Jacksonville may be hot, but its people are constantly in heat—all worked up over their Jaguars. While the team has seen limited success since becoming a franchise in 1995, the fans are as rabid as ever, especially so when it comes to their in-state rivalry with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and nearby feline franchise, the Carolina Panthers.
Jacksonville is in love with Southern-style barbecue. You can find a smokehouse, barbecue restaurant or rib-joint on every corner. It’s next to impossible to get anyone to pick a favorite, but there is one thing they can all agree on: Jacksonville barbecue goes with everything. Enter Monroe’s—their barbecue love affair runs so deep that they’ve perfected the masterpiece of the barbecue taco. The brilliance of combining two of the area’s most popular meals into one gastronomic giant is something everyone in JAX digs.
There are Jimmy Buffett fans and then there are Jacksonville Parrot Heads. They swarm his shows, they have flip-flops permanently attached to their feet, they’ve absorbed the troubadour’s persona into the very fiber of their being, and if you are brave enough to listen closely, you can catch them dropping lines from ‘He Went to Paris’ like sage advice.
People in Jacksonville would laugh at the notion of spending the beginning of every year “getting ready for swimsuit season” but they’re too busy running laps to even take that into consideration. Here, bikini season is year round and there’s no better time than now to flex that beautiful beach bod.
Getting a line wet may be what some people do for a relaxing get away, but in Jacksonville it’s not called fishing until you’ve landed a keeper. Kingfish is the big game, amongst others, and the city has been hosting an annual tournament for nearly 30 years, which has only grown since its inception and served as fuel to the fire for Jacksonville’s most spirited anglers.
In Jacksonville the Great Divide is the Intracoastal Waterway or simply “the Ditch” and it separates the city from the beach. People who live at the beach look at city folk differently and vice versa. Particularly though, the surfers and beach bums don’t look at life on the other side of the ditch favorably. Statements like, “I’ve got to cross the ditch,” are said with malaise and can often be heard paired with “Can I catch a lift, bro?”
It is basically hot year round, but even when it’s cold some people won’t dress appropriately. Jacksonville is filled to the brim with ever-ready beach bums that are forever dressed for a swim, no matter what time of year or where they are at on the planet. Running some errands, spending time with the folks or out for a night on the town, you never know when the opportunity for a quick dip in the drink will present itself. So it’s best to be prepared. These folks can typically be found in the company of one or more Parrot Head and could possibly use a liftthat is if you are heading over the ditch.
Everyone in Jacksonville is a pro at some water sport or another. Surfers, skiers, anglers and wakeboarders all collide and love to be heard in the local watering holes dropping jargon loud enough so everyone within earshot will associate them with the proper clique.
While there are no “major” racetracks in Jacksonville, that doesn’t put a damper on the people’s enthusiasm for the most hallowed of all Southern sports. Nothing hollers Jacksonville like a case of cold ones and a caravan to the next stop on the Sprint Cup Series. But let’s get serious: breakneck speeds, intense rivalries, blinding branding and enough beer to flood pit row…what isn’t there to love?
This leads us to Jacksonville’s penchant for partaking in suds and spirits. Jacksonville is a vacation town, and when you combine the stellar weather, amazing beaches within reach and community of go-getters, you get a perpetual party that needs little excuse to throw down proper. If you need proof, just head to The Landings, which by day poses as you average outdoor shopping retreat, but come nightfall turns into a giant waterfront frat house.
