Thank you for considering sponsoring the Happy Hour on the Lawn: an Eveningfor Legal Aid! The success of this event turns in large part on the contributions of our local businesses. Your support will make considerable strides in not just ensuring the success of this event but also the long-term viability of Legal Aid. Below is some information about the sponsorship levels.
Two eating posts in one day? Two posts in one day? This must be a modern miracle. Then again, nothing gets me going more than food.
Black Sheep is perhaps my favorite bar, restaurant, hang-out all merged into one in Jacksonville. It helps that it’s a stone throw away from my house, features great views, has great food, and the people there are always stunning.
If you go for lunch, I recommend the banh mi (notice a trend between this post and the last one?). Although, the chicken salad is pretty ridiculously amazing. A few more establishments like this, and Jacksonville’s culinary scene will be on the map.
I also recommend drinks on their rooftop. At times, it makes me think I’m in an urban mecca. Great views, great service, and great food – what’s there to complain of? More reasons I love Jax!
Coming from Washington, DC, I’m very rarely inspired by the food in Jacksonville (although there are LOTS of hidden gems that will be profiled soon in these pages). However, one key exception to this is the hole-in-the-wall that is Chomp Chomp.
Not only is this fine establishment named after the noise that my favorite animal makes, but, in addition, this establishment offers AMAZING food at even more amazing prices. While only offering sandwiches, tacos, and salads, this place certainly packs a punch and everything I’ve ordered has always been delicious.
I’m a bit partial to the banh mi and the westsider, myself. Kinda hard to screw up fried chicken and blue cheese, as well as marinated pork, I suppose. But, whatever these people put in their sandwiches, it works.
Whenever you’re on the prowl for great food in downtown Jacksonville, look no further than Chomp Chomp. I promise it’ll amaze.
After a long summer hiatus studying for the bar exam, I’m back and ready to explore more of all the things I love about Jacksonville! Last night reminded me all of the reasons that I love this city so much.
Last night, the wife and I decided to have dinner with some friends before they left for greener pastures in New York City. These friends, being much more cultured and hip than we are, had caught wind that Wynton Marsalis would be performing an impromptu, unannounced performance at Parlour, Jacksonville’s best (only?) speak-easy. Now, I could do a whole blog post about Parlour, and I probably will the next time I visit, but combining that venue with one of Jazz’s gods is just too ridiculously cool.
Now, for those of you that are unaccustomed to jazz (i.e., me before I franatically read everything I could find on Wynton Marsalis on Wikipedia before my phone died), this dude Wyn is a pretty big deal. He’s won 9 grammys (including 5 in a row), has honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, won the Pultizer prize, etc., etc., etc. He’s basically won life.
Apparently, we weren’t the only brilliant people who decided to check out a jazz god at a 40 person venue. Fortunately, our friend had made reservations and we were able to get in just as he started his set. I’m not sure what exactly Heaven is, but I’m pretty sure this is pretty close. All around fantastic night with a real luminary. Good stuff, Jax!
Growing up in Florida, I always took our sunrises and sunsets for granted. I just assumed everywhere in the world got to see such vibrant colors every day. Take it from someone who barely ever saw the sun during the Boston winters — this is not true.
Florida’s really special in haivng spectacularly vibrant sunsets and sunrises. 
Jacksonville is particularly lucky because so many of our sunrises and sunsets can be seen over the glow of the water, either at the beach or the St. John’s river.
Even if you’re not a morning person (and, I’m most certainly not — anything before the double digit hours is painfully early for me), you can still check out nature’s pretty awesome showing-off session every day at sunrise. And, trust me, make sure you get your fix of sunsets before you leave Jax!
Continuing my love of Jacksonville’s downtown, I’m constantly amazed by how easy it is to park here. Of all the major or even mid-sized cities that I’ve visited, Jacksonville is by far the easiest, or one of the easiest, cities to find parking. I think there’s at least three reasons why parking in downtown Jacksonville is so great.
First, we got a cool app that helps you find parking. How cool is that?
Second
, many, many of the meters downtown take credit cards. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cursed the change gods for failing to leave me a spare quarter in my car — those problems are a thing of the past. Woohoo, twenty first century solutions to nineteenth century problems.
Third, parking in this city is absurdly cheap! I can park downtown for 50 cents an hour. That’s insane. In Washington DC, where I just moved from, parking was $2 an hour. Now, sure, there’s a greater premium on parking in DC which might justify higher parking rates. But, whatever the case, you’re not going to see me complaining about parking in Jacksonville. I’m taking my $1.50/hour straight to the bank!
Jacksonville sure loves its fishing – and it’s not surprising to see why. We’re surrounded by so much water and access to incredibly fresh fish (although, it’s a bit unclear whether the fish in the St. Johns river is actually healthy to eat. Fortunately for me, I can never catch anything, so I don’t need to worry about this problem!). But, Jacksonville is unique because this city is filled with residents who love to fish at midnight.
Since I’m a fishing novice, I did some research and it appears that fishing at night is pretty good since more fish are out. Then again, since the entire city of Jacksonville appears to be out fishing at night, it’s unclear why these fish think its safe to swim around. Nonetheless, it’s pretty cool to see the river walk along the St. Johns crowded at night with amateur fishermen.
The next time you’re out at night in Jacksonville, look for the fishermen. They’re hard to miss. And remember that not every city has a river running through it, filled with fishes. Nor does every city have a cool friendly fishermen vibe.
And, if you see an abandoned fishing pole like the one on the right, take your hand at fishing — you surely cannot do any worse than I do on a typical night 🙂
Sure, Jacksonville’s downtown leaves a little bit to be desired. I think everyone can concede that. But, where we lack on marquee skyscrapers, we make up with some pretty ridiculous art on buildings. Seriously, the next time you’re downtown, just look around and you’ll see some pretty spectacular artwork. I’m not quite sure who’s behind all these awesome mural projects, but this website seems pretty cool.
One of my favorite art murals is on Chamblin’s Uptown bookstore. This futurist orange islands floating in the blue sky theme doesn’t really make sense to me, but it’s gorgeous. (As an aside, Chamblin’s is a pretty fantastic bookstore — more on that in a future post).
Downtown Jacksonville is constantly getting more art — two new art pieces went up during OneSpark, alone. The mural wall art movement is spreading to Riverside as well (woohoo!). So, the next time you complain about downtown, just remember that not every downtown has such cool art just hanging out.
I’m not quite sure I understand why I love Memorial Park so much. Perhaps it’s because of the ridiculous views of the St. John’s River. Or maybe it’s because of the incredibly gaudy angel statute in the middle of the park (fun little factoid about the statute below). Or maybe it’s because I live next door to it and therefore don’t have to walk too far to access beautiful greenery.
But whatever it is, Jacksonville’s incredibly blessed to have such a cool park. I try to head out there at least two or three times a week. Most days, I can find a good number of people fishing, playing with their kids, or playing frisbee. On the occasional Saturday, I see a wedding out there and think it’s pretty awesome that there is this amazing wedding venue in this public park. 
As promised — the fun fact about the statute in the middle of the park: It’s called “Life” and it was designed by Charles Adrian Pillars. Mr. Pillars was a First Coast resident for more than 25 years (or so says the ever reliable Wikipedia) and he’s also responsible for the two works of art from Florida at the National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C. So, not only did I learn about Mr. Pillars but I also learned there is a National Statutary Hall (will need to check that out the next time I’m in DC).
If you haven’t checked out Memorial Park, you’re missing one of Jacksonville’s true gems. I recommend it — although if you go and you see someone horrendous at tossing a frisbee, please don’t judge me 🙂
Hi there! Thanks for finding my blog and visiting. I’m a North Florida native and currently live in Jacksonville. I recently moved back after being away for the past ten years or so. Since coming back home, I’ve fallen in love with Jacksonville and thought I’d create a blog to share my enthusiasm for the city. Please visit often — I’ll try to update daily (or almost daily)!
I Love Jax! 