awhile back for St Augustine and Daytona. Daytona Beach was number 10 on the show. Hope it helps.
St Augustine
Besides the guided city tours, haunted tours and the "oldest" school, house, jail...everything tours, LOL, and the great shopping in the quaint stores along the cobble stone streets, we've done
The Alligator Farm which is fun. We liked Gator Land in Orlando a little more.
http://www.alligatorfarm.com/
We've done this chocolate factory tour. It's free and only takes about 45 minutes.
http://www.whetstonechocolates.com/
Loved this winery. They had some wonderful homemade grape juice for the kids too.
http://www.sansebastianwinery.com/
We haven't taken the lighthouse tour yet, but it looks like one of the most picturesque ones.
http://www.staugustinelighthouse.com/
Marine Land is now closed, and that's a good thing. Hopefully they will refurbish it. It has a lot of neat history, but it was not worth the money.
This cruise was a blast. We saw some dolphins and the captain let ds steer the boat for quite awhile.
http://www.scenic-cruise.com/
There are tons of neat little restaurants in town, but one of our favorites is Harry's, it's a lot like Pat O'Brian's. We like to sit in the courtyard.
http://www.hookedonharrys.com/
Creekside Dinery has great seafood and a nice outside deck with a fire pit. Owned by the same people as Salt Water Cowboys, but this place seems a little less touristy.
http://www.creeksidedinery.com/rest.html
The Oasis is a casual place, good for breakfast
http://www.worldfamousoasis.com/
The Sunset Grill is pretty good
http://www.sunsetgrillea1a.com/
My favorite is The Beachcomer, which doesn't have a website, but it's an itty bitty barefoot picnic table type of place right on the beach, and it's a fun place to get some oysters or peel and eat shrimp.
My in-laws just moved from there and we used to stay with them, so I can't really recommend a hotel. There are some great looking B&B's in the heart of the city, but if you wanted to stay on the beach, I'd recommend a condo. It seems like most of the hotels are across the street from the beach. We did stay at Anastasia condos once and they were nice.
http://www.staugustine.com/visit/ac...s/lodging.shtml
Daytona Beach
We've only been during off season. I don't think I'd want to go during speedweek or springbreak, especially with kids.
For hotels, I'd ONLY recommend the Hilton
http://www.daytonahilton.com/contactus.htm
and the Ocean Walk Resort, which has 2 indoor pools and the outdoor pool has a lazy river, a slide and a great kiddie pool with it's own slides and tunnels, etc. (We should be checking in tomorrow at this time, can't wait!)
http://www.oceanwalk.com/
which has the Ocean Walk village connected to it with restaurants and a movie theater. It's so nice to have everything within walking distance.
http://www.oceanwalkvillage.com/home.html
The speedway is fun. It has been awhile, but we loved taking the tour where you get to go on the track and walk on the bank
http://www.daytonaintlspeedway.com/
We're going to go to the Marine Science Center nice and small, easy with little ones. The casual guided tour was great, only about $5 to get in, really worth it.
http://echotourism.com/msc/
A Chocolate Factory tour we haven't tried yet.
http://www.angellandphelps.com/
The lighthouse at Ponce Inlet is neat
http://www.ponceinlet.org/
and there is a nice restaurant there called Down the Hatch where you can watch sailboats and the most beautiful sun sets and another called The Inlet Harbor
http://www.inletharbor.com/
We love to just walk around the board walk, eat taffy, ride the go-carts, play in the arcades and sit on the pier at the outdoor restaurant. It has that tacky old carnival feel to it, but it's fun. There's music on the weekends at the BandShell next to the pier, but we've always missed it.
http://virtualvolusia.com/Pier1.html
http://www.bandshell.org/
There is a new water park that just opened that we haven't been to yet
http://daytonalagoon.com/
There's also a dog track there. When we go with extended family, the guys like to get together and go. It's a little seedy, LOL.
http://www.dbkennelclub.com/information.htm
Our favorite restaurant is the Ocean Deck. It has a great view of the ocean.
http://www.oceandeck.com/
The Oyster Pub is a sports bar, great for snacks, and if you're looking for somewhere to watch your "can't miss" football game. (They have a room and big screen just for Steelers fans, it's a blast!) The website is under construction
http://www.oysterpub.com/
For breakfast Steve's Famous Diner is good, and
http://www.billys-tap.com/ is awesome! A little pricey, about $100 for the 3 of us, but worth it.
http://www.auntcatfish.com/ is a casual kid friendly place with really yummy country style comfort food.
Whew! Like I mentioned, we just tack on a day or two. Dh isn't a big theme park person, and I just can't see going to Florida without having some seafood and feeling the sand between my toes.
Have fun planning!
.
