Daytona Beach is most famous for the Daytona 500, and it can be easy to forget that it is a beach town with plenty going on year round, and that an awful lot of those goings on have absolutely nothing to do with NASCAR. One of the most fun things to do when visiting Daytona Beach is the epic flea and farmers market, which has more than 1000 stalls. Yes, you can pick up organic veggies and all kinds of local produce, which is great, but what interested me was all the quirky other stuff on sale there.
Wandering the aisles of the market, it feels like you could find absolutely anything you desired there, if only you knew where to look, or who to ask. Here you can get a tattoo or a haircut, pick up nunchucks, a bullet-proof vest, gun, wig, antiques or more junk than you could ever fit in your suitcase.
At one of the tattoo stalls (they actually do the tattoos out back in a trailer, but you pick your design from the flash on display there inside the market). I got chatting with Kenn Brian, a heavily tattoed 67 year old who drums up business for the tattooist, tell me that “Everyone comes to the flea market if they come to Daytona.” Just like everyone else I met there, Brian was super friendly, and only too happy to share tips about what to see there in Daytona Beach.
This place is huge, so give yourself plenty of time to explore, and runs every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.