Tag Archives: Hurricane Dora

A Place on the Water: Alligators, Sponge Fishing and a Sacred Spit in Big Fishweir

Posted on June 9, 2023 | Leave a comment

Click below for this week’s story, or navigate the city through the search bar or the direction buttons at the top of the page:

Ten years old, Melvin Knowles strung up the alligator he’d shot. Later, he’d go sponge fishing off Key West. And it was that spit of land in Big Fishweir Creek behind the house on Morningside that became sacred to him, the same place his daughter once rescued her cat Shadow in a storm.

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Tagged Beaver Street Viaduct, Big Fishweir Creek, Hurricane Dora, Jacksonville Farmers’ Market, Melvin Knowles, Morningside Street, Patricia Knowles, Swann Knowles, W.H. Clark Wholesale Fruit Company

New Story: Casa Marina Hotel at Jacksonville Beach

Posted on August 31, 2020 | Leave a comment

Click below for this week’s story, or navigate the city through the search bar or the direction buttons at the top of the page:

The other beach hotels all burned. Whichever presidents stayed here, and whether or not Jean Harlow and Al Capone did, the history of the Casa Marina at Jacksonville Beach includes an organ grinder and monkey, a vanished penthouse octagon bedroom, Victorian lace blouses and kolinsky furs. Here, Rachel and Dan shared wedding vows with their six year old son, a thousand ambitious business plans expanded and deflated, and the old building’s savior had his ashes spread into the ocean by surfboard.

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Tagged Allan Brown, Atlantic Beach Hotel, Atlantic Hotel, Barbara Mattison, Beaches Foundation, Bill Foley, Burdside Hotel, Butch Shadwell, Candace L. Preston, Casa Marina, Casa Marina Hotel, Casa Marina Hotel Jacksonville Beach, Casa Marina Hotel Jax Beach, Casa Marina Jacksonville Beach, Casa Marina Jax Beach, Casa Marina Motel Apartments, Casablanca Bar Casa Marina, Continental Hotel Atlantic Beach, coquina gates, Cynthia Parks, David Krest, David Krest Neptune Beach, Florida Land Boom, George Brandt, Greg Mattison, Gypsy Players by the Sea, Harlow's Tea Room, Hionides Jacksonville Beach, Hurricane Dora, Hurricane Dora Jacksonville Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Jacksonville Beach boardwalk, Jacksonville Beach Ferris Wheel, Jacksonville Beach Pier, Jacksonville Beach Pier Dance Pavilion, Jacobethan Revival, Jimmy Trotter, John Jorgensen, Karen Brune, Kevin Hogencamp, Marcy Appelbaum, Mary Lou Brown, Maxine Freeman, Mayflower Hotel Jacksonville, Mediterranean Revival, Miami Beach Casino Jazz Orchestra, Murray Hall, Norma Brizzi Players by the Sea, Ocean Life Natural Foods Jacksonville Beach, Osbert Lancaster, Otto Flemming, Pablo Beach, Rachel Kitzman, Renae Mattison, Sandpiper Hotel, Sean Mattison, Sean Mattison surfing, Tea Room Casa Marina, Tim Gilmore, Tim Gilmore Jaxpsychogeo, Wini Rider, Winter City in Summer Land

2 New Year’s Stories: Remembering Kyle Marshall, DJ Chef Rocc, and New Life at Gator Lodge

Posted on December 31, 2018 | Leave a comment

Click below for either (why not both?) of the two full stories. Happy New Year’s! Here’s where we’ve been. Here’s where we’re going.

1. You shouldn’t die of congestive heart failure at 38 years old. Jacksonville loved F. Kyle Marshall. Some say he personified the city. I first met Kyle, where Rain Dogs is now, at Five Points Barber Shop, in 1931.

2. Lisa King learned to love people, coming and going, learned to love Jax when she first learned to walk at Gator Lodge. Never mind Haydon Burns and Aileen Wuornos. At her birthday party at this crossroads thrums the great untapped strength of the city’s diversity.

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Tagged 1045 Park Street, Aileen Wuornos, Alan Justiss, Andrew Jensen, Arcade Men’s Shop, Bebe Deluxe, Beckham Henry, Big Buck$ Crew, Birdies Five Points, Black Hats, Blackfinn, Bruce's Liquor Store, Burro Bar, Chopstick Charley, Chopstick Charley's, Clay Wickham, Consolidation, Corky Bell’s Seafood, Cracksonville, Dialectable Beats, Diamond Inn, DJ Chef Rocc, F. Kyle Marshall, Feryle Jump, Five Points, Five Points Barber Shop, Five Points Tavern, Folio Weekly, Frances Kyle Newton, Gator Lodge, Gator Lounge, Goode's Bakery, Hans Tanzler, Haydon Burns, Hurricane Dora, Ian Ranne, Jacksonville City Council, Jacksonville Florida, Jai Shree Laxmi Kuber LLC, jaxpsychogeo, Julius Collier, Ken Organes, Linda King, Lisa King, London Bridge, Lora Gudbranson, Losco Road, Maddy Clifton, Marie Jump, Midtown Lodge, New Order, Night Hawks, Philips Highway, Phyllis Chesler, Prem Patel, Rain Dogs, Richard Brewer, Richard Ceriello, Richard Petty, Salvatore Tomarchio, Sam King, Sharkettes, Shaun Thurston, Shelton Hull, Spillers Gallery, St. Johns Town Center, Susan Bush, Susan King, Thoren Perego, Tim Gilmore, Truman Capote, TSI, Tyria Moore, Van’s Package House, Vincent Acri, Wally Gator, White Hats, Wu Tang Clan