Nightlife

Check the Friday edition of the Daytona Beach News-Journal (www.n-jcenter.com) for its weekly "Go-Do," and the Sunday edition for the "Master Calendar" section, which lists upcoming events. Other good sources listing nighttime entertainment are Happenings Magazine and Backstage Pass Magazine, two tabloids available at the visitor center and in many hotel lobbies.

Ghost tours are led by certified ghost hunters who merge legend with science. You're guaranteed to have a spooky time (at least, it's more interesting than most touristy ghost tours). A portion of all proceeds goes to cemetery preservation and restoration, so at least you can feel good about the fee. Tickets are $8 per person, free for children 5 and under. Contact Haunts of Daytona (tel. 386/253-6034; www.hauntsofdaytona.com) for tours and times.

The Performing Arts

The city-operated Peabody Auditorium, 600 Auditorium Blvd., between Noble Street and Wild Olive Avenue (box office tel. 386/254-4545 or 671-3460), is Daytona's major venue for serious art, including concerts by the local Symphony Society (tel. 386/253-2901). Professional actors perform Broadway musicals during winter and summer at the Seaside Music Theater, 176 N. Beach St., downtown (tel. 800/854-5592 or 386/252-6200; www.seasidemusictheater.org). The Oceanfront Bandshell (tel. 386/671-3400), on the Boardwalk, hosts a series of free big-name concerts every Sunday night from early June to Labor Day. Daytona also has a great relationship with the London Symphony Orchestra, which considers the city its official summer home, having performed more times in Daytona than any other city outside London. For more cultural affairs, check out www.daytonabeach.com/whattosee.cfm/mode/culturallydb.

The Club & Bar Scene

Main Street and Seabreeze Boulevard on the beach are happening areas where dozens of bars (and a few topless shows) cater to leather-clad bikers.

The Boot Hill Saloon, 310 Main St. (tel. 386/258-9506; www.boothillsaloon.com), is a bluesy, brewsy honky-tonk, especially popular during race and bike weeks.

A popular beachfront bar for more than 40 years, the Ocean Deck Restaurant & Beach Club, 127 S. Ocean Ave. (tel. 386/253-5224), is packed with a mix of locals and tourists, young and old, who come for live music and cheap drinks. Reggae or ska bands play daily and nightly. There's valet parking after dark, or leave your vehicle at Ocean Deck's Reggae Republic surf shop on Atlantic Avenue.