The Good Life

Intracoastal West residents are just a short drive from employment centers, but the main attraction for homebuyers appears to be adjacency to the Intracoastal Waterway, easy access to the ocean and expansive marsh views.

The Beaches

Mayport, Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach and Jacksonville Beach are contiguous coastal cities known for their lively pubs and good restaurants. Increasingly these low-key communities are attracting affluent homebuyers who are charmed by their laid-back ambience and unpretentious atmosphere.

The Beaches are certainly tied to Jacksonville by geography, but they have steadfastly sought to maintain separate identities. When Jacksonville and Duval County adopted a consolidated government in 1968, Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville Beach and Neptune Beach insisted on retaining their own municipal charters and their own elected officials.

Starting from the north, here's a look ay these once-remote cities, which were settled by rugged pioneers and still attract people looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.

Mayport, at the mouth of the St. Johns, retains a gritty rough-and-tumble charm and is home to commercial fishing and shrimping operations as well as the huge Mayport Naval Station.

Locals enjoy traveling to Mayport via ferryboat, which departs from facilities on Hecksher Drive at the southernmost tip of Fort George Island. The main attractions: dining at decrepit but delightful seafood eateries such as Singleton's, a local landmark, or chugging beers at any number of colorful drinking establishments along A1A, also called Mayport Road. Gambling cruises also depart from Mayport daily, and charter boats are available for deep-sea fishing excursions.

Mayport was originally known as Hazard because the large, dangerous sandbar where the river spilled into the sea made navigation for large ships tricky. By the 1830s, it was a bustling little village in which most of the residents were employed by a sawmill.

By the 1870s, Mayport had become a popular getaway for Jacksonvillians, many of whom built cottages along the ocean. In the 1880s, construction of two huge jetties allowed ships to enter the channel safely and boosted Jacksonville's stature as a port city.

In 1899, Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway bought the defunct Jacksonville & Atlantic Railway, which ran from the Arlington area to Jacksonville Beach. Flagler, the legendary developer, then extended a northward line to Mayport, making all the Beaches communities more accessible.

In 1914, an heiress named Elizabeth Stark bought acreage around Ribault Bay and built an elaborate estate called Wonderwood-by-the-Sea, where several silent movies, including a handful starring Laurel and Hardy, were made during Jacksonville's filmmaking years. The U.S. Navy purchased the Wonderwood property during World War II.

Today, the only historic buildings in Mayport are the Old St. Johns Lighthouse, a 145-year-old tower listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the nearby wood-frame Mayport Presbyterian Church. The eight-block downtown consists mainly of shabby seafood packinghouses and a handful of funky restaurants.

Mayport proper, however, may be getting a facelift. Five years ago, the city of Jacksonville and the city of Atlantic Beach joined forces to form the Mayport Waterfront Partnership, a multi-agency board seeking to revitalize the downtown area. Roads have been paved, sewer lines laid and a proposal is pending to install sidewalks and period lighting in the historic district.

"We don't want Mayport to lose any of its charm," says Ed Lukacovic, a senior planner with the city of Jacksonville. "We want to maintain its character, but also improve it as a venue for ecotourism."

Certainly there's plenty of natural splendor for tourists to see. Just south of the Naval Station is the 450-acre Kathryn Abby Hannah Park, which boasts 1.5 miles of beachfront, 300 campsites and 60 acres of stocked freshwater fishing lakes. And the Poles of Mayport, named for a dividing line of pilings that separate the Naval Station from the park, is renowned as the region's best surfing spot.

But Mayport is still heavily dependent on the Navy. So news that Mayport Naval Station was spared in the most recent round of base closure announcements—in fact, the facility will actually gain military and civilian jobs—had local merchants breathing a collective sigh of relief.

In contrast to its working-class neighbor to the north, Atlantic Beach began as a lavish playground for the wealthy.

In 1899, when his rail line was complete, Flagler began to develop the area as a resort community, the centerpiece of which was the fabulous Continental Hotel. The hotel, completed in 1901, was at the time one of the largest wooden buildings in the South: 447 feet long and 47 feet wide, with 186 rooms.

But the community's resort heyday was short-lived; the Continental burned to the ground in 1919. By then, Atlantic Beach was attracting year-round residents, thanks in large part to the opening in 1910 of Atlantic Boulevard, which connected the Arlington area to the coastal communities.

Today, Atlantic Beach's tree-lined streets are primarily residential, with funky old beach cottages next to sprawling new mansions. Non-beachfront residents can access the sand and surf from many well-placed, well-maintained dune crossings.

Of course, there's plenty of action in Atlantic Beach if you're so inclined. The area of Atlantic Boulevard between Third Street and the ocean, recently refurbished and dubbed Town Center, boasts some of Northeast Florida's liveliest nightspots. Among the most popular is Ragtime Tap Room and Brewery, Jacksonville's oldest brew pub, known for such foamy concoctions as Dolphin's Breath Lager, Red Brick Ale and A. Strange Stout.

The city, which stretches only 25 blocks north to south, also offers community events such as the annual "Dancin' in the Streets" festival in May, Christmas festivals and family campouts in the city park. The Atlantic Beach Experimental Theater, housed in the Bull Recreational Area, stages 10 productions each year.

Spunky Neptune Beach, the smallest of the Beaches communities, was originally part of Jacksonville Beach. It was incorporated as a separate entity following a 1931 "tax revolt" by residents who felt they were receiving short shrift when it came to services such as street paving, fire and police protection and garbage collection.

Although it's difficult today for a casual visitor to distinguish between the two communities, Neptune Beach has its own historical commission, operating under the auspices of the city and charged with the task of preserving historical items and obtaining oral histories from longtime local residents.

As Beaches property values increase, Neptune Beach remains a place where diligent shoppers can still find a fixer-upper for around $100,000. Renters, who take up residence in garage flats and duplexes, also have plenty of affordable options.

Neptune Beach has at least one genuine landmark: Pete's Bar, a friendly hole-in-the-wall that was mentioned in the John Grisham bestseller The Brethren. Pete's, established in 1933, is said to be the oldest continuously operating tavern in Northeast Florida, and attracts a loyal clientele with its everybody-knows-your-name ambience and its 25-cent billiard tables. (See "Hemingway Drank Here" below.)

The largest, oldest and southernmost Beaches community is Jacksonville Beach, which was first known as Ruby, named for the daughter of a pioneering family that settled the area in the 1880s.

Jacksonville Beach has long offered an escape for harried inlanders, first with resort hotels such as the 350-room Murray Hall in the 1890s and later with an amusement park featuring a wooden roller coaster. The city earned international recognition in 1922 when Lt. Jimmy Doolittle broke the transcontinental speed record by flying from Jacksonville Beach to San Diego in less than 24 hours.

But the community really started to grow in 1949 when Beach Boulevard was opened, supplying a second, more southerly route from Jacksonville to the coastal communities.

In 1998, a Mediterranean-style city hall was built and four parks were acquired in 2000: Latham Plaza with the Sea Walk Pavilion, South Beach Park and a site for a new county pier between Fourth and Fifth avenues. Hurricane Floyd wrecked the old wood pier in 1999, but its 1,300-foot-long replacement is made of concrete.

Jacksonville Beach is also known for its annual festivals, including Fiesta Playara, a celebration of Latin music and culture; Springing the Blues; Cajun Crawfish Festival; The Beaches Festival; Moonlight Movies; and the Key West Conch Festival.

Nightlife options abound. Among the hot spots: the Ocean Club, a noisy disco; the Freebird Cafe, which hosts live performances ranging from Dickey Betts and Blues Traveler to Vasser Clements and Willie Nelson; and Sneakers Sports Grille, a 12,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art sports bar boasting six 38-foot-wide screens and five plasma televisions surrounding the bar.

Cultural offerings include the Beaches Fine Arts Series at St. Paul's-By-The-Sea Episcopal Church and theatrical productions by Players-By-The-Sea, which moved into a new performance space off Beach Boulevard last year.

The lively lifestyle has helped fuel a condominium boom. Five multifamily developments have been built in the past two years; four are under construction and at least 20 others are on the drawing board. That's remarkable considering that no new complexes were built in Jacksonville Beach between 1987 and 2002. Now, they can't be built fast enough to keep pace with demand.

HEMINGWAY DRANK HERE

Pete's Bar, located a block from the Atlantic Ocean, dates from 1933. This Northeast Florida watering hole is one of those great beach bars that are ultra-dark inside with doors that remain open to the bright sunlight, reminding you that it's only 11 a.m., and yes, you're a barfly.

The celebrity photos on the wall tell you that you're still in Florida, but a world away from Miami: Bobby Bowden, Vince Dooley, Steve Spurrier, Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson and Pat Dye walking through the woods with shotguns on their shoulders.

Pete's also has literary connections. Hemingway drank here. John Grisham visited while working on The Brethren and even put Pete's in the book. To commemorate this fact, the bar has placed a sign over the table where Grisham sat.

That alone makes Pete's one of my favorites.

Pete's Bar is located at 117 First St., Neptune Beach. Call (904) 249-9158.— Tim Dorsey

Editor's Note: This description first appeared in the January issue of Gulfshore Life in Naples. Writer Tim Dorsey was asked to name his 10 favorite Florida bars, and Pete's made the cut, ranking No. 5.