Gone but not forgotten in Jacksonville! (University, Holiday: house, condos, hotel)

[Mikel Lee]

I was stationed at Mayport from 81-85. My haunt was the Crystal Palace Bar. There was a great cover band...I believe it was Gary Tomlinson's Crystal Image Band, damn, those guys sounded like the stuff right off the radio. My other haunts were The Top at the Holiday Inn and Stricklands on the Beach where I ended up getting a job bartending after I got out of the Navy. That would have been July - Sept of '85 because Mike Strickland went Chapter 11 shortly after that. But I did hear that he reopened after I left Jacksonville. I lived right down the street, 1/2 block from the beach. Remember the "No Townies" T-shirts?

[6/3]

Originally Posted by Mikel Lee

I was stationed at Mayport from 81-85. My haunt was the Crystal Palace Bar. There was a great cover band...I believe it was Gary Tomlinson's Crystal Image Band, damn, those guys sounded like the stuff right off the radio. My other haunts were The Top at the Holiday Inn and Stricklands on the Beach where I ended up getting a job bartending after I got out of the Navy. That would have been July - Sept of '85 because Mike Strickland went Chapter 11 shortly after that. But I did hear that he reopened after I left Jacksonville. I lived right down the street, 1/2 block from the beach. Remember the "No Townies" T-shirts?

Same here also Mikel Lee as i was at Mayport 81-85. We really digged hanging out at Happy Jax Lounge dancing to all the 80's Rock/New Wave music with all the beautiful ladies from Jax back then.

We always ate at the Pizza Hut out there on Atlantic Beach Blvd by Neptune Beach as i see it's still out there after all these years.

Do you remember Bananas Nite Club out at Regency Square Mall.......

6/3

[clmacman]

As a Jacksonville lifer, I remember Downtown Rambler, Gordon Thompson Chevrolet, Woolverton Oldsmobile, Key's Chili Restaurant across from Bishop Kenny (where Havana Jax is currently located), Shakey's Pizza, Ranger Hal, Stand 'N Snack Restaurants, Granny Macs Restaurant, going out to Orange Park when it was actually called "the country", the USS Saratoga and the USS Forrestal, Big Daddy's and its replacement Confetti's, Alderman Park Gulf, Southside Blvd when it was just two lanes, Bailey's Camera Corner, FCCJ when it was FJC, Food Fair, Pantry Pride, J.M. Fields, Syntonic Magnavox, the Thunderbird Hotel on Arlington Expressway, Offshore Power Systems, The Other Place on Arlington Road, Papa's on Beach Blvd, and the "rocking chair" theater at Regency Square when it contained only two theaters.

[clmacman]

I also remember when Donna Deegan was Donna Hazouri at Bishop Kenny.

[bonnielass]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

Sawtooth

If I remember correctly, 1975 was the first class to graduate from Sandalwood, wasn't it? I believe my oldest sister was in that class.

I do remember the Pic-n-Save and A&P on Atlantic, near Jones College. They used to give out S&H Green Stamps at the latter, and since my Mom didn't collect them I would get one of the little books and lick and place them in myself. Never filled up a book though, ended up losing them long before that!

I wonder when Hixon's went under? Early 80s, I would guess. I believe there is a shop called 'Sun Dog' or something at that location now. And I do remember the Sir Goony Golf over off of Beach. There was an article in the FTU on the dinasour last year you can read here. Heck, I remember when Beach Blvd was practically nothing but pine trees from Southside Blvd to the beach.

And does anyone remember Henderson's just south of Craig Airport? It was a restaurant/bar similar to the 94th Aero Squadron restaurants in other parts of the country (we used to eat at one near the College Park Airport in Maryland). It had an old navy PBY aircraft in the back, and I believe they lost their liquor license due to under-aged drinkers being caught there on several occassions. I think they restaurant changed owners and names a few times before it was shut down;
GoogleMaps shows the building is still there but the aircraft is long gone.

And speaking of Craig Airport, I remember there was an Army National Guard unit there that flew Hueys and Cobra helicopters. They are also long gone, and my Mom tells me they are four-laning St Johns Bluff north of Atlantic.

I left in 1981 to join the USAF, and although I would live in Jax briefly on occassion, I never came back from more than a few months.

Cheers! M2

I just found this thread searching for something else...very neat.

I was one of those under-aged drinkers at Henderson's but never got caught...except by my mom of course! That was a cool bar back in the day that all bars had to have a huge theme behind them. We would go there first and then go to Confetti's (formerly Big Daddy's) for late night. We had fake id's but never had to use them!

Remember in the mid-eighties when Annietiques reopened in the now defunct Grande Boulevard Mall? Does anyone remember their specialty drink called a "Brumos"? I am wondering what was in that thing. It came in a giant iced tea glass, and I think they put champagne in it as well as other liquors. Whatever it was, it was good . Couldn't have more than one though.

[Sawtooth235]

WOW ! Donna Deegan was a Hazouri. I remember when Tommy (ex-mayor) Hazouri was a semi-delinquint dishwasher at the Cork-N-Cleaver (I contributed to it some when I was a waiter there).

Does anyone remember when the now condos at the foot of the Mathews Bridge were called River's Edge? A lot of my friends who attended J U used to live there in the 70s and early 80s.

How about "The Keg" over off of Merrill Road (that area is starting to look scary). A lot of people who attended Terry Parker used to hang out there. I remember that is the place that I met the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on, Sissy Bolling. I was friends with her brother Bobby and didn't even know he had a sister. (sorry about that, I guess I got off-track a bit!).

Bye for now!

[bcribbs]

Do you remember the Zodiac Lounge and the Wonderfalls bar at the Thunderbird?

[noland123]

Does anyone remember local celebrities Dick Stratton and Virginia Atter Keys. Stratton died back in 2005 and I think Keys is still living to the best of my knowledge, I just haven't heard about her in a long time.

[majormadmax]

Originally Posted by bonnielass

I just found this thread searching for something else...very neat.

I was one of those under-aged drinkers at Henderson's but never got caught...except by my mom of course! That was a cool bar back in the day that all bars had to have a huge theme behind them. We would go there first and then go to Confetti's (formerly Big Daddy's) for late night. We had fake id's but never had to use them!

Remember in the mid-eighties when Annietiques reopened in the now defunct Grande Boulevard Mall? Does anyone remember their specialty drink called a "Brumos"? I am wondering what was in that thing. It came in a giant iced tea glass, and I think they put champagne in it as well as other liquors. Whatever it was, it was good . Couldn't have more than one though.

Yeah, I guess it is safe to fess up now (the statue of limitations has well expired): but I was also one of those underaged drinkers that successfully snuck into places like Big Daddy's. I was a military dependant, and back in the day Florida law said that anyone under the age of 21 with a military ID could drink. Well, what the law intended was for active duty military under 21 to be able to drink; but most of the bouncers at these places weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer and most times I was able to con my way in. "Yep, I'm 17, but I have a military ID card and that sign right there says anyone under the age of 21 with a military ID can drink!" Worked like a charm!

Well, it's been a long time since I snuck into a bar; and, unless my memory is failing me, wasn't the building that was Big Daddy's later an 'Under 21' place? I am not sure if that was when it was called Confetti's then or this was sometime after that; but a couple of years later when I was 22 or so, my best friend from high school was dating some "twinkie" (for lack of a better term) he had met at the beach and we had to meet up with her there one evening. It was quite amusing having to sneak in because we were too old! When we were inside looking for her, there was a cop walking around making and when I saw him, I pushed my buddy into the men's room kinda as a joke. Well, the cop came in to see why we were avoiding him and we "fessed up" that we were too old to be in there. He laughed and told us to stay out of trouble.

Oddly enough, when I was stationed in Idaho I was talked into going to a "club" by some buds. I had just returned from living in the UK and didn't know where to hang out on the weekends. We get into this place and it is all smokey and dark, and I belly up to the bar to order a drink. The "bartender" nixes my request, saying they didn't have any alcohol. I asked him why and he replied that it was a 'teen club.' Only then did I look closer and realize that the patrons did appear to be quite young. I beat a hasty retreat but did end up talking to a very nice young lady in the parking lot. She still was way too young for me at the time (I was around 22 and she 17); but being new to Idaho I was happy just to chat with one of the "locals." Needless to say, I quickly learned where the "adult" bar scene was and kept all my activities to that area.

I'm glad to see that this thread is still hanging on, as I said I no longer live in Jax but still have fond memories of the place. I get back every now and then to visit my mother; but find the city has changed just too damn much for me to feel "at home." I understand that you can't stop "progress," but I like to remember when Jacksonville still had something of a small town feel to it. It was a great place to grow up, and I appreciate everyone's inputs in helping me remember how things used to be...

Cheers! M2

[B1900Mech]

Wow,I was stationed on the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1976.I remember coming back from a med cruise,And all the strippers from the seclusion lounge greeting us with signs from a pleasure boat The other bar I frequented was the Top Of The Tides Every time I hear the song from Bob Seger,"Down On Main Street",I flash back to a certain dancer at the seclusion Boy do I feel old