As July comes to an end, so does my Birthday Month and I am remembering back to the special trips my husband has treated me with over the years. He knows that I would much rather experience something new than to have something new and he always treats me to a road trip for my birthday. Last year in July, Sugar whisked me away to Jacksonville for a birthday weekend. This of course was a bit more than a day trip for us but depending on where you live or have plans to travel to, it could most certainly be one for you.
Not knowing much about the Jacksonville area I did a quick QA on social media and asked friends for tips. Someone recommended Little Talbot Island State Park as the best beach in the area and I am seriously going to hug her neck when I see her in person.
We loved the trip so much that we decided to do a repeat this year. The information in this post is from two separate trips but you could pick what appeals most to you and create a wonderful day, weekend or week long trip to this area. If you are a true beach lover this is the spot for you. We were in the area July 4-7 and could not believe that we were able to find a beach not crowded full of people.
Little Talbot Island State Park
We spent two days each trip at Little Talbot Island State Park. Tips: Pack beach provisions and gas up the car for the day (Ice, Water, Snacks, etc). There are very few spots to stop once you get off of I-95. This is a State Park and there is a small entry fee per vehicle ($5 when we were there). The park has opening and closing hours, two bath houses with restrooms, outdoor beach showers, a vending machine, plenty of pic-nic shelters with charcoal grills, park rangers but no life guard is on duty on the beach. Pack a trash bag and be prepared to take everything back out of the park that you bring in. The area is pristine and you will definitely want to keep it that way. Be prepared to see wildlife and to leave everything as you found it, removing beach artifacts is illegal on this beach. We saw turtles, dolphins and many different types of birds during our four visits. We found that on the weekdays the beach is mostly secluded, especially the further out you walk but on the weekends there are a few more people and if you want a pic-nic shelter you might wish to arrive early.
https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/little-talbot-island-state-park
We took a side trip to Big Talbot Island State Park and visited Bone Yard Beach: The cost to enter is $3 per vehicle. It’s an honor system with a box so be sure to have correct change. Here you will find a nice parking lot with pic-nic shelters. There are no facilities. Because of Dune restoration you cannot walk onto the beach from the parking lot. There’s a short, less than half a mile, trail through the woods (jungle) to get to the beach access area. It’s actually a short, fun little curvy walk. Have bug spray handy and wear appropriate foot wear. We saw quite a few folks biking in this area. Apparently there’s a popular bike trail from one end of the Island to the other. The beach is beautiful but is not in an area that you can swim. We found that the area is more for walking than for playing and sunbathing. Although it might be a cool place for a sunset pic-nic. We were told this is the best spot in the area to watch the sunrise. Somehow trapsing through that trail in the dark gives me the creeps though.
We drove further up the A1A to Fernandina Beach: This is a much more populated beach with shops and restaurants but was still not overly crowded like we are used to along the South Carolina Coast. At Fernandina Beach you can actually drive your vehicle onto the beach and lay out as if you are tailgating. Interesting and Cool. Sugar thinks it’s terrible and shouldn’t be allowed because of engine emissions and oil leakage. We found the cutest beach front bar and enjoyed a seafood lunch. The bar had SWINGS instead of stools. HOW FUN! After enjoying lunch we drove a short distance to their shopping district and tooled in and out of locally owned shops. It’s a very cute waterfront town that we could definitely spend more time in if given the opportunity.
Restaurants along the A1A
After spending the entire day on the beach, enjoying a pic-nic and watching the sunset we reluctantly, only because the facility was actually closing, packed up, cleaned up and decided to stop at one of the water front restaurants we had passed on the drive in. At the Sand Dollar we sat outside and watched container ships, fishing and Shrimping boats, personal water craft and a ferry travel across the water way. We could also see the air force base just across the water where someone was practicing their take off and landing techniques.
At The Palms Fish Camp we sat out on their dock and listened to a fun little band while enjoying Mayport Shrimp and cocktails. Many of their patrons appear to travel there by boat. Lucky Ducks!!
Jacksonville:
We rolled into the area on both trips just in time to catch the amazing fireworks. Trip #1 we could see them all around us as we crossed the many bridges that you will find in this city. Trip #2 we arrived in time to throw our things into the condo and head back downtown to catch the show from the downtown riverfront area.
The River and Post Restaurant has the most epic rooftop bar I have ever seen and y’all I have fallen in love with many rooftops in my day. This rooftop has the best view of the St. John River that runs through downtown Jacksonville. The Skyline in all it’s glory looks so lovely and inviting. It’s well covered, so can be enjoyed no matter the weather, AC/Heaters were both visible. They had the best bar seating that looked out over the river plus table and booth seating for larger groups. They do feature live music as well but it had not started yet when we were there. This City has learned to not let Mother Nature stop them from enjoying the gorgeous views. It’s open air so bring alight jacket if you are easily chilled by the wind. Before going up to check out the rooftop we enjoyed a romantic dinner on the first floor in their main restaurant. Sugar had planned a sunset cruise of the St. John River but due to impending storms it had been canceled. Our young, waiter at River and Post had many recommendations of ways we could enjoy the night and the #1 was to check out their rooftop. He did not steer us wrong in any of his suggestions.
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We did spend a little more time in Jacksonville during our second visit. The Town Center Mall has everything you could ever want and more and not too far from there we found Metro Dinner, known for their HUGE portions and being featured on the Food Networks, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The food was in fact devine but it was NOT healthy if that’s what you are into.
There’s so much more I could tell you about this area of the Country, so many side trips that can be taken while staying in Jacksonville, many, many beaches to explore but I know we’ll be back so for now I will leave you with this, if ever in the area also check out https://www.dailysplace.com/ We were able to snagg two, fantastic seats at the last minute to see Rob Thomas (front man for Matchbox 20) in this very cool open air, yet covered amphitheater. The arena is attached to the Jax Jaguar Stadium. It was super easy to get in and out of the parking lot, there were no parking fees, the tickets were inexpensive and perfect, center stage. We hope to see another show in this Amphitheater again in the future.
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