Florida Roadside Attractions: The Space Shuttle External Tank

Florida Roadside Attractions: The Space Shuttle External Tank

The Space Shuttle Test Article, parked near a dock in Green Cove Springs, Florida
Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN

Roughly thirty minutes west of Saint Augustine and I-95 in Florida, a Space Shuttle relic sits abandoned in Green Cove Springs near a dock on the Saint Johns River. While not technically a “Florida roadside attraction”, many view it as a pretty neat thing to see…after all, it is NASA history.

Florida Roadside Attractions: World War II Watch Tower In Ormond-By-The-Sea

Florida Roadside Attractions: World War II Watch Tower In Ormond-By-The-Sea

Roadside Attractions: A summer thunderstorm approaches the beach and the WWII Watch Tower on August 13. 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now
A summer thunderstorm approaches the beach and the WWII Watch Tower on August 13. 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now

For the adventurer, Florida is full of lesser known beaches, parks, and roadside attractions. Only a few minutes off of I-95, a lonely tower sits on the beach in a residential part of Ormond-By-The-Sea as a lingering artifact of the Second World War. The Watch Tower, as it is called, is the last of its kind in Florida, and one of the few left from the over 15,200 similar structures on American coastlines.