For art lovers, the Daytona Beach area in Florida offers museums and galleries with artistic styles for every taste. Now, visitors to the area can take in outdoor artworks too — because in Daytona Beach and some of the surrounding cities and towns murals line the streets.
Daytona Beach Mural Trail with 18 murals (and growing) sprinkled throughout the region, you don’t have to venture far to take in one of these public displays of art. Here are some of the highlights that can be found in the Daytona Beach area:
BEACHSIDE
Crabby Joe’s: Found on the Sunglow Pier in Daytona Beach, this popular oceanfront (or, more accurately, over-the-ocean) seafood restaurant serves up fresh catches daily. Visitors can also catch fish-out-of-water scenes on its exterior walls, which are adorned with a mural depicting marine creatures such as sharks, alligators, pelicans and crabs grabbing their favorite libations and a bite to eat at a beachside tiki bar.
Boondocks: This restaurant found just south of Daytona Beach in Wilbur by the Sea specializes in fresh seafood, offers splendid views of the Halifax River and sits just blocks from the Atlantic Ocean.
Crabby’s Oceanside: This Daytona Beach seafood restaurant is a great place to take in some amazing ocean views, along with some of the ocean’s tastiest, fresh-caught bounty. It’s also a great place to take in a magnificent mural sporting a beach scene that celebrates the “World’s Most Famous Beach” while incorporating its surf- and speed-soaked history.
Henry’s Pizza: This Daytona Beach pizza joint located on East International Speedway Boulevard is a great place to grab a flame-grilled pie, along with an eyeful of art.
Along Main Street: You’ll find a pair of all-American murals, including a huge, waving-in-the-wind American flag on an exterior wall at Neptune’s Sports Pub and a scene depicting an oceanfront Harley-Davidson with a bald eagle flying overhead on the wall outside the Biker’s Pride clothing outlet.
DOWNTOWN
While strolling in the Beach Street area in downtown Daytona, keep an eye out for art. Murals can be found in a number of spots here, including:
-In the alley running alongside the Ichi Ni San Thai-Japanese Fusion restaurant, where a colorful sun, an out-of-this world planetary scene and sharks swimming through an underwater forest adorn an exterior wall.
-Along Myrtle Avenue, where a goddess holding a sun in her hand stands alongside a night scene depicting a swan flying past a full moon, a silhouetted unicorn and an onlooking eye in the sky.
-On the side of the Warren Harding Building, where what looks like a box of animal crackers holds fanciful creatures such as a jackalope, a unicorn, an Ewok from the Star Wars series and a Luck Dragon from The Never Ending Story.
AROUND TOWN
One Daytona: Two murals can be found at ONE DAYTONA, the area’s newest shopping/dining/entertainment complex located directly across the street from the world-famous Daytona International Speedway at the north entrance to The Daytona hotel. The first depicts a beach scene filled with sun-seekers, surfers and on-the-sand drivers. The other depicts the evolution of racing from the sands of Daytona Beach to the track at Daytona International Speedway.
Ormond Beach: Murals abound downtown including an exterior wall of Frame of Mind, an exterior wall at 31 Supper Club restaurant and lounge that boasts an unmistakable 1930s speakeasy vibe, Grind Gastropub and Kona Tiki Bar, offering an array of fine food and drink, is home to some magnificent murals, and across the street, Ormond Garage has a mural on its back outdoor patio that offers a glimpse into the area’s earliest automotive history going back to the 1900s.
About the Daytona Beach Area
Experience iconic beaches and endless adventures in Daytona Beach, a destination comprised of eight distinct communities offering visitors the perfect beach base camp to explore East Central Florida. Choose thrilling activities or embrace the tranquility of days spent on 23 miles of world-famous white-sand beaches. With approximately 12,000 beds, the destination boasts accommodations for all lifestyles and budgets from 4-star resorts to brand-name hotels to boutique independent properties to campgrounds, and everything in between.
More information about these and other murals is in the Ultimate Daytona Beach Trail Guide, your guide to the most beloved car-, craft- and culture-themed attractions, iconic places and photo-worthy spots in the Daytona Beach area. Plan your stay here.
Photos courtesy of TravMedia/daytonabeach.com
