Jacksonvilles Beaches Info Blog

Archive for the ‘Beaches Park & Recreation Areas’ Category

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

Jacksonville Beaches Area has lots to do in October this year. Here are a few things that I have gathered from the www.experiencejax.com and www.jacksonvillebeach.org The Experiencejax website has events listed for all sides of town and allows you to specify a particular part of town as well as just FREE events. It is a good website to add to your bookmarks or favorites list. If you or your organization has an event that is coming up then email us and we will be happy to post it here at: jolene.macfadden@jacksonvillesbeaches.info. The ExperienceJax.com also allows you to add events as well.

Here are some of the events that I have found for October 2009:
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Title: Sawgrass Village Fall Art Festival 2009
Date: October 17, 2009
Time: All day
Location: Sawgrass Village Shopping Center
1300 Sawgrass Village Dr. Jacksonville, FL 32082
Cost: Free
Description: The Sawgrass Village Art Festival is one of the South’s premier juried art competitions, attracting fine artists locally, regionally and nationally and thousands of visitors. The festival will include first-class watercolors, oils, acrylics, pastels, drawings, clay, photography, wood, fiber, glass, graphics, metal, paper and mixed media fine arts, great food, fun and children’s activities.

BRING THE WHOLE FAMILY TO ENJOY
Fine Arts & Jewelry Artists Demo’s throughout weekend, Kids Korner- child crafts and face painting

What Time: Sat-Sun 10am-5pm,
Admission: FREE
Website: www.venuesplanning.com

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October 10, 2009
MAKING STRIDES AGAINST – BREAST CANCER WALK
Saturday 8 AM to 12 Noon
5 K beach walk, run or bike to celebrate life and breast cancer survivorship. Funds benefit the American Cancer Society’s programs of education, patient services, advocacy and research.
Location: Sea Walk Pavilion & Beach
For more info: 249-0022
www.cancer.org/stridesonline

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October 24, 2009
GNARLY CHARLEY SURF SERIES
Saturday, 9 AM – 5 PM
Location: Beach – South of fishing pier
904-247-6763
www.gnarlycharleysurfseries.com

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October 24, 2009
OUT OF THE DARKNESS COMMUNITY WALK
Saturday 8 AM – 11 AM
Non-competitive 5K Walk to raise awareness and funds about suicide prevention
Location: Sea Walk Pavilion
(904) 891-4351
For more info: www.outofthedarkness.org

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Title: Hallo-WEE Party at Adventure Landing
Date: October 31, 2009
Time: 10:00am – 2:00pm
Location: Adventure Landing
1944 Beach Blvd. Jacksonville, FL 32250
Cost: Free
Description: Join us on October 31st from 10am-2pm for A Not-So-Scary Celebration For Kids!

Everyone is invited to take advantage of our FREE festival of crafts, games, a bounce house, face painting, candy, dance performances and more! There will also be a costume contest at noon with great prizes being awarded for Scariest, Cutest and Most Original categories!

For children 12 & under, you can also puchase the Triple Threat Combo Special, which includes a Wacky Worm Rollercoaster ride, a ride of the Frog Hopper ride and a Mini Golf Game for only $5 per person

This event is a safe alternative to trick-or-treating!
Website www.adventurelanding.com/jaxbeach/events.html

CHEERS!
jolenemacinjax
admin

Hello fellow Jacksonville residents and any visitors! I just took a look at the Jacksonville Beach Government website and it seems there are some really interesting things happening over the next couple of months. (Unless there is a Hurricane, of course!) You should bookmark the page http://www.jacksonvillebeach.org
And then click on the Calendar of Events. There is going to be some surf contests this month, a buddy walk and volley ball contests. September is probably the best month to go to our beaches as it is not too hot nor too cold and barring any tropical storms or hurricanes in the Atlantic the beach is pretty nice.

****CAUTION**** Please make sure you don’t swim or surf alone as the rip currents are always bad to the unwary. With our whole family being born and raised in this area for about 3 to 5 generations we don’t allow our children to go past the knees in the waves. The older ones still have to stay at their waist. So, please use common sense and always use the buddy system when swimming.

My youngest son and my nephew are picking up surfing this year so they will probably want to go see the surfing contests as well as watch the girls. We have quite a few skimboarders on the beach so beware of them as they try to slide across the water. For the young ones it is a good idea to go to the beach when the tide is midway to low as there are little pools of water for them to play in as the tide is going out. Make sure to bring water to drink and be sure to PICK UP YOUR TRASH! We do have nice beach areas from Hanna Park to the Crossroads down below Ponte Vedra Beach. Our sands are white and the surf is pretty nice.

GREEN FARMERS MARKET: http://beacheslocalfoodnetwork.web.officelive.com/greenmarket.aspx
IF you want to check out a “GREEN” Farmers Market there is one Every Saturday from 2:00pm to 5:00pm in Jarboe Park. Click on the link above for more information.

Every couple of weeks or so our family likes to venture out and cruise around the town to see what has changed and what is the same. Personally, I like to go to the beaches area and spend a few hours at one of the parks or ride the ferry from Mayport to the Northside or vice versa. The ferry at Mayport has been in operation for a lot of years and is a great way to go from one side of to the other. On the Mayport side is the little town of Mayport that use to be a town all its own but has been incorporated into the Jacksonville city limits. Most of the homes there are owned by families who have lived in that area for generations. That is where the shrimp and fishing boats dock. There is a restaurant, a little convenience store, a seafood store and even a haunted house. Now-a-days there is a gambling cruise line docked there as well as a Coast Guard Station. Mayport Naval Station takes up most of the penisula. There is a boat yard that sells and stores boats as well. The little school is now a Marine Science Center and is visited by every 5th grader in the county each year. The school has regular students as well but they are sent there when they don’t fit in any of the other schools.

You and your vehicle can ride the ferry every day for $5 a car or truck with pedestrians and bicyclist paying a little less. The trip across the St. Johns only takes a few minutes but it is a thrill to get out of your car and stand by the railing and watch as the boat cruises across the waves. And whether you start the trip on the Northside on Hecksher Drive or the Mayport it is worth the fee.

The small village of Mayport in 1852 and hasn’t really changed all that much. However, from the last time we went there most of the little buildings along the river have been torn down. That usually means that someone will be building new stuff there soon. There is a nice little park located across from the ferry entrance for kids to play in and there is another one located to the north of the ferry entrance for boaters to launch their boats. If you get a chance to go there don’t forget to stop into the seafood shop and get some shrimp!

Here are some pictures we took in Mayport. Hope you enjoy them.
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For those who don’t actually live in the Jacksonville area, yet, you probably don’t know this but Ponte Vedra is really considered part of the Jacksonville, Florida area.  Even though, technically, it is located in St. Johns County instead of Duval County, many of our residents think of this area as the ritzy side of the Jacksonville Beaches Area.  Yes, that is where the Tournament of Players Golf thing is held every year in May at the Sawgrass Country Club Resort.  There are lots of homes, condos and some apartments in the area that are quite expensive.  The area has only grown this big in the last 15 years.  Prior to that it was a very small outback area with only a few houses and a store or two.

I remember the two lane road leading to the area that is part of Hwy 210 with a few ranches and lots of woods and swampy areas.  The fishing was good along the Intercoastal and the mosquitoes were so big they would carry a small child away.  One of my favorite places was the “Crossroads” area where A1A and Mickler Road met.  You could go onto the beach and enough a day swimming, fishing and surfing without the crowd.  Palm Valley Road was great to cruise down and look at the different kinds of houses that were nestled in the woods.  The best part was the little store/diner over the low metal draw bridge that crossed the intercoastal and onto Palm Valley Road.  Now there is a huge overpass and the road is called Nocatee.  Boats would pull up to the little store for gas, ice and drinks.  The restaurant served some great food and most of it came from the local fishermen.

We visited this area this month to find that the little restaurant is still there, you can put your boat in, or sit on the bank and fish.  Be careful though because the current under the bridge is quite swift.  The overpass does provide some much needed shade.  It was too early to check out the restaurant and I didn’t see a sign saying that the store part was even still there.  Anyone who lives in the area and would like to clue our readers in feel free to comment here (after you subscribe) or put a post in the guestbook area.

Below are some of the pictures we took.  Hope you enjoy them1

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Good Day to everyone. We have been able to add some more content to the website. For now we have added acrobat reader files on listings of Day Care facilities, Public Parks and Public Schools in the zip codes of 32227, 32228, 32233, 32250, 32266, 32081 and 32082. We haven’t had a chance to take any pictures of the areas yet but hope to have slideshows available very soon.

The files are posted on the appropriate pages and available for all of our subscribers for free. Just click on the links and the files open up to be saved to your computer or just print them out as needed. So check them out today!

Beaches DayCare Facilities

Beaches Parks

Beaches Public Schools

jolenemacinjax