Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing

Our second stop of the day was the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing located off Interstate 75 in Ocala, Florida. If there was ever a quintessential road trip attraction, this is it - a place full of cars! Don Garlits, known to his fans as "Big Daddy," is synonymous with drag racing and is the National Hot Rod Association's #1 drag racer of all time. I didn't know who he was when I got there, but I sure as heck had a better idea of who he was when I left. The museum was filled to the gills with drag racers of all shapes and sizes, and lots of other memorabilia and artifacts of the drag racing world. Next door to the drag racing museum was the Museum of Classic Cars which was loaded with old, classic and rare cars, most of them restored to their original, mint condition, including a 1956 Chrysler Imperial owned by President Eisenhower. Clare and Conor both enjoyed the visit, as did I, and it brought back memories of my watching drag racing on TV in the 1970s. However, Clare was insistent that our visit be limited to no more than an hour, and she had to almost drag me out of the museum at the appointed hour, with the store clerk shouting the museum's website address to Clare so she might have a source of Christmas gift ideas for me. If you like drag racing, or are just a run-of-the-mill car enthusiast, this is absolutely the place to visit.