Posted on 01/26/2005 4:42:47 AM PST by OXENinFLA
Right after Chad Lewis caught that touchdown pass with about four minutes to go, the touchdown that cemented the victory and ensured the Philadelphia Eagles would be in the Super Bowl, some guy in the stands joyfully held up a sign that said, "We're Going To Jacksonville."
And I thought: What on earth is second prize? You have to build there?
How did Jacksonville get the Super Bowl? What, Tuscaloosa was booked?
If going to Jacksonville for a week is the reward New England and Philadelphia get for being the best teams in the NFL this year, Peyton Manning ought to be happy he didn't get there. Imagine how Manning would have felt, having to play all year in Indianapolis, and then landing in Jacksonville? Which gods would he have offended to get that killer quinella?
The NFL must see itself as handing out some sort of charity when it awards the Super Bowl to any place other than New Orleans, Miami and Southern California. Because, believe me, nobody wants the game to be anywhere but there. So when the NFL insists on putting it in outposts like Detroit, Houston or Minneapolis, people ask, "Are you guys nuts?" But when you pick Jacksonville, people are agape and say, "Who in Jacksonville has a photo of Tagliabue with a goat?"
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Yeah, how many feet of snow did you get there this January, huh? OK, well, never mind.
Don't know about Jax, but here in central VA it's been ice, ice, ice!
Same here. Class of '75. (damn I'm gettin' old)
/jasper
Poor poor dumba$$ Ray. That incident also sealed the deal on Buckhead's demise. Durn shame what has happened to Buckhead.
Julington Creek lends a bit of truth to the saying: "I've got some real nice swamp-land in Florida for sale."
/jasper
I've been to Clarks and it is good!
Clarks Fish Camp.
"Whitey's Fish Camp? Be sure to bring your gun along. It's the last redneck outpost on Fleming Island. Scary place."
You're kidding!!! Salt of the earth people. You could never be safer.
"I remember eating there frequently when I was a kid. Good to hear that it is still there."
Rebuilt. They had a fire a couple of years ago in the office upstairs. The electrical wiring caused the fire. Most of their employees had been with them for years and they helped them all find jobs until they could get the place rebuilt.
All the old employees are back with them. They must have found a taxidermist with a large collection because they replaced some of the stuffed wildlife.
The place is always packed and the food is just as good as always. And, the service is friendly, efficient and fast.
"Jacksonville is a working town and we had a paper mill in the northern part of the county that was a major player in the aroma department."
Don't forget about the surrounding areas like Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach...it also has paper mills and it stinks to high heaven during certain parts of the year. Not saying it isn't a nice area, but there is a major aroma smell!>>
Fernandina...YUP. Brunswick, Georgia too.
It used to be so bad in Jacksonville in the northern part of the county that your eyes would sting and your breath catch in your throat. It is so much better than it used to be.
I love St. Luke's Hospital. It is positively a gem.
Yes, I'm kidding. Mostly.
:^)
The area where Whitey's Fish Camp is located has changed greatly in the past 10 years. You would be hard-pressed to find a real red neck if you tried. The area is now known as Fleming Island and it is quite upscale, and has nary a true Southerner left living there.
Nary a true Southerner? F.I. still has a bunch of 'em, even if I did leave. And Whitey's is full of 'em on Friday nights. Recent Friday nights, not 10 years ago, bless your heart.
F.I. used to have an airstrip for the navy base touch-n-go's there. Thunderbolt Road ring a bell?
Also, are you aware of the ghost sightings in Hibernia Plantation? Some say Margaret Fleming's family still haunts the swamps there, since the Civil War. We used to drive down there from J'ville as kids, hoping and fearing to see them.
Middleburg was a known Klan enclave and still is, for that matter, and to Clay County's shame. They come up to Orange Park Town Hall to march for something, once a year. Everyone hoots at them and abuses them mightily.
Some folks (*ahem* much OLDER than I) even remember the knife fights (back in the 70's) at the Holiday Inn in Orange Park.
It'll take more than a few Eagle Harbors to totally run out THAT kind of history!
Don't dial the Wayback machine on me!!
:O)
Thunderbolt Road now has an elementary school on it. The drag strip is long gone.
The growth in our county is phenomenal.
"Fernandina...YUP. Brunswick, Georgia too.
It used to be so bad in Jacksonville in the northern part of the county that your eyes would sting and your breath catch in your throat. It is so much better than it used to be."
Don't remind me...LOL! It was especially bad when the wind was blowing (whew!), but it is much better now.
Do you live in northern Florida?
I did...now I live in "Hurricane Alley"...Central Florida.
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