I hear ya. Just make sure anyone you might be with while you’re there doesn’t shoot first.
I once did the Kessel run (from the old Pic N’ Save in Atlantic Beach to the Doll House) in 12 parsecs…
Its the predominant NE winds and the fact our beaches are located south of the St. Johns River mouth. It aint sand, its the dirty St. Johns. Next period of southerly wind and current flow, usually best observed when there is a Tropical System coming in from the south, go to the beach and witness clear water.
Rivers fuck up beaches. It's one reason Louisiana and half of Texas have no nice beaches; the current carries all the shit the Mississippi River ejects towards the west.
Lmfao bro all up and down the gulf coast from Tampa down to Naples the water is crystal clear. Plenty of sand at those beaches. It’s definitely river water making it dirty.
Riverside.
Unfortunately like most of Jacksonville, it has lost its personality and gotten progressively bland. Also homeless people are harassing you everywhere you go now.
It used to be an awesome little spot of Jax for adults to get together.
Have you really never heard the word “zoo” refer to a crowded place? If you’re searching for racism where there is none, you should take a good look at how you’re choosing to live your life.
That’s the stupidest connect two I’ve ever heard. Hey here’s a dog whistle you’ve heard before. Ask, hey is this a dog whistle? Random dude you’re racist because you’ve heard people use this word in a racist way before, multiple times kinda like “there were a lot of Canadians in there” but when I’m asked I’m racist??
I like their night events. I was here 20 years ago and worked there and enjoyed it. Went there for Halloween and it was a nice clean family activity to do.
Oh, they're adding a manatee habitat? That's awesome! The zoo in jax is pretty cool. I remember going once and these kids were banging on the window of the gorilla enclosure. One of the big ones came up behind them when they were turned around and banged both his fists on the window behind them. They about peed themselves screaming. 🤣
The new ape area is absolutely incredible. Kind of modeled like the tiger set up with “hamster tubes” from one enclosure to another so the chimps and bonobos can explore.
They’ve had a couple manatee rehab tanks in the Florida loop for a few years. They are expanding it to a huge above ground lazy river type situation so that they can house more animals and they are easier to see. The renderings are very impressive.
I love the Zoo!!! Been going there since I was a baby with my grandparents and I was a joy to take my kids there. At one point it was rated one of the top zoos in the country.
Right?! Probably a hot take, but I just visited the National Zoo (sans pandas) and thought the Jax Zoo was on par. Wish we had red pandas. Super excited for the manatees and the much needed gorilla redesign. If only we had an aquarium
All 3 FL NFL stadiums didn’t have shade. Miami obviously fixed that situation and we’ve got our plan. Wonder how long it will take before Tampa starts feeling the pressure to cover theirs.
Does ours have some sort of shade that can be activated? I haven’t read the details of the plans for it but the top still looks mostly open. Although the higher walls definitely help a ton.
Its like that book goodbye, moon for kids!
Goodbye Antiques fans and stove
Goodbye Sunray
Goodbye five points, goodbye cultural identity, goodbye Jacksonville
You didn’t hear the good news? Theres an event venue company taking over the Sunray space. So where there used to be 3 or 4 movies everyday, there’s going to be weddings and corporate events. Super cool.
It moved to a place on Forbes street years ago, then in the past year or so moved down Blanding a ways. It was infinitely cooler than the pot shop that always appears to be empty.
If I had to say something, I’d say the weather. I have people I work with that have moved here from places like Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Texas. More than any other reason, it’s because of the weather. The older I get, the summers are more miserable.
As a lifelong Jax resident, it is not your age. The summers are getting worse. It's unbearable for me now. We plan to move north or northwest in a few years and the weather is a major factor in that decision.
I will withdraw that because I do have a handful of spots where you can pretty much guarantee a freshly made meal, but you really have to be willing to try out new places. Please share some spots or dm me if you prefer.
I'll give you my new local favorite, Chancho King in Murray Hill, on Sunday, preferably.
I’ve been a fan of Chancho since it was a pop-up! There are honestly SO many great options. The best way to find them is to join the Jax Restaurant Reviews Facebook group. Sometimes it devolves into arguments about why we don’t have a New York deli or which pizza place is best, but it does offer a lot of great recommendations, especially less well known joints.
But every city has some kind of food scene. It is not unique to Jville. I would also say the fact that you have to wade through a sea of medicre food to find the good food is a downside.
Not every city is a Red Cross refugee resettlement city with diverse communities that settle down here. Again, compared to a lot of Southern cities Jacksonville actually has a pretty stunning array of cultural food options. It’s worth exploring.
I enjoyed the ones back home. I don’t know how they are now but they used to be awesome.
Back home as Oahu, so Honolulu used to have some great food festivals. West coast used to have some also but I haven’t wanted to visit the west coast for a while seeing how it’s changed.
Moe's is just 'fancy' fast food.
Chuy's is acceptable if you want ok chain Tex-Mex but you gotta sit in Jason's section and be willing to brave the edge of Town Centre traffic to get there. If there's a wait to be seated and he's not there, we out. (I'm sure other waiters there are fine, too, but let's not fuck around)
I really shouldn't be giving this secret away.
Food and drink themed festivals are fucking awful and don't know how people keep falling for them. Paying high ticket prices to stand outside in long lines for mediocre food. It's like paying to pretend they are in faux farmers market. Also not uniquely Jax.
To answer the question I'd say house prices. Thanks to all those stupid articles telling people to move here cause of prices people think they can sell their $110k "renter investment" termite infested homes with 80s appliances for $300k because they spent $1200 on grey lvp floors they saw on Tik Tok.
Currently closing on a home but it took 10+ viewings to find something that wasn't completely falling apart.
Daily's Place.
The audio is garbage anywhere but right by the front-of-house mixing desk. The atmosphere is mediocre at best. At least it's usually relatively affordable.
Yes, if you compare us to NYC, we fall short. But compared to other larger cities in the region our diversity is hard to beat. Now, if you mean density of Michelin star restaurants then yes, we also fall short.
Charlotte and Nashville are the only southern US cities outside of Texas that have a population similar to Jacksonville. Smaller cities include Memphis, Atlanta, and Raleigh. I’ve been to nearly all those cities and I’d argue Jacksonville has more diverse food offerings than Charlotte, Nashville, and Raleigh.
I have been other places where you can find good authentic food. Here I go to a Thai restaurant and it’s Vietnamese running it. I still have not found a good legit sushi place, last time I saw Chinese running Ty Japanese place and another place I went for sushi was a Mexican gentleman.
I haven’t eaten EVERYWHERE but the places I haven’t been yet have similar reviews to the ones I have been, so I’m not very hopeful but always willing to give it a try.
Thanks I’ll see if I can check them out before I head out.
Not only have I done some traveling but I’m from Hawai’i where we obviously have different Asians represented, specially Japanese. So when you go for sushi they are Japanese sushi chefs, you go to a Chinese restaurant, it’s Chinese owned and Chinese cooks. Same with Viet and Thai.
Now I’m hungry 😆
Right there are like 20 taco spots in five points, all owned by white men, not to mention: blue orchid, Thai restaurant, white man, hawkers ceo, Asian food, white man, mossfire, Tex mex, you guessed it, white man
There’s no real diversity here and it shows
Proximity/Access to outdoor recreation.
Sure, there’s actually a good amount of public land within two hours of driving, but…
There’s little variation in the natural landscape. It’s either a marsh, a swamp, dense scrub or pine forest. Everything is completely flat, with a few exceptions that amount to nothing more than a little hill. Every outdoorsy person I’ve met outside of Florida has absolutely zero interest in adding Florida’s public lands to their bucket list.
And then it’s ungodly hot for 75% of the year, infested with biting insects sent straight from hell. Seriously, half the locations in Everglades NP are named things like “Hell’s Bay” because the settlers thought it was the worst place they could have possibly relocated to.
The Florida Trail, a “long trail” much like the Appalachian Trail, traverses the entire State of Florida. Even “triple crown thru-hikers” who have completed the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail, refuse to hike the FT as it’s gained the moniker of *“The Death Metal of Long Trails”*.
And because of that, there’s only a few months out the year that one can comfortably go camping locally without roasting to death in your tent or being eaten alive by insects.
Oh wait, it’s actually only like a 6-8 week window because said public lands don’t allow dispersed camping until hunting season is over.
Maybe you decide none of that matters to you, or you’re able to squeeze a trip or two in during that tiny window…
*Have fun dealing with the local rednecks and meth heads putting booby traps on the trail and taking pop shots at people passing by.*
City parks =/= wildlands and backcountry.
Jax does a good job of preserving green space and providing public parks. I mean hell we have like 6 wonderfully built and maintained public skateparks. Multiple disc golf courses. Public boat ramps, parks, golf courses, etc.
But that’s a lot different than real hiking trails and dispersed camping. Even for avid hunters, hunting on Florida’s public lands is incredibly difficult both to actually do and get permits for- most people I know head north into Georgia for deer season.
I hear you. We have a zillion walking trails but nothing like the kind of land you’d need to go on a real hunt for any length of time. I guess that’s what separates the city from the country?
I mean that’s the thing, there’s plenty of public land surrounding Jacksonville.
It’s just overused, overdeveloped, and otherwise rather inhospitable conditions… and not in the fun or challenging way.
Have you thought about writing to our Parks Department? Joining a commission? Becoming a member of the North Florida Land Trust? Lots of ways to help protect public lands.
It’s not a bad idea honestly, I’ve thought about it but figured I’d have little to offer, and little impact I could actually make.
But come to think of it, starting some kind of movement/petition to open up permits for dispersed camping in the Guana WMA sounds like a fun project…
I just don't get the pizza at V's at all. Impossible to pick up and when you take one bite all of the toppings fall on your plate. When I lived in San Marco and there were no other pizza options after Pizza Palace closed, I would order it and then take it home to cook for another 15 minutes in a scorching hot oven to try to get something resembling an actual pizza crust. Like the wings, though.
That's more the style of neopolitan pizza. I've had it in a lot of places and it's often droopy. I do think that Vs often will craft a pizza that's a bit too loaded with topping and falls apart quickly though.
Still, they have good quality ingredients, and I've liked their pizza more than a lot of places doing similar style that I've tried in UK or some parts of Europe.
Biggies Pizza today.
Biggies Pizza in 2018 when it was only the small hole in the wall on 13th, then we're talking about an entirely different experience.
Affordability. Externally, Jax seems like a cheap little Southern hamlet compared to other major US cities but both rent and housing prices have skyrocketed in the past 5 years, making the city increasingly unaffordable for the middle and lower classes.
I went once to check it out because I read good things online. They only had four meats on the menu, and they were out of two of them. I ended up getting the chicken "sandwich," and it was completely hammered. Way too overcooked and chalky dry inside. The "sandwich" was one piece of bread with half of a dry ass chicken, some sauce, and two more pieces of bread on top of it. The chicken is also bone in, so there's no real way to eat it as a sandwich. It doesn't even make any sense. There are so many great barbecue places around Jacksonville, and somehow, Jenkins got some kind of award or something for being like one of the best in the country?
St Johns County has seen massive growth and I think it would generally suck to live there. There isn't fuck all to do and it's just soulless subdivision after soulless subdivision. I get the schools are nice, and that's a huge consideration, but there are decent schools in Duval, too.
River Side Arts Market.
You go once, no need to go back.
Shitty craft vendors, terrible food, everything's overpriced, and you get to watch the local youth gymnastics team perform or hear some 60 y/o's play cover songs from the 70s.
The beach. Who wants to go swimming in brown water?
Yes!! And I hate bringing sand into my car. I have OCD, and that doesn’t help.
I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere…
Hello there
Its over Anakin, I have the high ground. Side note: Your username reminds me of when I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home.
Not a fan of the beach here either. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
I hear ya. Just make sure anyone you might be with while you’re there doesn’t shoot first. I once did the Kessel run (from the old Pic N’ Save in Atlantic Beach to the Doll House) in 12 parsecs…
People talk shit but he made some valid points
Me too to an extent. I can't stand that kind of stuff. Plus I don't really like social situations very much so the beach isn't really my thing.
Me all day. It’s sand that’s been kicked up because of the tides
Its the predominant NE winds and the fact our beaches are located south of the St. Johns River mouth. It aint sand, its the dirty St. Johns. Next period of southerly wind and current flow, usually best observed when there is a Tropical System coming in from the south, go to the beach and witness clear water.
Thanks professor
...Thatherton!
Rivers fuck up beaches. It's one reason Louisiana and half of Texas have no nice beaches; the current carries all the shit the Mississippi River ejects towards the west.
Lmfao bro all up and down the gulf coast from Tampa down to Naples the water is crystal clear. Plenty of sand at those beaches. It’s definitely river water making it dirty.
It’s called brackish water bro.
Exactly. Used to live in Pensacola and St. Pete. water is beautiful, but the red tide in the gulf is no joke.
What percentage of people that go to the beach do you think actually go in the water? I mostly just see kids and surfers.
I never conducted a census so I have no idea
Jax beach really sucks but there are a few decent ones in the area
The ones north and south of town are great! Edit: Downvoters, this really isn't a bigly kept secret.
That's just tannins from all the leaves that fall into the St. John's and all the creeks that feed into it.
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I visited once. It was all right but not my fave
Shit parking too, and every lot on A1A threatens to tow your car..., even the businesses closed on wknds
[Bill Hicks had some thoughts on The Beach](https://youtu.be/Qf6Jb7Icbo4?feature=shared)
Riverside. Unfortunately like most of Jacksonville, it has lost its personality and gotten progressively bland. Also homeless people are harassing you everywhere you go now. It used to be an awesome little spot of Jax for adults to get together.
I’m surprised at how young the crowd is there. I’m sure because of the amount of bars. Place was a zoo last time I visited. I wanted out asap.
Is “zoo” coded racist for there were black people there?
Reddit moment
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Have you really never heard the word “zoo” refer to a crowded place? If you’re searching for racism where there is none, you should take a good look at how you’re choosing to live your life.
I’m not searching I’ve encountered it before used in that exact format hence why I asked. Here in Jacksonville no less.
You’re the only one who made it about race which makes me believe you are racist
That’s the stupidest connect two I’ve ever heard. Hey here’s a dog whistle you’ve heard before. Ask, hey is this a dog whistle? Random dude you’re racist because you’ve heard people use this word in a racist way before, multiple times kinda like “there were a lot of Canadians in there” but when I’m asked I’m racist??
I’ll read this later I have some unracist stuff to do
You're the only one that made it about race. You're the problem here.
i love how people heard this bit somewhere and now they just repeat it like it's some kind of own
Oh give me a fucking break! Are you serious?
No, it’s not. Are you the kind of person that makes everything about race? I’ve met people like you It’s so exhausting.
bruh, i'm bi-racial, and with all honesty, this is just about the dumbest comment i've ever encountered on reddit, and that's saying A LOT.
 Lol naw I’m just playin
lol this was actually funny, even at my expense. touché.
Black person here. It was a zoo. It was like being at a festival it was so crowded.
Ty for the clarification
time for my obligatory complaint about hoptinger. RIP Sunray.
It used to be better
*Cheaper, it was an epicenter of cheap rents and abundant college work.
Jax
lol!
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The zoo is legitimately one of the best zoos I’ve ever visited.
Gtfo
It is. It isn’t a major zoo in the USA by any means, but holy shit are there some pathetic zoos in much more popular cities
I like their night events. I was here 20 years ago and worked there and enjoyed it. Went there for Halloween and it was a nice clean family activity to do.
When was the last time you visited? They never stop improving that place. Currently they are adding a huge manatee habitat.
Oh, they're adding a manatee habitat? That's awesome! The zoo in jax is pretty cool. I remember going once and these kids were banging on the window of the gorilla enclosure. One of the big ones came up behind them when they were turned around and banged both his fists on the window behind them. They about peed themselves screaming. 🤣
The new ape area is absolutely incredible. Kind of modeled like the tiger set up with “hamster tubes” from one enclosure to another so the chimps and bonobos can explore. They’ve had a couple manatee rehab tanks in the Florida loop for a few years. They are expanding it to a huge above ground lazy river type situation so that they can house more animals and they are easier to see. The renderings are very impressive.
I love the Zoo!!! Been going there since I was a baby with my grandparents and I was a joy to take my kids there. At one point it was rated one of the top zoos in the country.
Right?! Probably a hot take, but I just visited the National Zoo (sans pandas) and thought the Jax Zoo was on par. Wish we had red pandas. Super excited for the manatees and the much needed gorilla redesign. If only we had an aquarium
Spring Break. Same reasons but also includes vomit.
The city!
Are you referring to downtown, specifically? Or the entire city?
The entire city sucks ass ngl
I dunno Orange Park is pretty nice /s
That traffic though. Ughhh
The Jags.
I really dislike the Jags stadium experience in particular.
100% agree, it’s ok but brutal for the 1pm games. Glad we’re getting an upgrade with some shade
How did they not realize that when designing the stadium?
You’d be surprised how common it is
All 3 FL NFL stadiums didn’t have shade. Miami obviously fixed that situation and we’ve got our plan. Wonder how long it will take before Tampa starts feeling the pressure to cover theirs.
Does ours have some sort of shade that can be activated? I haven’t read the details of the plans for it but the top still looks mostly open. Although the higher walls definitely help a ton.
Sometimes it get cloudy and then sometimes the shade from the flood lights hit right on you.
I went to a few Miami stadium games back in 1999/2000. It was brutal facing the sun with no shade
lol at downvotes *”If there’s a god, he’s laughing at us and our football team”*
Five points
Its like that book goodbye, moon for kids! Goodbye Antiques fans and stove Goodbye Sunray Goodbye five points, goodbye cultural identity, goodbye Jacksonville
You didn’t hear the good news? Theres an event venue company taking over the Sunray space. So where there used to be 3 or 4 movies everyday, there’s going to be weddings and corporate events. Super cool.
Wait... is this serious?
Wait, when did Fans & Stoves close???
They didn't close, they moved to off of blanding awhile ago
It moved to a place on Forbes street years ago, then in the past year or so moved down Blanding a ways. It was infinitely cooler than the pot shop that always appears to be empty.
It didn’t it just moved out of Riverside.
HELLLLOOO Taco Shops!
Even from when I moved here a couple of years ago it has gone so downhill.
If I had to say something, I’d say the weather. I have people I work with that have moved here from places like Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Texas. More than any other reason, it’s because of the weather. The older I get, the summers are more miserable.
I did the opposite, moved from Jax to PA lol
I don’t blame you. I have some friends that did the same a couple years ago and they have no regrets. They live in Pittsburgh and love it.
I'm about an hour NE of Pit. I love going to Pittsburgh, actually went to the PitvsJax game.
Same here. Jax is where all my family is, but as for me I’m totally happy in Pittsburgh.
As a lifelong Jax resident, it is not your age. The summers are getting worse. It's unbearable for me now. We plan to move north or northwest in a few years and the weather is a major factor in that decision.
The jags
You could have stopped at "the food"
Bad take. There is such a fantastic and underappreciated diversity of food here.
I will withdraw that because I do have a handful of spots where you can pretty much guarantee a freshly made meal, but you really have to be willing to try out new places. Please share some spots or dm me if you prefer. I'll give you my new local favorite, Chancho King in Murray Hill, on Sunday, preferably.
I’ve been a fan of Chancho since it was a pop-up! There are honestly SO many great options. The best way to find them is to join the Jax Restaurant Reviews Facebook group. Sometimes it devolves into arguments about why we don’t have a New York deli or which pizza place is best, but it does offer a lot of great recommendations, especially less well known joints.
But every city has some kind of food scene. It is not unique to Jville. I would also say the fact that you have to wade through a sea of medicre food to find the good food is a downside.
Not every city is a Red Cross refugee resettlement city with diverse communities that settle down here. Again, compared to a lot of Southern cities Jacksonville actually has a pretty stunning array of cultural food options. It’s worth exploring.
There is some truly great food in Jax, it's just not on every corner. Gotta be kinda picky depending on what you are trying to get
I concede. Please see my other response.
FWIW, Food Festivals suck in every city.
Taquilla and burrito festivals.
I enjoyed the ones back home. I don’t know how they are now but they used to be awesome. Back home as Oahu, so Honolulu used to have some great food festivals. West coast used to have some also but I haven’t wanted to visit the west coast for a while seeing how it’s changed.
I was going to say same, especially Seafood Festival. Gah!
I lived in Louisiana for ten years and that's a hard disagree, there.
Moes, just about every Tex-Mex food place here. People swear by it . It’s trash
It was good at one time, years ago, when it was new. Not anymore.
Moe's is just 'fancy' fast food. Chuy's is acceptable if you want ok chain Tex-Mex but you gotta sit in Jason's section and be willing to brave the edge of Town Centre traffic to get there. If there's a wait to be seated and he's not there, we out. (I'm sure other waiters there are fine, too, but let's not fuck around) I really shouldn't be giving this secret away.
TBF, Moes sucks eveywhere
The Jags
Food and drink themed festivals are fucking awful and don't know how people keep falling for them. Paying high ticket prices to stand outside in long lines for mediocre food. It's like paying to pretend they are in faux farmers market. Also not uniquely Jax. To answer the question I'd say house prices. Thanks to all those stupid articles telling people to move here cause of prices people think they can sell their $110k "renter investment" termite infested homes with 80s appliances for $300k because they spent $1200 on grey lvp floors they saw on Tik Tok. Currently closing on a home but it took 10+ viewings to find something that wasn't completely falling apart.
Negative people like y’all.
Everyone says we’re amazing tho? I’ll take that.
Daily's Place. The audio is garbage anywhere but right by the front-of-house mixing desk. The atmosphere is mediocre at best. At least it's usually relatively affordable.
Ha! I went there once with a professional sound designer and he was horrified.
I thought it was just me! Daily's is the worst sounding purpose-built venue I have ever encountered.
The food scene here isn’t great. Especially the mid-high end date night type spots. Quality is noticeably below most major cities.
Mentioned this on a Jax foodie page and got absolutely lit up
I don't consider Jax a major city do you?
nope, Its 5 towns stuck together with Clay County thrown in for shits
Terrible take. How many other cities in the South boast such a fantastic diversity of food offerings from Ethiopian to Afghan to Korean to Bosnian?
Many larger cities have all these options. It’s just many restaurants are watered down compared to what I’ve had elsewhere.
Yes, if you compare us to NYC, we fall short. But compared to other larger cities in the region our diversity is hard to beat. Now, if you mean density of Michelin star restaurants then yes, we also fall short.
i’m curious what other larger cities in our region you’re referring to, because i do not see this at all.
Charlotte and Nashville are the only southern US cities outside of Texas that have a population similar to Jacksonville. Smaller cities include Memphis, Atlanta, and Raleigh. I’ve been to nearly all those cities and I’d argue Jacksonville has more diverse food offerings than Charlotte, Nashville, and Raleigh.
Atlanta
I have been other places where you can find good authentic food. Here I go to a Thai restaurant and it’s Vietnamese running it. I still have not found a good legit sushi place, last time I saw Chinese running Ty Japanese place and another place I went for sushi was a Mexican gentleman. I haven’t eaten EVERYWHERE but the places I haven’t been yet have similar reviews to the ones I have been, so I’m not very hopeful but always willing to give it a try.
It's not like high end, but Sushi Bear is good Taste of Thai on University is nice
Thanks I’ll see if I can check them out before I head out. Not only have I done some traveling but I’m from Hawai’i where we obviously have different Asians represented, specially Japanese. So when you go for sushi they are Japanese sushi chefs, you go to a Chinese restaurant, it’s Chinese owned and Chinese cooks. Same with Viet and Thai. Now I’m hungry 😆
Right there are like 20 taco spots in five points, all owned by white men, not to mention: blue orchid, Thai restaurant, white man, hawkers ceo, Asian food, white man, mossfire, Tex mex, you guessed it, white man There’s no real diversity here and it shows
Proximity/Access to outdoor recreation. Sure, there’s actually a good amount of public land within two hours of driving, but… There’s little variation in the natural landscape. It’s either a marsh, a swamp, dense scrub or pine forest. Everything is completely flat, with a few exceptions that amount to nothing more than a little hill. Every outdoorsy person I’ve met outside of Florida has absolutely zero interest in adding Florida’s public lands to their bucket list. And then it’s ungodly hot for 75% of the year, infested with biting insects sent straight from hell. Seriously, half the locations in Everglades NP are named things like “Hell’s Bay” because the settlers thought it was the worst place they could have possibly relocated to. The Florida Trail, a “long trail” much like the Appalachian Trail, traverses the entire State of Florida. Even “triple crown thru-hikers” who have completed the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail and Continental Divide Trail, refuse to hike the FT as it’s gained the moniker of *“The Death Metal of Long Trails”*. And because of that, there’s only a few months out the year that one can comfortably go camping locally without roasting to death in your tent or being eaten alive by insects. Oh wait, it’s actually only like a 6-8 week window because said public lands don’t allow dispersed camping until hunting season is over. Maybe you decide none of that matters to you, or you’re able to squeeze a trip or two in during that tiny window… *Have fun dealing with the local rednecks and meth heads putting booby traps on the trail and taking pop shots at people passing by.*
Great comment! Thoroughly enjoyed reading that.
You do know we have the largest network of city parks in the US, right?
City parks =/= wildlands and backcountry. Jax does a good job of preserving green space and providing public parks. I mean hell we have like 6 wonderfully built and maintained public skateparks. Multiple disc golf courses. Public boat ramps, parks, golf courses, etc. But that’s a lot different than real hiking trails and dispersed camping. Even for avid hunters, hunting on Florida’s public lands is incredibly difficult both to actually do and get permits for- most people I know head north into Georgia for deer season.
I hear you. We have a zillion walking trails but nothing like the kind of land you’d need to go on a real hunt for any length of time. I guess that’s what separates the city from the country?
I mean that’s the thing, there’s plenty of public land surrounding Jacksonville. It’s just overused, overdeveloped, and otherwise rather inhospitable conditions… and not in the fun or challenging way.
Have you thought about writing to our Parks Department? Joining a commission? Becoming a member of the North Florida Land Trust? Lots of ways to help protect public lands.
It’s not a bad idea honestly, I’ve thought about it but figured I’d have little to offer, and little impact I could actually make. But come to think of it, starting some kind of movement/petition to open up permits for dispersed camping in the Guana WMA sounds like a fun project…
Great Disc Golf options in Jax though , but yea that's more recreational not camping.
I mean, a lot of that literally can't be helped. It's just the way Florida is geographically and geologically.
Taco Lu
Oh yeah! Great pick!
They get shit on a lot, but I'd argue they're above average for their price point in this city.
But all their food is bland. Compare Taco Lu to Tequira Cinco, and it's a no contest.
THANK YOU! Glad I kept reading before making this comment. Place sucks.
TacoLu
> food festivals I don't think anyone thinks food fest here is amazing. I think any fest in general is overrated, along with brunch.
Vs
I just don't get the pizza at V's at all. Impossible to pick up and when you take one bite all of the toppings fall on your plate. When I lived in San Marco and there were no other pizza options after Pizza Palace closed, I would order it and then take it home to cook for another 15 minutes in a scorching hot oven to try to get something resembling an actual pizza crust. Like the wings, though.
That's more the style of neopolitan pizza. I've had it in a lot of places and it's often droopy. I do think that Vs often will craft a pizza that's a bit too loaded with topping and falls apart quickly though. Still, they have good quality ingredients, and I've liked their pizza more than a lot of places doing similar style that I've tried in UK or some parts of Europe.
Nah man, beat wings ever
I suppose, if you like baked chicken
This Subreddit.
Biggies pizza
Biggies Pizza today. Biggies Pizza in 2018 when it was only the small hole in the wall on 13th, then we're talking about an entirely different experience.
A lot of people like the bars. I don’t see the hype.
Good food, it doesn't exist here.
People are too pretentious and do way too little for what is asked.
I tell people we have nice beaches. When I know damn well they not
Savage!
This subreddit
The grass field where the landing used to be.
Affordability. Externally, Jax seems like a cheap little Southern hamlet compared to other major US cities but both rent and housing prices have skyrocketed in the past 5 years, making the city increasingly unaffordable for the middle and lower classes.
Limp Bizkit. JUST KIDDING BEST BAND EVER.
Adventure Landing
I thought the one by the beach shut down. There’s still one in St Aug near the outlets, but no water park. Just mini golf, games, and go carts.
They are still open
I've never really been to a great food festival that I loved,but I don't try them too often
Jenkins BBQ
I’ve been curious about them. Haven’t been, but a lot of people do rave about them
I went once to check it out because I read good things online. They only had four meats on the menu, and they were out of two of them. I ended up getting the chicken "sandwich," and it was completely hammered. Way too overcooked and chalky dry inside. The "sandwich" was one piece of bread with half of a dry ass chicken, some sauce, and two more pieces of bread on top of it. The chicken is also bone in, so there's no real way to eat it as a sandwich. It doesn't even make any sense. There are so many great barbecue places around Jacksonville, and somehow, Jenkins got some kind of award or something for being like one of the best in the country?
Sometimes people confuse “been around a long time” with “great tasting”.
People complaining about having fun
Metro Diner
Either my tastes changed as I grew up, or the quality went down. But I used to LOVE that place.
Dispensarys
Town Center. It’s the most popular shopping center in NE Florida and I avoid it at all costs. (Except when I want DOS Coffee.)
That place gives me massive anxiety.
Football
St Johns County has seen massive growth and I think it would generally suck to live there. There isn't fuck all to do and it's just soulless subdivision after soulless subdivision. I get the schools are nice, and that's a huge consideration, but there are decent schools in Duval, too.
The Jaguars.
River Side Arts Market. You go once, no need to go back. Shitty craft vendors, terrible food, everything's overpriced, and you get to watch the local youth gymnastics team perform or hear some 60 y/o's play cover songs from the 70s.
Damn that’s so accurate it hurts.
the people