last minute help re: Jacksonville

[bonzarella]

we are leaving in a few days (DH & myself), neither of us has been there before. Any suggestions on where to eat, things to see & do would be appreciated. We are staying downtown, next to the "Landings" if that would help. TIA

 

[bonzarella]

anyone??????????????

 

[parrothead365]

Will you have a car???

 

[bonzarella]

yes, thanks for answering. Any & all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[FroggyinArk]

we had the advantage of SIL living in jax at the time we were therte, so our tours were guided, we liked the beaches, st augustine looks like fun, and was on our list but didnt get time,

 

[bcvgal]

We lived in Jax for a little while but we lived on the Southside so didn't really get uptown much but the Jacksonville Landing was fun with shops and places to eat. We always loved going to St Augustine for the day. Everything I'm sure has changed since it's been 8 years since we lived there. Have fun.

 

[rparmfamily]

I live outside Jax. Do you have children? You will have a car, that's good, you need it!

What I would recommend doing:
-Get out of downtown, I don't care for that area and it's dangerous at night. Nice hotels though but don't just walk around the city. Ruth Chris Steakhouse is downtown, a fab place to eat! Traffic in downtown is bad too.
-Hit St Augustine. It's about a 35 min drive down I-95. See the historic sites (Castillo de San Marco, St George Street, Flagler College), shop at antique shops and look at local art. Go see the St Augustine Lighthouse, if you have time, hit the Alligator Farm across the street from the lighthouse. Also, right near the lighthouse is Anastasia Island State Park. Prettiest beach in the whole area, wide white sand. Very clean. Beaches in Jax are not clean, they are fairly dirty in some areas.
-Go north up 95 (or take 9A) and get off at Hecksher Dr. Go to the zoo, or to Hueganot city park. (Beach) you can drive on the beach there. Keep going up Hecksher to Amelia Island. Amelia Island is beautiful!! Big and Little Talbot Island are very pretty--go kayaking at the state park there (Talbot Island state park--company that rents them is called Kayak Amelia). Go to Fernandina Beach--very neat little old town, cool places to eat and shop. Lots of Bed and Breakfasts too. Looks like old Florida. Love it!
-His the St John's Towne Center for shopping. It's an open-air mall off of JT Butler Blvd, near UNF. Cheesecake Factory, Sephora, lots of neat shops. The Avenues is a nice mall too, on Southside Blvd.

I can provide links if you want them, but that should get you started! Welcome to Jax!

 

[punkin712]

We lived in Ponte Vedra Beach for just over a year and LOVED it! I recommend getting pizza and milkshakes at The Loop or pasta at Semolina's. St. Augustine has a vineyard where you can do wine tastings - the wine is pretty good so try to bring a bottle or two home, if you are so inclined.

By the way, don't be shocked at the "smell" of downtown...there's a coffee factory nearby so downtown usually has a strange aroma in the air. Reminds me of the stinkbug from "It's Tough To Be A Bug".

 

[rparmfamily]

Oh yes, in St Augustine you might enjoy visiting the San Sebastian Winery and vineyards. We love their wines (Vinter's Red & White). You can do a tour and then taste their wines (free). You can buy their wines at Pubilx around here too.

Have fun!

 

[bonzarella]

Thank you all!!!! Our boys are staying home this trip, a small get away for us. my DH is working on his doctorate and the conference is at the Hyatt. I am somewhat nervous about downtown but also don't want him to have to fight traffic everyday. We thought this would be our best option. We will definitely be hitting St. Augustine and hope to do Amelia too. Can anyone offer insight to traffic conditions? If it is not too nutty, I may try to look for other hotels outside of downtown. Thanks for winery info, that may be the highlight of the trip I knew I could get better info here than out of the visitor book. Thanks again

 

[rparmfamily]

Avoid going in and out of downtown during rush hour, I think 630am-8am and probably 4-615pm. The Fuller Warren gets backed up easily. (it's I-95 and goes thru downtown.) Traffic does move, it's not standstill most of the time unless there is an accident. I'm in a neighboring county south of town so I really don't go around that area (downtown) too much. I think you are smart to stay downtown, I don't mean to scare you, where you are is nice, just avoid getting off the beaten path. (same for most large downtowns.) The Hyatt is very nice and the river is beautiful. Make sure to watch the bridge go up and down, it's a drawbridge but goes up completely in the middle. Pretty neat. You're ok during daytime hours pretty much anywhere near the Landing. Just avoid the night time walks away from crowds.

Also, you could pick up a Suns baseball game. The stadium is brand new and right downtown by the river. (near Alltel stadium)

Some websites to look at are:
http://www.visitjacksonville.com/ (jax and the beaches)
http://www.oldcity.com (st augustine)
http://www.jacksonvillebeach.org/ (jax beach)
http://www.ameliaisland.org/ (Amelia Island)
http://www.visitoldcity.com/ (Ponte Vedra/St Augustine)
http://www.coj.net/About+Jacksonville/Points+of+Interest.htm (Jax)

 

[punkin712]

As far as nutty traffic conditions are concerned, there is one bizarre element to driving around downtown Jacksonville. I-95, which stretches from NYC to South Florida, goes right past downtown Jax and is pretty heavily travelled during rush hour. The weird part is that a section of it has a drawbridge so if you are unlucky enough to get stuck on the wrong side when a boat is going underneath, you will be there for a while.

I'd love to know who the brainiac was who said "Hey, let's put a drawbridge here!" - it would be an honor and a pleasure to make him drink an entire gallon of Beverly.

 

[rparmfamily]

They have a new bridge now for the Fuller Warren--thank goodness I-95 doesn't go up and down anymore!! That was nuts! The new Fuller Warren is huge!

 

[bonzarella]

Thank you all!!!!!! I got back this am & had a great time. Wonderful tips, we experienced a few of your suggestions. Thanks again

 

[rparmfamily]

What did you end up seeing? Did you make it to St Augustine? Glad you got out before we got this storm! (though it was just wind/rain here)

 

[bonzarella]

Yes, we went to St Augustine. What a cool place, lots of people but to be expected. Stumbled across a rest. called Gypsy----ummmmmm. Also spent a day at the beaches & a state park, don't recall name. Never made it to a ball game even though I had planned that. Spent a few hours at the Landings. Jazz in June was happening, we enjoyed that also. I loved our river view room, it was so cool looking at the city at night. "Blue bridge" was a favorite. We also got to see really awesome boats due to the Poker Run. Dh is still there so he is putting up with the rain, no problems for him as he is working. Thanks for your help-bon

 

[rparmfamily]

You probably went to the Gypsy Cab Company, right by the lighthouse and Anastasia State Park. (by the Alligator Farm). Glad you enjoyed your visit! Jacksonville and area doesn't really get the tourists like the rest of Florida.

 

[Golf4food]

Sorry I didn't catch this thread before you left - I'm a native of J'ville and still reside in the "Bold New City of the South" as the city leaders tried to nickname it a few years back.

Most of what I would have suggested was covered, but I would throw in the Cummer Art Museum and Gardens. A beautiful collection of art in a great brick building right along the river, with gardens laid out on the slope leading down to the water behind the main museum building.

Also, if you didn't get a chance to visit the Zoo, add it to your list for next time. It is a great zoo, that has undergone a lot of improvement over the past years and now includes an amazing "Range of the Jaguar" exhibit featuring animals from South America, including the namesake of our NFL team - Jaguars. My favorites, however, are the giant Aardvarks! It is quite nice.

Another place to visit not far from the zoo is Kingsley Plantation, an old plantation site that has been there for at least 200 years or more (can't remember the exact dates though I had to study it in college).

Too bad you missed out on the best place to eat in St. Augustine. I won't type the name since it is already busy enough, and too small as it is, so we don't want too many outsiders knowing about it! Suffice it to say that it is the only restaurant in the world that my stubborn, Alabama-born-and-bred grandfather would wait to eat - up to two-hours. PM me if you are curious, and after a thorough cross examination, I might be willing to divulge the name and location.

 

[bonzarella]

Yes, it was the Gypsy Cab Co. I loved it. Now I am wanting to know about the other place as my Dh is still there and can suggest it to him. We really pretty much lost Fri due to late arrival, delays & traffic. Got to bed about 12:45 am & fire alarms went off at 1:39 causing us to vacate our room. I was pretty upset considering we were on the 10th floor, kinda frightening. I wanted to do the zoo & alligator farm but felt too guilty w/o the kids Sorry I missed the gardens, we would have enjoyed that, oh well next time.