| The consummate Florida beach town, with its T-shirt shops, amusement arcades and wall-to-wall motels,
DAYTONA BEACH
owes its existence to twenty miles of light brown sand where the only pressure is to strip off and enjoy yourself. Once a favorite Spring Break destination when half a million college kids would indulge in underage drinking and libido liberation, Daytona Beach now discourages such activity, leaving it free to focus on its true love: motor sports. Life in this down-to-earth resort now revolves around three major festivals: February's
Daytona 500, Bike Week
in early March, and the relatively new
Biketoberfest
.
Pioneering auto enthusiasts, including Louis Chevrolet, Ransom Olds and Henry Ford, came to Daytona's firm sands in the early 1900s to race prototype vehicles beside the ocean. The land speed record was smashed five times by the British millionaire Malcolm Campbell who, in 1935, roared along at 276mph. When high speeds made racing on the sands unsafe, the
Daytona International Speedway
, an ungainly configuration of concrete and steel, was built three miles west of downtown along International Speedway Boulevard (buses #9A and #9B).
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