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Tips & Traps
Insider advice from Local Friends and travelers. What to do, and what to avoid, city by city.
- TipA place or a move worth it
- TrapWhat to avoid, and how
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Insider advice from Local Friends and travelers. What to do, and what to avoid, city by city.
Join RALF to share your own tips and traps
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Casa Marina is a 1925 oceanfront hotel in Jacksonville Beach and a Historic Hotels of America member. It has just 23 rooms and suites, each styled after a different era of its history, plus a rooftop Penthouse Lounge with ocean views. It suits travelers who want beach mornings in a landmark rather than a chain hotel…
On the third Thursday of each month, from 5 to 9 pm, the Beaches Town Center in Neptune Beach, around Atlantic Boulevard and First Street, hosts the North Beaches Art Walk. It has run rain or shine since 2007, mixing local artists, live music and the shops and restaurants of the town center. Walk the few blocks to the…
On the first Wednesday of every month, from 5 to 9 pm, downtown Jacksonville becomes a self-guided art crawl over more than 15 blocks centered on James Weldon Johnson Park. Galleries, museums and restaurants take part, with artist booths, street performers and live music along the way. It runs rain or shine, so do not…
The Ritz Theatre and Museum stands in LaVilla, the historic Black neighborhood once called the Harlem of the South, on the site of a 1929 movie house. The theater hosts concerts, comedy and community events centered on African American music and culture. Opening times depend on events, so look at the schedule and buy…
The Florida Theatre downtown opened in 1927 as the largest theater in Florida, with Mediterranean Revival interiors of marble, wrought iron and terra cotta. A restoration finished in October 2023 repainted the proscenium to its 1927 look and refurbished the balcony tapestries. It books rock, jazz, comedy and dance, so…
The Jacksonville Farmers Market on West Beaver Street dates from 1938 and fills its stalls with produce plus imported and ethnic specialty goods that are hard to find elsewhere. There is a restaurant on site and the market is kid friendly. Published hours differ between sources, so check before you drive out, and note…
Friendship Fountain on the Southbank was rebuilt and reopened in early 2024 with a waterfall wall and choreographed water, light and sound displays that run nightly against the downtown skyline. Walk over from the Northbank on the Main Street Bridge, then settle at the circular seating around dusk and stay for the…
The Cummer Museum's historic gardens run down to the St. Johns River in Riverside. Ellen Shipman's Italian garden, designed in 1931, has two long reflecting pools and ends in a marble fountain, with the huge Cummer Oak shading the beds. The gardens are on the National Register of Historic Places, so give yourself time…
Kingsley Plantation, on Fort George Island, is a National Park Service site with a barn, a kitchen house and the remains of tabby cabins where enslaved people lived. The planter's house, the oldest standing plantation-era house in Florida, is closed on weekdays because of structural concerns and opens in limited…
JTA has announced that the free downtown Skyway will stop carrying passengers on November 2, 2026, as part of budget cuts, and its future is undecided. Plan on JTA buses or a walk across the pedestrian-friendly Main Street Bridge to link the two riverbanks. Bus service also gets less frequent from the same date. Older…
The St. Johns River Ferry links Mayport with Fort George Island, and boats leave roughly every half hour from each side. It is a short hop across the river, and it lands on the same island as Kingsley Plantation. The ferry has been stopped for repairs before, including in 2018 and spring 2025, so check the JTA service…
From May through October, sea turtles nest on Florida's Atlantic beaches, including the Jacksonville Beaches stretch. Beach lights, phone screens and flashlights can turn a mother turtle back to the sea and send hatchlings inland. Keep lights off unless you truly need them, fill in holes, flatten sandcastles and take…
Kathryn Abbey Hanna Park, on the Atlantic side near Mayport, has more than 20 miles of trails, from wide, flat paths for families to steep single-track with log crossings for experienced riders. The campground store rents mountain bikes and kayaks, so you can arrive without gear. Gates open at 8 am daily and closing…
Jenkins Quality Barbecue has served Jacksonville since 1957, smoking ribs, half chickens and pork over oak in open brick pits. Its signature is a hot, mustard-based sauce rather than a tomato one. Ribs and chicken come on slices of white bread, which helps cool the heat, while the pork arrives on a seeded bun. Start…
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