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Have to agree with all that is said below! Robyn, the docks by Hooter's at Goodby's Landing & Dry Storage area are free to tie up to. It's also free to tie up to the docks at Whitey's Fish Camp by Dr.'s Lake. If a charge up made to dock at either of these restaurants, they sure wouldn't get the boating business they get. And, when we took our two friends (married couple) to the Landing in our boat, we did spend some coin on a Mexican lunch and drinks. To fill our boat with gas, we did it last weekend, it cost $125 and that's more than it costs to fill both of our vehicles. To have a new CD Player and FishFinder/Sonar installed on our boat, it costs us almost $700. I can't do that kind of work, so had it done. Sometimes boating isn't cheap, but we sure love it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jsimms3
I agree that public docks shouldn't be free, but those are rare due to strict liability. Most docks are privately built and operated, and many of them serve restaurants and are free because they bring in patrons that usually spend a boatload more than people who drive. When you boat to a place like Outback Crabshack or the Landing, you are in a leisurely "drift" mode and not in a hurry, plus drinking and driving a boat is a little more easy to get away with than drinking and driving a car. Also, if by boat, usually your party is large so everyone gets appetizers, several rounds of drinks, entrees, and desserts and the restaurant or bar really profits more and is thus able to pay higher rent. For the landlord the benefits of the dock outweigh the costs of insurance, construction, and operation.
I don't know the details, but the dock at the Landing may not actually be a truly "public" dock and the dock going in at the Riverside Arts Market may be funded by RAM and not actually public either. I do know that both worked with the city because both are on the city's easements into the river since both are floating and are on the bulkhead from the low water mark to land.
Other than those two docks (which may technically be private), the other docks in the city are either private homeowner's docks, private marina docks, private yacht club and boating club docks, private shipyard or port authority docks (the latter is complicated), or private restaurant or bar docks that are usually free to encourage people to come by boat. To own a slip at a good marina is actually quite expensive (could cost cost half a million dollars for a berthed 50 ft slip in a nice place or at a condo like those on the ICW or on the river). To build a good raised dock that won't be destroyed in a hurricane (ours was one of the few not destroyed in '04, everyone else's ended up in our yard) can be quite expensive, as well. This is not to mention that your average boat is at least twice as expensive as your average car and a good 20 ft. boat like a Grady White could be over $100K. Gas is also more expensive and is not as efficiently used in boat engines (could cost $5,000+ just to fill up a 50 ft. yacht with enough gas to get to the destination and acouple hundred for your average 20 ft. boat).
So all in all, the taxpayer does not really subsidize the boater, boating is actually quite expensive, and that's all I have for today
But are they willing to spend money? Downtown gets zip from a bunch of boaters who dock there all weekend for free - bring their own food and booze - get drunk and party. Moreover - people like this might chase away the paying customers. Robyn
The Boaters spend money, why would they travel, dock & not spend money on said bank?
I agree about the women thing.
Which is why so many places offer women free or discounted drinks. Sometimes even I get free or discounted drinks at places although I'm 60+ and with my husband!
Some of your dates sound a little out of the ordinary - for dates. But I like the ideas. You might consider getting a copy of the Entertainment book (there's one for the JAX metro area - and I'm sure one for Atlanta too). There are a lot of BOGO coupons in the JAX book for all kinds of local attractions. Like MOSH - the zoo - the stuff in St. Augustine - etc. - etc. Restaurants too. Local sports attractions too (not the Jaguars!). I think this year's JAX issue even has a BOGO coupon for Matthew's. You can check the website - and see what the coupons are - if there's anything of interest to you. The book usually costs $20 - and we always get our money's worth out of it.
I agree with you 100% when it comes to nights out and no cars. When we travel - we may not always use a train or subway or tram or similar - we may well use a taxi or walk - but we will always try to avoid driving. One reason almost 100% of our travel these days is in big cities (and even in big cities where there's a lot of driving - like Los Angeles - we'll try to stay in areas where we'll be spending most of our time during the evenings).
"Dope lettuce". ROFL. I will not lie. I doubt any white woman my age has ever heard that phrase before - and I'm no exception. I had a sense what it might mean when I read it - but looked it up to make sure. And all I have to say is my husband has good genes. This is what his late father looked like a year before he died - when he was 83. He had 2 kinds of cancer and congestive heart failure - but he had great hair :
Take care and keep warm, Robyn
Lettuce is hair, Im not ordinary......im actually pretty strange.
In my opinion (suburban) dinner & a movie is so 1983 to me lol. Even the women in my Atlanta stable use the Marta with me, when going out. I always seem to take them somewhere they never been or show them something they never noticed. Something I think many suburban types can be guilty of. I think people can sometimes get stuck in a routine when their is a local WalMart, McDonalds, Longhorn Steak, Red Lobster etc etc right down the street. People rarely adventure pass their zip codes in general. I lived in Riverside for 7 years, to me its one of the best hoods in Jacksonville, but eventually I got bored even with Riverside. So yea Im not ordinary lol.
Robyn......by the statement below, you REALLY sound like you don't like boaters......interesting! Just my impression of what you wrote. Bottom line is......boaters DO spend money at the Landing! Of course we don't go downtown, why would we? We're not "shoppers", we're boaters! And, yes it's free to dock there all weekend, just the way boaters like it! We bring our own beer and some food, but we also end up spending money for lunch and drinks (I already posted that). Why would "paying customers" be chased off by boaters???? Again, sounds to me like you just don't like boaters or something......really trying to figure it out
Quote:
Originally Posted by Robyn55
But are they willing to spend money? Downtown gets zip from a bunch of boaters who dock there all weekend for free - bring their own food and booze - get drunk and party. Moreover - people like this might chase away the paying customers. Robyn
Another thing. Judging from these messages - there are apparently places between the Landing and the Stadium we're never been to. Perhaps we'll have to try a couple one night when we're downtown (and it doesn't get dark at 5:30 and isn't freezing - we're talking next spring/summer). Will ask for recommendations in advance. Robyn
Oh you mean the Riverfront Bay Street area...Yea I used to party at TSI, never been to Dive Bar, I have been in Marks.
The ones in Jax, Tento Churrascuria in Jax Beach and Espeto in Ortega/Avondale, are just alright (though I haven't been since both were new, perhaps they have gotten better). I think both are $39 a plate prix fixe. Fogo de Chao might run you closer to $60 a plate and the meat is of a higher quality. I can understand most women not preferring a Brazilian steakhouse to a more petite, fine restaurant, but for a man or a big meat lover, you really can't go wrong with a good Brazilian steakhouse. (unlimited meat, usually 12-16 different cuts prepared different ways until you tell the waiter (gaucho) to stop bringing the meat) I know that most of the staff at Espeto is actually Brazilian, which struck me as really cool and a plus for the place.
Legal Seafoods is definitely good (didn't know they sold products at Costco, cool!), but I would place Mitchell's Fish Market or McCormick & Schmick's (which we don't have) on the same level and offering a very similar product. If you haven't tried Mitchell's and you enjoy seafood that is fresh (flown in, usually never frozen), then I suggest it. It's at the Town Center across from Capital Grille.
Lettuce is hair, Im not ordinary......im actually pretty strange.
In my opinion (suburban) dinner & a movie is so 1983 to me lol. Even the women in my Atlanta stable use the Marta with me, when going out. I always seem to take them somewhere they never been or show them something they never noticed. Something I think many suburban types can be guilty of. I think people can sometimes get stuck in a routine when their is a local WalMart, McDonalds, Longhorn Steak, Red Lobster etc etc right down the street. People rarely adventure pass their zip codes in general. I lived in Riverside for 7 years, to me its one of the best hoods in Jacksonville, but eventually I got bored even with Riverside. So yea Im not ordinary lol.
Well I came to learn about most parts of the metro area in different ways. First - I played competitive tennis - matches all over. Lunches after and then exploring the areas where I had played after lunch. Ditto with playing golf. Then - my FIL was in a nursing home here for almost 3 years. He had all his marbles - but limited mobility. Figured he would get bored - so I arranged a field trip for us one day a week for almost 3 years. To any place that was wheelchair accessible. Everything from the zoo to concerts to museums to sightseeing in St. Augustine (places like the Alligator Farm) and Amelia Island to shopping almost everywhere to restaurants all over town. Nice restaurants - as long as wheelchairs were ok (for example bb's is ok with wheelchairs - Biscotti's isn't). We would sometimes go to the bar at Morton's. Have martinis - share a steak (they're really huge) - and some sides. Always made sure my FIL had home-cooked holiday meals too (he wasn't likely to get his favorite pork tenderloin at his nursing home - which was fabulous - but Kosher ). That's how I learned how to cook certain things - cooking holiday meals for him.
And since we live out at the Beaches - and his nursing home was in Mandarin - well what was an extra 10-20 miles in any particular direction when we went on a field trip. About the only place I would never plan to go to was Walmart - which really depressed me (even more so than taking my FIL to his radiation therapy when he needed it). When my FIL wanted to go to Walmart - I made my husband go alone with him.
When we went to the annual JAX holiday pops concert last week - well I remembered that holiday concert was the first time my FIL ever saw a symphony orchestra.
You know - one really bad thing about getting older. At the holidays - you remember the people you used to enjoy the holidays with who are dead now. Friends - family. Three of our parents died within 5 weeks of Christmas/New Year. It is a Jewish tradition to light candles for the dead on the anniversaries of their deaths - and I will start doing that next week. Robyn
Robyn......by the statement below, you REALLY sound like you don't like boaters......interesting! Just my impression of what you wrote. Bottom line is......boaters DO spend money at the Landing! Of course we don't go downtown, why would we? We're not "shoppers", we're boaters! And, yes it's free to dock there all weekend, just the way boaters like it! We bring our own beer and some food, but we also end up spending money for lunch and drinks (I already posted that). Why would "paying customers" be chased off by boaters???? Again, sounds to me like you just don't like boaters or something......really trying to figure it out
I don't care about boaters one way or the other. And if the private companies there - like the restaurants - are paying for your freebies - fine. If it's the taxpayers - not fine IMO. These are tough times for municipal bodies - and I think most have more important things to spend their money on. Robyn
Have to agree with all that is said below! Robyn, the docks by Hooter's at Goodby's Landing & Dry Storage area are free to tie up to. It's also free to tie up to the docks at Whitey's Fish Camp by Dr.'s Lake. If a charge up made to dock at either of these restaurants, they sure wouldn't get the boating business they get. And, when we took our two friends (married couple) to the Landing in our boat, we did spend some coin on a Mexican lunch and drinks. To fill our boat with gas, we did it last weekend, it cost $125 and that's more than it costs to fill both of our vehicles. To have a new CD Player and FishFinder/Sonar installed on our boat, it costs us almost $700. I can't do that kind of work, so had it done. Sometimes boating isn't cheap, but we sure love it!
Ok, here is our baby tied up to the Jax Landing.[IMG][/IMG]
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Just my impression of what you wrote. Bottom line is......boaters DO spend money at the Landing! Of course we don't go downtown, why would we? We're not "shoppers", we're boaters! And, yes it's free to dock there all weekend, just the way boaters like it! We bring our own beer and some food, but we also end up spending money for lunch and drinks (I already posted that). Why would "paying customers" be chased off by boaters???? Again, sounds to me like you just don't like boaters or something
......really trying to figure it out
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