Daytona is probably better known for its The International Speedway, the undisputed international center of racing. Its reputation for this began when early speedsters revved up their engines to race along the sands of Daytona Beach. Today the International Speedway keeps up the tradition, with events nearly every weekend.

Further south, you come to Cape Canaveral and the "Space Coast," as it's called here, where NASA makes its cosmic home and houses its engines of a different kind of speed. A museum, IMAX visual spectaculars and tours of the Kennedy Space Center allow you a look into the other side of those fiery, exciting launches you always see on TV.

Ready to hit those beaches? In Daytona, the beach can have two different personalities, depending on the season. During summer, it tends to be covered with t-shirt vendors, wet t-shirt contests and hormone crazed college and high school kids with bronzed-and-beautiful-bikini-bodies. Only high energy, ready-to-party types need apply. In the winter, Daytona takes on a decidedly sedate pace, with beach combing being the most strenuous activity you're likely to engage in.

Daytona Beach is also the home of some nice museums. (Museums are a generally undiscovered way to beat the summer heat. Tuck a visit or two into your schedule!) The Museum of Arts and Sciences is located on the 60-acre Tuscawilla Park Reserve and has extensive exhibits on the history of Florida and Cuban art, as well as a beautiful sculpture garden and nature trails. The collection of Cuban artworks, donated by a former Cuban dictator who exiled in the Daytona area for many years, spans 200 years of Cuban history.