I grew up beachside in Ormond Beach, Florida, and every once in a while I see something—or realize I haven't seen something in a long time—that takes me straight back to childhood.
The Florida I grew up in had orange groves, old-school dune buggies cruising the beach, roadside boiled peanut stands, and more seashells than you could possibly carry home.
Some of these things haven't completely disappeared. I just don't see them the way I remember seeing them as a kid.
And a few of these memories sound almost unbelievable now.
So we're counting them down.
Here are 10 things I don't see anymore as a Florida native — Ormond Beach edition.
Let's start with something we definitely still have in Ormond Beach: pelicans.
But I remember SO MANY of them.
Growing up beachside, huge groups of pelicans seemed to constantly be flying along the coastline. They'd glide just above the water in those perfectly organized lines and then suddenly—
DIVE!
Straight into the ocean after a fish.
I still stop and watch when I see pelicans today, but the enormous groups I remember from childhood don't seem nearly as common.
Maybe my childhood memory has exaggerated their numbers over the years. If you're a longtime local, tell me: Do you remember more pelicans too?
This one isn't really nostalgia. It's simply something I remember from growing up along Florida's coast.
Cuban rafts used to wash onto our beaches.
As a child, I didn't fully understand what I was looking at.
They were homemade vessels—sometimes incredibly makeshift—that people had used in an attempt to cross the water from Cuba.
As an adult, I understand those memories very differently.
Those rafts weren't simply interesting things that washed ashore. They represented someone's dangerous journey and the hope that motivated them to attempt it.
It's one of those childhood memories that has stayed with me because I understand its significance so much more now than I did then.
My fellow old-Florida-house people are going to know this one immediately.
Jalousie windows.
Those horizontal glass slats with the little crank!
Turn the handle and every piece of glass tilted open, letting the Florida breeze come through the house.
Were they energy efficient?
Probably about as energy efficient as leaving your front door open. 😂
But they were EVERYWHERE in older Florida homes, especially beachside.
There was something about opening those windows and feeling the ocean breeze move through the house that just felt like Florida.
Every once in a while I'll still spot a house with the originals, and it instantly takes me back.
This is one I really miss.
I remember going to the beach and actually finding seashells.
And I'm not talking about walking half a mile and celebrating because you found one tiny shell that isn't broken.
We'd collect them!
You'd walk along the water looking down and come home with your favorites.
As a beachside kid, collecting shells was just part of going to the beach.
There are obviously still shells along Ormond and Daytona beaches today, but I don't remember having to work so hard to find them.
If you grew up here, I'd love to know whether you remember this too.
Okay, longtime Ormond Beach people...
PLEASE tell me somebody else remembers these.
I remember certain beach accesses having what felt like three entire levels of stairs going down to the beach.
Getting down was fantastic.
You're a kid. You see the ocean. You're running.
But coming back?
You've been swimming all day. You're sandy. You're tired. You're carrying towels, beach toys and whatever treasures you collected.
And now you've got to climb approximately 4,000 stairs.
At least that's how they felt when I was little.
Our dunes and beach accesses have changed tremendously over the years, but those giant staircases are permanently burned into my memories of growing up beachside.
Here's another one that suddenly popped into my head:
The beachside trolley.
It was simply part of beachside.
You'd see it traveling through the Ormond and Daytona Beach area, and as a kid, you didn't think there was anything particularly special about it.
Then you grow up.
Years go by.
And suddenly you think...
Wait. Whatever happened to the trolley?
It's funny how the completely ordinary pieces of your childhood can become the things that make you the most nostalgic later.
If you grew up around Ormond Beach or Daytona Beach, you might remember these.
Actual dune buggies cruising down the beach.
And I'm not talking about the Jeeps, SUVs and trucks we see today.
I'm talking about those unmistakable, open, old-school dune buggies.
Driving on the beach is still one of the things that makes the Daytona Beach area so unique. I love that this piece of our beach culture is still here.
But those old dune buggies?
I just don't see them like I used to.
When I picture the beach from my childhood, though, they're absolutely part of it.
This might be one of the most Florida things on the entire list.
You're driving down the road and suddenly there's a homemade sign:
BOILED PEANUTS
That's it.
That's the entire marketing department.
😂
You'd pull over and somebody had a giant pot going. You'd get your bag of hot boiled peanuts and be on your way.
No fancy storefront. No website. No social media.
Just somebody, a roadside stand and some really good peanuts.
You can still find boiled peanuts around Florida, but those little independent roadside stands don't seem nearly as common as I remember.
This one represents one of the biggest visual changes in the Florida I remember.
Orange groves were everywhere.
Before so many of the neighborhoods, businesses and roads we know today existed, there were rows and rows of citrus trees.
But the thing I remember almost as much as seeing them?
The smell.
Orange blossoms have a smell that's almost impossible to describe to someone who hasn't experienced an entire area filled with blooming citrus trees.
It was sweet, floral and unmistakably Florida.
There are still citrus groves in Florida, of course.
But the Ormond Beach area I knew as a kid had a lot more of them.
And every time I smell orange blossoms now, I'm immediately transported back.
And my number one is probably the one people have the hardest time believing.
Florida panthers.
When I was a kid, I remember riding the school bus and seeing a mama Florida panther with her cubs.
Think about that for a second.
I was sitting on a SCHOOL BUS...
looking out the window...
at a mama panther and her babies.
And as a kid, I didn't fully appreciate how incredible that was.
It wasn't a wildlife excursion.
Nobody bought a ticket.
It was simply part of the Florida landscape I knew.
Today, seeing a Florida panther in the wild would be an extraordinary experience.
Looking back, I'm incredibly grateful that I have that memory.
And of everything on this list, it's probably the one that reminds me most of just how different the Florida of my childhood was.
Okay.
I know I promised ten.
But I have one more question for my fellow Florida kids:
WHERE ARE ALL THE ROLLY POLLIES?!
I swear, when we were kids, you could turn over literally anything.
A rock.
A flowerpot.
A piece of wood.
There they were.
You'd touch one and...
BOOP.
Perfect little ball.
Maybe they're all still here and they've collectively decided to avoid me.
But I swear there were millions of them when I was a kid.
Here's the thing.
This isn't a “Florida was better back then” list.
Ormond Beach has grown. Florida has changed. Some changes have been wonderful, and others make me nostalgic for what used to be here.
But there's something special about living in your hometown long enough to remember what was there before.
I can drive past a neighborhood and remember an orange grove.
I can walk onto the beach and remember dune buggies.
I can look at today's beach accesses and remember those enormous stairs.
And sometimes I can still picture myself as that little beachside kid collecting seashells, completely unaware that one day I'd be sitting here talking about how much her hometown had changed.
That's part of why I created Live Ormond West.
I'm Nicole Comenole, a Florida native and local real estate broker, but I don't just want to show people houses.
I want to show people Ormond Beach.
The neighborhoods. The new construction. The local businesses. The history. The weird Florida stuff. And the little things you only really know after calling this place home.
I tell the stories behind all ten of these memories in my YouTube video:
10 Things I Don't See Anymore as a Florida Native — Ormond Beach Edition
https://youtu.be/PpSWmcuXuFk?si=CyLco1Yu_me6_APW
And now I want to hear yours.
If you grew up in Ormond Beach, Daytona Beach, or anywhere in Florida, what's something you remember from your childhood that you just don't see anymore?
Leave it in the comments on YouTube.
Because after making this list, I'm pretty sure we're going to need a Part Two.
Whether you're already local, considering a move, or just trying to figure out which part of Ormond Beach feels right for you, I've created Live Ormond West to help you explore the area like a local.
Neighborhoods, new construction, local guides, things to do and the everyday side of living here:
LiveOrmondWest.com