I've gone to Jacksonville for most of these games since I was a freshman at UF, and this year I was blessed to have amazing seats to the game. Now I have alumni friends and family that live at the beaches so this game gives me an excuse to visit them. I tend to have a great time since I get the best of both worlds. However this year we did lose so it wasn't as amazing as it could have been. My sister came into town with her fiance and I drove over with my boyfriend to stay in Neptune beach for the weekend. We had dinner at Salt Life (like the stickers you see on the back of everyone's cars) which is a casual but nice seafood restaurant specializing in Poke Bowls. It's a tuna roll without the seaweed served in a bowl, but it's delicious! Then we went out to Pete's since it's basically tradition now that we stop in just to make sure it's still in business. This bar is grungy but welcoming. It has a jukebox pool tables, and a lot of smoke. It's Jacksonville's version of the Palace Saloon. Then we went over to Ragtime which was filled with beach goers that were all about 40 and up but everyone was decked out in either red, orange, or blue. I love spending time in Atlantic beach and bouncing around to the bars and I highly recommend staying at the beach instead of downtown. We usually will have a beach day in there somewhere but a cold front came through which left us in long pants and sweaters.
On gameday the best spot to be is in the fairgrounds, but we just parked in the ghetto in an empty lot for $25 and walked over to the party. First we had to buy some boiled peanuts from the buy selling them from his bike, use the bathroom in the church where they were hosting a watch party, turn down the mobile paper towel sale out of the back of a truck, and finally eat our publix subs for lunch and then we could walk over to the fairgrounds. We hopped around to a couple of friend's tailgates before heading into the game. A word to the wise, make sure you get a precise tailgate location before heading into the fairgrounds because you'll be walking around forever looking for them. For those who tailgate in the fairgrounds, you can rent a port-o-potty for only a couple hundred and it's well worth it because the lines are not fun! Especially with a belly full of beer :)
It was about that time so we ate a couple more drunken gummy bears and headed into the game. I arranged for the six of us to sit together in the club level Gators side of course, but little did we know we would be in the front row on the 45 yard line! We jumped for joy as we walked down to row A for our seats. Although we were screaming our lungs out hoping the Gators would pull ahead, in the meantime we made friends with the security officials, the flight crew who did the fly over, but most importantly Albert and Alberta. We were on TV a few times and had a blast although we lost. I knew I was going to hear about it in the office back in Tallahassee on Monday, but for now we were having fun. The game ended and we headed back to our car and made the drive back across the bridge to the beaches. Stopped in to Poe's Tavern for some comfort food and to watch the Alabama game on TV (for the boyfriend since he came to my game). The food there never disappoints and the soups are delicious.
The next morning we had a big farewell at Metro Diner, where the wait is so long they dispense free coffee out front so you don't leave. I got the Yo Hala on the Square which I will not be ordering again. It was two massive slices of Challah bread stuffed with sauteed bananas and cream cheese, then prepared like french toast topped with a berry sauce. It was enough to feed a few people and it seemed a little doughey and gooey for me. I'm a more traditional breakfast gal, but I like to find out if a restaurant's specialty actually tastes good. It's VERY sweet and VERY big. Another recommendation I would make for food while visiting Jacksonville Beach is Taco Lu which usually has a long wait too but they're moving to a larger location so we can all fit! I look forward to another excuse to visit the beaches of Jacksonville!
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