We have been to some quirky homes on this trip, including a house shaped like a mushroom, one like an UFO, and ones that have been decorated with lots of random items. This morning was our first time to see a container house on this trip: the Prince Road Container House south of St. Augustine was created out of shipping containers in 2017, after Hurricane Irma destroyed the family home of 30 years. It's a popular AirBnB place to stay, because it's quirky, but also constructed and designed in a very functional and elegant way! Thanks to how the containers have been positioned, there's a car parking space on the ground floor that's enveloped by the containers, and we could see that inside there's a lot of tasteful furniture and designs that would make it an attractive choice to stay at.
We passed a number of mailboxes shaped like dolphins and manatees (seems to be a popular mailbox choice in Florida), arriving at Fort Matanzas National Monument, which was built by the Spanish in 1740. What's unique about this fort is that we had to go on a brief ferry ride to get there (ferries start at 9.30am and are every hour until 3.30pm). It's recommended that ferry rides are reserved as spaces are limited, but it wasn't busy when we went, so we had no problem getting on the next ride (although parking is limited, and we just managed to fit in one spot for our RV).
One ranger drove the ferry across, which took only about 5 minutes or so, although it can apparently take longer during peak season because there can be a lot of other boats on the water, with people out fishing, paddling, and just enjoying time outdoors. But there was only one other couple that we'd spotted out on the water besides us, making our trip perfect given the warm and sunny weather conditions and serene atmosphere.
When we got off, the other ranger led us towards the fort (it's a short walk, we could see the fort already when we embarked on the ferry), who explained the history of the fort. Apparently it lay in disarray, abandoned for many years, before renovations began in the last century. The fort is also much shorter than it had originally been due to the rising sea levels, so they had to build up the surroundings otherwise it would basically have been underwater!
We then had ample time to explore the fort--climbing up a flight of stairs to get a view of our surroundings, with cannons on display facing the water. There was also a room to enter (which would have been the soldier's quarters), that had a ladder in the middle to go up to the top, and we had people taking turns ascending and descending as it only allowed for one person to use it a time. The area around us was green and lush, and it was a really peaceful and pretty view that we had from the fort.
While there wasn't much to see besides the fort, by the time we got back on the ferry and returned to the other side, we were surprised to note that the total tour took just under an hour! It was a different fort experience, and we enjoyed the whole experience.
Busy Daytona
We don't tend to include our errands in the blog (ie all the times we needed to fill up on petrol, dump grey/black water tanks, refill potable water, go grocery shopping, etc). But it's worth mentioning that we needed to go grocery shopping, and found a Trader Joe's store in Daytona, Florida. Trader Joe's is our absolute favorite grocery chain. Yes, it always has small parking lots, that are always teeming with people (making it even tough to find a spot in our RV). Yes, there are never any specials because Trader Joe's doesn't do sales. Yes, there are some items we can't get here which mean that we need to go to Walmart separately, which tends to have a more extensive and complete inventory. Yet in spite of all of this, we love Trader Joe's! The items are fun, there's always a seasonal item we're eager to try, and the cashiers are friendly. So, we go back again and again.
It turns out, however, that this Trader Joe's at Daytona Beach had just opened in the last couple of weeks. So while we found a parking spot fairly easily in a neighboring lot as Trader Joe's was surrounded by other stores (it is Florida, after all), even before we entered the store we could see it was absolute mayhem. There were no trolleys available, and Lisette had to go to a couple loading up their car and nab theirs. Then when we went in, it was like we were transported back to when people were armageddon shopping during the pandemic. People were rubbing shoulders, jostling elbows and bumping carts into each other in the cramped aisles. Items were flying off the shelves, while entire sections were completely empty of items. The vibe was frenetic and stressful. We didn't find everything on our shopping list, but we got all that we could find, and left! Apparently Trader Joe's couldn't keep up with the demand--two trucks had come by already delivering goods, and it still wasn't enough for everyone's insatiable desire to buy from the new Trader Joe's in the area.
After that experience, for some reason we chose to go to yet another busy chain, Buc-ees. There is no gas station like it--there are literally dozens of gas pumps, and the store inside is always swimming with people buying everything and anything in the store, from Buc-ee's t-shirts and other branded merchandise, to BBQ burgers, nuts, and other snacks. The restrooms are famous for being really generously sized and nice, so it's also a popular rest stop. We've been to Buc-ees in Texas so we knew the deal, but when we went to check out gas prices, they actually weren't as cheap as we expected them to be, so left.
Vroom, vroom
Similar to Indianapolis, Daytona is famous for car racing. Daytona is home of the Daytona 500, a 500-mile-long NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway. The next race is happening in February 2026, so when we went there the speedway was empty, and we didn't get much of a glimpse of it since it was closed. But we did what we could to take photos from the outside, as a memento of our visit.
We then drove towards the coast, arriving at Daytona Beach. There's a famous sign noting that Daytona is the "World's Most Famous Beach", and in the surrounding area it's similar to what we'd expect from a popular oceanside town in the US--cheap souvenir stores selling tacky t-shirts and the like, loud bars, and restaurants, etc. The stores and streets were rather empty since we weren't here in the peak summer season, but we did notice that Daytona was seedier than other beach towns we've visited; there are gentleman's clubs and the people walking around were homeless and looked like they'd been living rough. We didn't stick around for long after that, figuring that we'd stay in a different town overnight.
We drove south for about 45 miles (72 kilometers) or so, ending up at a Love's Travel Stop for the evening, next to other RVs who kept us company. It wasn't the quietest, but it was well lit and Love's always has a dog park for Sheila to walk around in, which is always good. Tomorrow, we don't have long to drive to get to Kennedy Space Center!