7 Best Sights in Northeast Coast, Florida

This museum celebrates the resilience and preservation of the American Beach community founded during the Great Depression in 1935. A.L. Lewis created this resort-style beach community for African Americans, providing a destination for "recreation and relaxation without humiliation." The museum also honors area preservationist MaVynee Oshun Betsch by telling stories of her life as well as of the community. 

This intriguing attraction honors police officers. In addition to movie memorabilia like the Robocop costume and Blade Runner car, informative displays offer insight into the dangers officers face every day: drug dealers, homicides, and criminals who can create knives from dental putty and guns from a bicycle spoke. Other exhibits spotlight the gory history of capital punishment (from hangings to the guillotine to the electric chair) and crime scene investigation, terrorism, and a poignant memorial rotunda where more than 10,000 names are etched in marble to honor police officers who have died in the line of duty. A 24-stall shooting range provides rental guns.

This charming museum has exhibitions on the history of the beach communities, the St. Johns River, the fishing and shrimping industry, and the area's early settlers. Its gift shop is a good place to find Florida souvenirs of every variety, from tasteful histories of the area to pure kitsch. The adjacent historical park features a 1911 steam locomotive, railroad foreman's house, and the Mayport Depot. An on-site beaches visitor center is open Thursday through Saturday.

Memorabilia from the early days of beach automobile racing are on display here, as are historic photographs, Native American and Civil War artifacts, a postcard exhibit, and a video that details city history. There's a shop for gifts and antiques, too. Admission is by donation on Thursday; on Saturday, kids 12 and under are free.

In his quest to turn Florida into an American Riviera, Henry Flagler built two fancy hotels in 1888: the Ponce de León, which became Flagler College, and the Alcazar, which closed during the Great Depression, was purchased by publisher Otto Lightner in 1946, and was donated to the city in 1948. It's now a museum with three floors of furnishings, costumes, Victorian art glass, not-to-be-missed ornate antique music boxes, and even an early-20th-century-era shrunken head from the Jivaro Indians of Ecuador.

Inside this small museum established by entrepreneur and motivational speaker Pat Croce is a collection of more than 800 pirate artifacts, including one of only two Jolly Rogers (skull-and-crossbone flags) known to have actually flown above a ship. Exhibits include a mock-up of a tavern, a captain's quarters, and a ship's deck.

You'll learn about the lives of everyday and famous pirates, their navigation techniques, their weaponry, and the concoctions they drank (including something called Kill Devil, which is rum mixed with gunpowder). You'll get to touch an actual treasure chest; see piles of gold, jade, emeralds, and pearls; and leave knowing full well that there were pirates before Captain Jack Sparrow.

Don't judge a book by its cover: what's inside this very ordinary-looking building is extraordinary. Operated mostly through the efforts of an enthusiastic team of volunteers, the museum has an impressive collection of memorabilia and aircraft from World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam and more recent conflicts, as well as extensive displays of vintage military flying gear and uniforms. There are posters that were used to help identify Japanese planes, plus a Huey helicopter and the cockpit of an F-106 that you can sit in. In the north hangar a group of dedicated aviation volunteers busily restores old planes. It's an inspiring sight, and a good place to hear some war stories. In the spring the museum puts on the Tico Warbird Airshow, featuring fighter and bomber aircraft that formerly flew in combat around the world. The lobby gift shop sells real flight suits, old flight magazines, bomber jackets, books, models, and T-shirts.