Eighteen miles south of St. Augustine, 35 miles north of Daytona Beach, the original sea-creature amusement park, Marineland (daily except Tues.; $14; 904/460-1275) opened with a “splash” in 1938, and closed down suddenly in 1998, declaring bankruptcy after struggling for years to compete with the much-larger likes of Sea World and Disney World. Marineland, which is credited with the first performing dolphins (and with playing a key role in the sci-fi movie Creature From the Black Lagoon), reopened in 2005 on a much smaller scale, with an “edutainment” focus on offering intimate encounters with its famous dolphins.
Continuing along the coast south of Marineland, you start to see roadside fruit stands advertising “Indian River Fruit”—something you’ll see more of as you travel south. This stretch of Hwy-A1A, around the town of Flagler Beach, is also one of the few where you can actually see the ocean from the road.
