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To one of the few native Floridians remaining in our provisional peninsular paradise, there’s no better stretch of coast line in our state than Ponce Inlet, which offers the expansive white sandy beaches of neighboring Daytona but without the cars and crowds.

It’s Florida beaches the way they used to be. An added bonus is that you can take an even more nostalgic trip back in time and climb to the top of the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse — the tallest lighthouse in the Florida and the second-tallest in the country.

From the top of the 175-foot monument, you get a gull’s eye view of frolicking dolphins, lazing manatees and sun-baked surfers — a truly authentic Florida landscape painted in real time on the sugary white canvas of the most beautiful beach in the world.

Mike Bianchi is a sports columnist for the Orlando Sentinel.