In the late 60s, there used to be a restaurant located in the swampy region of the North Peninsula, just west of High Bridge on High Bridge Road, called Cobb’s Corner. When approaching the restaurant from the east, the road features a number of beautiful palm trees, evenly spaced, slightly curving over the banks next the brackish water, as if to defy gravity. It was, and still is picture perfect.

Cobb’s Corner featured sea food and a very special guest, who was more than likely to be on or near the premises. I’m, of course, referring to a huge alligator, who traditionally parked himself on a fallen cypress tree, immediately across the bijou from the back, screed-in dinning room.

Unfortunately, Cobb’s Corner went under in the early 70s, but it will always be a treasured memory for me and many other locals in the Daytona Beach area.

FYI: High Bridge Road, coming east off of A1A, is the northern leg of what the locals refer to as the “loop road.” It starts at East Granada Blvd. and continues north on John Anderson Drive before turning due west on High Bridge Road. From there, it meanders a bit before turning south to Tomoka State Park and continues south for a few miles until it reaches West Granada Blvd,.

As kids growing up in the late 50’s and early 60s, we took the loop road on hayrides. When I was employed as a youth baseball coach and an assistant to Johnny Jones, our Bake Ruth baseball coach and Ormond Beach recreational director, we used to take summer kids up to Tomoka State Park for cookouts and outdoor activities. The activity they most enjoyed was swinging out on a rope tied to an old cypress tree limb and abruptly exiting into the dark, brackish water below. Of course there were alligators in these swampy bijous, but, fortunately for everyone, we never encountered any. I guess if we couldn’t see them, they couldn’t see us either. Yeah, right. I’m thinking those treasured splashes into the shadowy water are now forbidden at the park, but I’m hoping that’s not the case. There’s just something magical about the enthusiasm of youthful ignorance.

The other thing the loop road was used for, other than just enjoying its natural beauty, was a habitat for “chasing the lights.” If you don’t know it, these were mysterious light sightings in the night sky that moved at extraordinary speeds.
My best friend in high school and beyond, Roger Orrell, who went on to Abilene Christian on a track scholarship, had a “souped-up”, 1955 Chevy. You guessed it. He chased those lights flat-out on many occasions but never even came close to catching them. Lucky for him, I recon. Who really knows what an extraterrestrial encounter would have resulted in?

Ah, my treasured, simple youth, growing up in Ormond-by-the Sea at my mom’s beachside motel, I wouldn’t trade for all the technical advancements of today that seem to keep youths from experiencing “real” life scenarios instead AI fakes.