85 Best Sights in Northeast Coast, Florida

The draw here is a natural saltwater spring where Atlantic blue crabs come to spawn each summer.

This sleepy little community just south of Patrick Air Force Base, about 15 miles south of Cocoa Beach on Route A1A, sits on a narrow barrier island with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Indian River lagoon on the other. Its beach is protected by dunes, and sea turtles flock here to lay their eggs. A popular spot for family vacations because of its slow pace and lack of crowds, Satellite Beach has several beachfront parks with playgrounds, pavilions, and picnic facilities. One park, which teaches visitors about the importance of the dune system, has boardwalks that meander over the dunes to the beach. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; parking; showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: sunrise; surfing; swimming; walking.

Like Main Beach to the north and Peters Point to the south, Seaside Park allows limited beach driving if you have a permit, but beware—vehicles here frequently get stuck and have to be towed. There are several pavilions with picnic tables and dune walkovers to the beach. It's a great place to fish or to ride bikes at low tide. Bikes and other beach equipment can be rented at The Beach Store and More, right across from the park. Also nearby, Sliders Seaside Grill is a venerable oceanfront restaurant where you can enjoy food and drinks inside or at the tiki bar overlooking the beach, often with live music. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards (seasonal); parking (no fee); showers; toilets. Best for: surfing; swimming; walking.

In this park, on a barrier island at the northernmost tip of New Smyrna Beach peninsula, 1½ miles of boardwalks leading to beaches and a fishing jetty crisscross sand dunes and delicate vegetation. Botanical signs identify the flora, and there are picnic tables and an information center. It's also one of the few county parks where pets are allowed (on leashes, that is).

Founded in 1893, the Alligator Farm is one of Florida's oldest (and, at times, smelliest) zoological attractions and is credited with popularizing the alligator in the national consciousness and helping to fashion an image for the state. In addition to oddities like Maximo, a 15-foot, 1,250-pound saltwater crocodile, and a collection of rare albino alligators, the park is also home to Land of Crocodiles, the only place in the world to see 24 species of living crocodilians.

Traversing the treetops in Crocodile Crossing is an inventive, ambitious, and expensive course with more than 50 rope and other challenges and 17 zip lines. In many places, a thin cable is all that keeps you from becoming croc cuisine. The shorter Sepik River course (nine zip lines) is cheaper. Reptiles are the main attraction, but there's also a wading-bird rookery, an exotic-birds and mammals exhibit, a python cave, and nature trails. Educational presentations are held throughout the day, and kids love the wild-animal shows.

Just south of Anastasia State Park, this beach has a livelier setting, thanks to the restaurants, bars, and shops along Beachfront Avenue and the 4-acre St. Johns County Ocean Pier Park. The park offers a playground, small splash park, sand volleyball courts, a covered pavilion, and a Wednesday-morning farmers' market. From May to September, Music by the Sea concerts are offered for free. Speaking of free, the beach doesn't charge a fee, but the popular fishing pier does ($6 fishing pass, $2 pier pass for spectators). In addition, there are some areas designated for driving on the beach. Amenities: lifeguards (seasonal); parking (no fee); showers; toilets. Best for: swimming.

The first commercial block ice in Florida was made in this building over 100 years ago. Today, the structure has been transformed into a craft distillery that makes small batches of bourbon, rum, gin, and vodka using locally sourced ingredients. A self-guided tour takes you through the distilling process and provides insight on the operation's partnerships with small area farms. Samples during the tour include cocktails such as the Florida Mule and New World Gin and Tonic. A gift shop sells bottles of spirits, as well as bar gadgets and accessories.

It's unusual to find a lighthouse tucked into a residential neighborhood. This 1874 version replaced an earlier one built when the city was founded in 1565. Although its beacon no longer guides ships, it does draw thousands of visitors each year, in part because it has a reputation for being haunted.

The visitor center has a museum featuring an exhibit called Wrecked, which displays artifacts from an 1872 British loyalist shipwreck discovered off the shores of St. Augustine. You can also see exhibits on the U.S. Coast Guard, historic boatbuilding, maritime archaeology, and the life of a lighthouse keeper—whose work involved far more than light housekeeping.

You have to climb 219 steps to reach the top, 140 feet up, but the wonderful view and fresh ocean breeze are well worth it. Children must be at least 44 inches tall to make the ascent. The museum also conducts evening Dark of the Moon Paranormal tours ($25) and one-hour Lighthouse Keeper's tours ($19.95) for a history lesson and behind-the-scenes look at the keeper's role.

Inside this small museum established by entrepreneur and motivational speaker Pat Croce is a collection of more than 800 pirate artifacts, including one of only two Jolly Rogers (skull-and-crossbone flags) known to have actually flown above a ship. Exhibits include a mock-up of a tavern, a captain's quarters, and a ship's deck.

You'll learn about the lives of everyday and famous pirates, their navigation techniques, their weaponry, and the concoctions they drank (including something called Kill Devil, which is rum mixed with gunpowder). You'll get to touch an actual treasure chest; see piles of gold, jade, emeralds, and pearls; and leave knowing full well that there were pirates before Captain Jack Sparrow.

Founded in 1858, the church is a Gothic Revival structure with Tiffany-glass-style memorials and a turn-of-the-20th-century L.C. Harrison organ with magnificent hand-painted pipes.

This 10,000-square-foot Victorian mansion, built in 1886 for hatmaker and philanthropist John B. Stetson, is regarded as Florida's first luxury home. Though the mansion is now a private residence, tours allow you to marvel at the wood parquet floors, intricate interior carvings, and 10,000 panes of original leaded glass windows. You'll also learn about the Gilded Age mansion's rich history, including famous visitors and a "contractor" named Thomas Edison, who installed his friend Stetson's electricity. In November and December, the mansion is decked out with one of the most elaborate Christmas decoration displays in the country.

These parks, including Big and Little Talbot islands, have 17 miles of gorgeous beaches, sand dunes, and golden marshes that hum with migratory birds and native waterfowl. Come to picnic, fish, swim, snorkel, or camp. Little Talbot Island, one of the state's few undeveloped barrier islands, has river otters, marsh rabbits, raccoons, alligators, and gopher tortoises. Canoe and kayak rentals are available, and the north area is considered the best surfing spot in northeast Florida. A 4-mile nature trail winds across Little Talbot, and there are several smaller trails on Big Talbot.

Don't judge a book by its cover: what's inside this very ordinary-looking building is extraordinary. Operated mostly through the efforts of an enthusiastic team of volunteers, the museum has an impressive collection of memorabilia and aircraft from World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam and more recent conflicts, as well as extensive displays of vintage military flying gear and uniforms. There are posters that were used to help identify Japanese planes, plus a Huey helicopter and the cockpit of an F-106 that you can sit in. In the north hangar a group of dedicated aviation volunteers busily restores old planes. It's an inspiring sight, and a good place to hear some war stories. In the spring the museum puts on the Tico Warbird Airshow, featuring fighter and bomber aircraft that formerly flew in combat around the world. The lobby gift shop sells real flight suits, old flight magazines, bomber jackets, books, models, and T-shirts.

This beach, just 2 miles north of St. Augustine, is sandwiched between the Tolomato River and the Atlantic. In the 1920s, it was home to the Grand Vilano Casino, which was destroyed by a hurricane in 1937. Until recently, Vilano Beach had deteriorated into a small, somewhat run-down area, though with a laid-back, '60s, surf vibe. Now, however, it's home to stores and restaurants, the Vilano Beach Fishing Pier, and other community improvements. A Hampton Inn & Suites is within a few minutes' walk. The beach has some nice breakers for surfing—skimboarding is also popular—but strong currents sometimes make it dangerous for swimming. It's also one of the few beaches on which you can still drive a car. Amenities: lifeguards (seasonal); showers; toilets. Best for: solitude; surfing; walking.

By day this historic pier is a good place to stroll—if you don't mind weatherworn wood and sandy, watery paths—and watch surf competitions, as the water here is a popular surf spot. By night visitors and locals—beach bums and surfers among them—head here to party. Weekends see live music.  The pier is also a great place to view launches from Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral.

To look at a marvelous Venetian Renaissance–style structure, head to this church, built by Flagler in 1889 as a memorial to his daughter Jenny, who died during childbirth. In addition to Jenny, this is the final resting place for Flagler himself; his first wife, Mary; and their granddaughter Marjorie. The dome of this stunning sanctuary towers more than 100 feet and is topped by a 20-foot Greek cross.

This once-dated attraction continues to undergo a major rejuvenation. There are still fun elements from the original "Old Florida" (admittedly somewhat kitschy), but there's much that's new and exciting, too. The timing is appropriate—in 2013, the park celebrated the 500th anniversary of Ponce de León's arrival. The 15-acre waterfront site is also the location where Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, in 1565, established the first and oldest continuous European settlement in what's now the United States. Excavations have also shown it was the site of a Franciscan mission to the Timucuan Indians. The park includes a replica of the mission, a Timucuan village and burial grounds, a boatyard in which a 16th-century-style boat is being constructed, and a three-story watchtower with broad, panoramic vistas of the bay, inlet, and Mendez Settlement field. Other highlights include cannon firings; a working blacksmith shop; Navigators Planetarium; a gift shop; a small, elegant café; and the springhouse where you can still quench your thirst from "the fountain of youth."

This historical building has been a hospital, a courthouse, a customs house, a post office, and, during the American Revolution, the home of the British governors. And it was from here, in 1821, that the Spanish governor ceded control of East Florida to the United States to conclude 256 years of colonial control. After a major renovation, the building reopened in 2013 and features revolving exhibits. A shop on-site sells history-related souvenirs and a wide selection of books.

The world's first oceanarium was constructed in 1938, 18 miles south of St. Augustine. This National Register of Historic Places designee, now part of the Georgia Aquarium, has come a long way from marine film studio to theme park to its current iteration as dolphin research, education, and entertainment center. The formal dolphin shows are history, but you can have a far more memorable experience with interactive programs that allow you to swim with and feed the animals or become a dolphin trainer for a day. Programs start from a simple "touch-and-feed" option and are as elaborate as a super-expensive "trainer for a day." General admission allows you to observe the dolphins through 6-foot-by-10-foot acrylic windows. The 1.3-million-gallon facility is home to 13 dolphins, and until 2014 the park housed Nellie, the longest-lived dolphin in human care until her death at the age of 61. A new calf, Coquina, was born shortly after Nellie's death. Other exhibits feature native Florida marine life such as tarpon, sharks, spotted eagle rays, and giant sea turtles, as well as historical artifacts dating back to the park's inception as a nautical movie studio.

The site, north of the Historic District, commemorates where America's first mass was celebrated. A 208-foot-tall stainless-steel cross (purportedly the world's tallest) allegedly marks the spot where the mission's first cross was planted in 1565. Also on the property is the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, the first shrine devoted to Mary in the United States. The landscape is exquisitely maintained, and the mission is crisscrossed with paths. A museum and gift shop are also on the property.

Known as the Gonzalez-Alvarez House, Florida's oldest surviving Spanish-colonial dwelling is a National Historic Landmark. The current site dates from the early 1700s, but there's been a structure here since the early 1600s. Much of the city's history is seen in the building's modifications and additions, from the coquina blocks—which came into use to replace wood soon after the town burned in 1702—to the house's enlargement during the British occupation. The complex also includes the Manucy Museum; the Page L. Edwards Gallery and its rotating exhibits; a gift shop; and an ornamental garden.

This tiny 18th-century building of cypress and cedar served not only as a schoolhouse but also as a tearoom, a farmhouse, and a guardhouse and sentry shelter during the Seminole Wars. In 1939, members of the Class of '64 (1864, that is) dressed out the school as they remembered it, and today automated mannequins instruct you on the education of 150 years ago. Apparently teachers had more leeway then because miscreants were given "time out" in a cubby beneath the stairs. And the heavy chain wrapped around the building? It was to hold the structure down during hurricanes. Kids will like the school bell and wishing well in the charming courtyard garden.

At the foot of the Bridge of Lions, this central area of the original settlement was laid out in 1598 by decree of Spain's King Philip II. At its core is a monument to the Spanish constitution of 1812, and at its east end is a portico dating from early American days. This is where products and, regrettably, people were sold, earning the area the twin names of "public market" and "slave market." Today, it's the gathering spot for holiday events, art shows, and evening concerts. Toward the bridge, look for the life-size statue of Ponce de León. The man who "discovered" Florida in 1513 was, apparently, all of 4'11".

The nation's first Ripley's museum is, appropriately enough, in a historic structure—Castle Warden, an 1887 Moorish Revival–style mansion. Like its younger siblings, this odditorium is packed with plenty of unusual items including Robert Ripley's personal collections; a mummified cat; a death mask of Abraham Lincoln; a scale model of the original Ferris Wheel created from an Erector set; and life-size models of Robert Wadlow, the world's tallest man, and Robert Hughes, the world's fattest man.

Built as a merchant's house and store in 1798, the place became a boardinghouse in the 1800s and has been restored to look like it did during its inn days—romantic yet severe, with balconies that hearken back to Old Spain and sparely appointed rooms. Docents lead you around the property; be sure to look at the fascinating St. Augustine street scenes, painted in 1854 by an itinerant artist. Amazingly, much of what you see in the paintings is extant.