Discover Jacksonville 2017

WELCOME
Families from all over Northeast Florida flock to the ocean, including Mickler's Landing Beach Park in Ponte Vedra Beach, for some fun in
the sun. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union)
Discover the flow of the First Coast
Water is the crown jewel — and a way of life.
By Ronald L. Littlepage
You haven’t really discovered
Jacksonville until you’ve seen the
city from the water.
You may think of downtown as
nothing extraordinary until you’ve seen
the skyline from a boat in the St. Johns
River, approaching from the south, in
the early evening when the wind is calm
and the river smooth, sparkling lights
reflected in the water’s mirrored surface.
And you may have caught glimpses of
the marshes of the Timucuan preserve
and the tidal creeks that lace through
them from a roadway or a bridge, but
you haven’t absorbed their beauty
until you’ve experienced them in a
kayak, canoe or paddleboard riding the
outgoing tide past wading birds and
oyster beds.
Water is the soul of Jacksonville. The
beaches of Big and Little Talbot islands,
preserved and protected as parks, are
spectacular.
The marshes of the similarly protected
Timucuan, their grasses ever changing in
a parade of yellows, greens and browns,
stretch for miles to the Nassau County
line.
The St. Johns River, one of 14
American Heritage rivers, ends its
310-mile journey here, emptying into
the blue-green waters of the Atlantic at
Mayport.
It was near there that the French
explorer Jean Ribault first dropped
anchor in the St. Johns in 1562. He was
awed by the river’s riches, the abundant
fish and wildlife.
Those riches are still there today.
I’ve been fortunate to spend many
hours on the water in Jacksonville.
I’ve seen bald eagles, roseate
spoonbills, great blue herons, egrets,
kingfishers, gallinules, marsh hens,
pelicans, wood storks and myriad other
birds.
I’ve watched as pods of dolphins,
swimming in water so shallow it barely
covered them, shoot across a tidal bay as
swift as a speedboat, herding mullet onto
the bank and grabbing a quick meal.
I’ve had manatees swim around my
kayak.
I’ve paddled along the narrow creeks
and tributaries of the St. Johns into
forests that are undisturbed, lush and
green, past deer, turkeys, squirrels and
rabbits.
The waters of Jacksonville are
working waters. They carry commerce,
and shrimpers and crabbers earn their
livings on them.
They are also fun waters, for sailing,
fishing and skiing.
But to know them, you have to get out
on the water. Find a boat, a canoe or a
kayak and go exploring. Find an out-ofthe-way
place and learn it, make it your
own.
Or hook up with a group on a party
barge, or get behind a ski boat, or find a
fishing guide, or take a walk along the
beach.
But get out on the water. That’s when
you will truly discover Jacksonville.
Florida Times-Union
writer since 1978, Ronald
L. Littlepage has traveled,
fished and enjoyed the area
waters for more than 35
years.
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