Published February 21, 2012 | 
There are lots of events happening in the Jacksonville Beaches area this year. And the City of Jacksonville Beach has posted a PDF document with a preliminary listing of Events, Dates and information about each of them. You can download from their website or you can just CLICK HERE . Plan now to attend some of these and have a good time. There are lots of Charity Runs, a couple of Parades, Some Concerts, Some Festivals and of course a Surfing Contest or two. Below is just a sampling of some of the events listed over the next two months. For those of you who don’t live at the beach remember that even in February we can have some warm days and the liberal use of suncreen is highly advisable at any outdoor events!
March 12, 2012 – 10:30am – 2:30pm
Fighting Back 5K Beach Run
For more info: 904-318-8104
www.milestoneraceauthority.com
March 17, 2012 – 7:00am – March 18, 2012 – 7:00am
First Coast Volleyball Association
Saturday & Sunday
Beach volleyball courts located between Beach Blvd. & 4th Ave. S.
www.fcva1.com
March 24, 2012 – 8:00am
Florida Surfing Association’s Great Atlantic Surf Contest
Location: South side of pier
For more info: 904-626-9090
www.floridasurfing.org
March 24, 2012 – 12:00pm – 10:00pm
Great Atlantic Seafood Festival
Location: Sea Walk Pavilion
Florida’s finest seafood, fried, boiled, grilled or blackened. Music for everyone.
Arts & crafts, rides and games for the whole family.
www.jaxbeachfestivals.com
March 31, 2012 – April 1, 2012
NCAA Collegiate Sand Volleyball Tournament
Saturday & Sunday
Time and contact info to be announced
FYI: Your blog author will be hitting the road exploring all the Florida State Parks and writing reviews. We have done our first review on Talbot Island State Park. You can view it at: http://our-great-adventure.whatthehellblog.com/florida-state-parks/little-talbot-island-state-park/ We have started a funding campaign on Kickstarter to help us get Started. It is located on the right panel. We hope you will take a look and if you can contribute. Thanks for your time.
Published January 4, 2012 | With the economy going the way it is we should all try to help out where we can when we can. I have no problem with big businesses but it is the small businesses that really keep this country and our economy going. There are lots of small businesses out there that are providing valuable services and some have been with us through several generations. Some of my friends and family have that independent spirit and have their own businesses. We salute them and want to encourage everyone to frequent small business establishments as much as possible. To that end we would like to recommend:
Autoline at the Beaches if you are looking for a good used vehicle with great financing. They are a family-owned small business that has been operating at the beaches for a number of years. I got my van from them last year and they worked really hard getting the financing that I needed and made sure the van worked perfectly. They gave us a 30 day warranty and fixed a problem with the back lift door for free. If you do buy something from them please tell them I sent you and I might get a few bucks for the referral!
Another great small business is Acme Tattoo Studio in Atlantic Beach, Florida. It is owned and operated by a great Artist, Shawn Roden who has been a friend of the family for long time. If you are thinking about a tattoo or some kind of piercing I would have no problem recommending Shawn or his studio! They have been featured in local magazines and Shawn has been interviewed on television a couple of time explaining about tattoos.
Finally, I would like to recommend my own business. At Jolene’s Books and More we have an online store that sells electronic books and hand-crafted goods such as scarves, hats, bags and bead and wire jewelry. We are also sponsoring a Contemporary Limericks Monthly Contest beginning in March of this year. We are currently accepting applications and will announce the first winners on March 1st. The cost for each applicant is only $5 for 1 to 5 limericks. Check out the All About Limericks Website for the rules and to fill out the application. The starting cash prize is only $50 and only open to U.S. residents 18 or older, for now. The limericks can be about friends, family, your job, your neighborhood, your hobbies or even your favorite book characters. It must be family-oriented or considered rated “g”.
Published April 22, 2011 | Today is Earth Day and everyone should participate in any Earth Day Events that you can. Go online to one of the many links below and read about the many Earth Day Celebrations and Activities around the world. What can you do to help save the Earth? Participate in GREEN Events and Earth Day activities is a great way to start. Some of the things that I have done and have read about include: Plant some trees, start a garden at home, recycle your bottles, cans and papers, set some rain barrels around the corners of your house to catch the rain and water your lawn and garden, start a compote pile to fertilize your garden, work from home when you can, carpool, walk your neighborhoods for exercise, combine your errands as much as you can, use cloth bags for carrying groceries and other shopping, sign up for electronic bill pay through you bank and creditors, subscribe to online magazines and newspapers, etc.
At the beach every year they hold a non-denominational sunrise service for Easter. This is a very nice way for families to gather at the beach and enjoy a nice Easter service and each others company. If you want to go check out the Jacksonville Beach City website for times and places of services: http://www.jacksonvillebeach.org/ Make sure you bookmark the page or add it to your favorites to keep up-to-date on all of the festivals and events this spring and summer. With gas prices going up so high we have to find events and places to go that don’t take a lot of time or gas to get there.
Here are some websites you might want to checkout for Earth Day:
http://www.earthday.org/ – Earth Day Organization
http://act.earthday.org/ – A Billion Acts of Green
http://holidays.kaboose.com/earth-day/ – Family Earthday Ideas
http://network.earthday.net/ – Earth Day Network
http://www.earthdaybags.org/ – Earth Day Grocery Bags Project
Published February 9, 2011 | There are a variety of different things to do and see at the Jacksonville Florida Area Beaches. It is not the most hip place to go like Daytona Beach but it is nice none-the-less. We like to just ride down there and wonder down the board walk. If you get there early in the morning to see the sunrise there are plenty of places to park and not be charged a parking fee. They are constantly changing the look of the place so there is a constant state of construction going on in one place or another so be patient and keep an eye out for the bad spots. Last summer we took some great pictures of the sunrise and various other places that you might enjoy viewing.
Published May 1, 2010 | Did you know that the Beaches Leader has an online edition called the SUN TIMES? You can view it on their website at: http://www.beachesleader.com/. Just click on the Online Sun Times Icon in the upper left hand corner. The Sun Times is in a PDF format and has an average of 15 pages of news and advertising for the Beaches area. The newspaper covers Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Mayport, Jacksonville Beach and Ponte Vedra Beach. The online Beaches leader website is nicely formatted and is non-cluttered as with the Jacksonville Times website. You can do some research on past articles but that function is somewhat limited.
The website has a calendar function for upcoming events, limited classified section, news, sports, entertainment and the obituaries. If you afford to pay for the newspaper to come to your house I would encourage you to do that as the Beaches Leader has been the newspaper for the Jacksonville Beaches area for over 45 years. They have been the voice of the beaches since June 1963.
Published April 2, 2010 | Recently my family and I went on a little day trip to the beaches area to check out two parks that we haven’t been to yet. The first was the Dutton Island Preserve. Dutton Island Preserve has two entrances to it on Dutton Drive off of Mayport Road just North of Atlantic Boulevard. There is a small picnic area with a small kids playground and hiking trails leading over to the Intercoastal and a large field where you and your family can throw down a blanket, play some frisbee and just enjoy the view. The other entrance is a little farther down the road over a small bridge. You can drive onto the island to put in your small boat, canoe or kayak. There is also a fish dock or wooden walkway with a covered area for when it is too sunny or raining. There are also picnic areas on the island as well.
Tide Views Preserve is located on the road on the north side of Atlantic Boulevard off of Mayport Road located at 1 Begonia Street. The preserve is rather small has a picnic area, bathroom and hiking trails. There is a wooden boardwalk over the marshland to view the birds and to go fishing. Both of these parks can be found on the Atlantic Beach website at: http://www.coab.us/index.aspx?nid=43 We have also included some pictures of each of the parks below.
Published February 8, 2010 | We are all wanting to get ready for Spring. And in the Beaches Area that is no exception. The City of Jacksonville Beaches has posted their Schedule of Events for 2010. You can view them at their website: http://www.jacksonvillebeach.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=422 This is a Printable Document for you to use to mark your family calendar with the up and coming events that you can participate and enjoy. Two notable events coming up for the Month of February include The Winter Beach Run on Valentine’s Day and the other is the Breast Cancer Run with Donna on February 21st. The Donna Run is a major event to benefit Breast Cancer Research. The run has it’s own website at: http://www.breastcancermarathon.com/ and is open to all comers. We have no idea what the weather is actually going to be like so be prepared for anything if you participate, watch and cheer or volunteer. If you are in the area you might want to avoid San Pablo Road between Beach Boulevard and JTB as well as 1st Street at the Beaches on that Day. The race will start and end at Mayo Clinic. There will be thousands of people there and is an area to be avoided unless you are participating in the event.
Published January 11, 2010 | There are a lot of websites out there with information about being prepared for a natural disaster. The trick is to find good information from good resources. You should never have to pay for information about keeping you and your family safe. The City of Jacksonville has a Code Red Service that you can sign up for to get a phone call if a natural or even an unnatural events is about to happen in your neighborhood. We recommend this service, especially for the Beaches Residence, as the beaches is usually the first area that will get bad weather. This service also reports on other things as well including the following: evacuation notices, bio-terrorism alerts, boil water notices, and missing child reports. You can find out more information about Emergency Preparedness at the City of Jacksonville’s Fire and Rescue webpage: http://www.coj.net/Departments/Fire+and+Rescue/Emergency+Preparedness/default.htm
The City of Jacksonville Beach has the Firstcall Network for it’s citizens at: http://www.alertregistration.com/
It is another FREE service offered to Jacksonville Beaches Area residents to be informed by a phone call of immediate weather problems that will affect the residents. Of course, they also have a Hurricane Preparedness webpage as well at: http://www.jacksonvillebeach.org Check them out!
The City of Atlantic Beach Has the same information in it’s website as well. http://www.ci.atlantic-beach.fl.us/index.aspx?NID=154 They participate with the FirstCall network as well. They have other information about Flood zones, Hurricane Preparedness and much more for it’s residents. You decide which one you want to put in your bookmarks or favorites.
Basically, for residents in the Beaches are the best thing to do is prepare a Disaster Kit and have it ready for when you will need to evacuate. Being next to the ocean almost always means you and your family will need to leave for a period of time. To be on the safe side you should organize yourself and keep your family informed of your plan.
Published December 31, 2009 | Happy New Year to all those in the Jacksonville Beaches area. If you haven’t visited our website in the last 10 days or so you missed the sight being down. We had a little financial snafu. Hopefully, that will not happen again.
We have finally updated the Retirement Community Page so check it out at: http://jacksonvillesbeaches.info/wordpress/beaches-services/jacksonville-beaches-retirement-communities/
If you are out and about tonight, PLEASE, PLEASE, keep safe, drink responsibly and arrive home safely. There are lots of things to do this weekend and you wouldn’t want to miss it. From the parade downtown today, to the bowl game there is lots to do. Yea, we are ringing out the old year and hoping that the new year will be much better!
Published December 7, 2009 | Welcome all new members of the Jacksonville’s Beaches Area Info blog. Well, the decorations are hung up in the poles next to the road and all the neighbors have been putting up their decorations in their yards. The tinkling lights are very pretty at night but our weather has not been very cooperative lately with all the rain and fog. We only have two main holidays left and then we should be getting back to something “like” normal again. The crazy season is here and everyone is running buying stuff and making plans to visit relatives or having relatives visit them. The main thing that you really should be worrying about is to keep safe and try to reduce your stress levels.
There are some excellent articles available on the web about reducing stress that you might want to take a few minutes out of your business schedule and read. One I was reading was from the Readers Digest entitled: 79 Instant Stress Busters. Some of these include chasing your dog around the backyard; hold a sleeping baby; take a walk in the park; pop some bubble-wrap; chew some cinnamon gum; and much more. Take a look and try to relax, get plenty of sleep and drunk plenty of water. Simple solutions that may help you this “silly” season.
Jacksonville Beaches Area has some terrific parks. We have a listing of them here at: http://jacksonvillesbeaches.info/wordpress/beaches-services/jacksonville-beaches-area-parks/
These parks are FREE and open to everyone and open from dawn to dark. Please exercise respect for the park and put your trash in the bins, if you take your pet do the pooper-scooper thing, and finally respect others right to be there.
Another thing that always makes a difference this season is to volunteer for an organization you believe in. There are lots of people out there who need help and this holiday season is about GIVING. Not just about giving presents but giving of ourselves. Our family is not going to be getting many presents this year because times are hard and we need to focus on others rather than ourselves. If you want to make a difference and teach your children a lesson about really giving then go to: http://www.volunteerjacksonville.org/index.htm
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