Flagler Beach is what much of the Florida coast used to be like. The little town stretches along a narrow barrier island between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway, with a long, broad beach of hard-packed sand, low buildings, a pier and a laid-back, unhurried feel that the high-rise resorts to the south left behind long ago. The population is about five thousand, and it is a place where people still walk to the beach, fish from the pier and eat at small seafood restaurants. State Road A1A, the coastal highway, runs right along the shore, with the sea on one side and the town on the other, and it is one of the most relaxed roads in the state.
The county and the town are named for Henry Flagler, the oil magnate who built the Florida East Coast Railway down the peninsula in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and who developed the great hotels of St Augustine and Palm Beach. His railway opened the east coast to settlers and winter visitors, and a trace of it can still be seen inland. The pier, first built in the 1920s, has been damaged by hurricanes more than once and rebuilt, and it is a favourite place for fishing and for watching the sun come up over the water.
For riders, A1A is a gentle pleasure, a road of easy curves, with sea views, palm trees and sand blowing over the tarmac in places. The surface is generally good, though storms have eaten away at the dunes and the road in places, and the shoulders can be narrow. Traffic is moderate, thicker on weekends. Wind off the ocean can be strong, and sudden thunderstorms in summer arrive with huge rain and lightning, so keep an eye on the sky. Nesting sea turtles use the beaches in summer, and some areas are lit with turtle-friendly lights.
To the north, Marineland, which opened in 1938 and claims to be the world's first oceanarium, is close, and to the south lies Washington Oaks Gardens, with its shore of coquina rock and formal gardens. Fuel and supermarkets are available in the town and in Palm Coast, about fifteen kilometres away. Early morning is magical, with the light on the water and pelicans skimming the waves, and a cup of coffee on the pier is a fine way to start the day.