St. Augustine, Florida
Let's talk waterfront-ocean, river, Intracoastal in Northeast Florida, A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal National Scenic Byway, beach renourishment and Vilano Beach Town Center news.
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Dec. 19, 2008
I have a good friend and customer I'll call "Bob" (wait, Bob is really his name, but don't tell him I broadcasted this info!). Bob has commented to me about my blogs and said I really should give a fishing report. Well, that's kinda hard for me to do as I don't fish. But I do plan to learn soon.
Anyway, in the spirit of serving my readers and possible fishermen in the area, I believe right now is a great time to be fishing the St. Augustine Inlet. Why do I think this, you ask? Well, look at all the small boats fishing the area right now. Either the fish are biting, they all ran out of fuel at the same time, or there's a strange parade going on where the boats are ordered to stay in one position with poles in the water.
What do you think?
Oct. 30, 2008
In northeast, Florida we all talk about "Mayport" shrimp. Mayport is a coastal village north of St. Augustine and east of Jacksonville on the St. Johns River right where it meets with the Atlantic Ocean. That makes getting out to the ocean and to the shrimp a breeze. It is home to about 20 of the state's shrimping boats. However, St. Augustine is located on the Intracoastal (called "the river" by the locals) at the St. Augustine inlet. In fact, I believe you can get to the Atlantic faster from St. Augustine.
The difference between Mayport and St. Augustine shrimp---the port the shrimp boat comes into to unload the shrimp. All the shrimp boats in the area troll off the coast, so they are covering the same area. They are a lovely sight to see off the coast along A1A from Jacksonville to Ponte Vedra Beach to S. Ponte Vedra Beach to North Beach to Vilano Beach to St. Augustine Beach to Crescent Beach---you get the idea. It seems that all the shrimp caught in the area are called "Mayport" shrimp. What do your think?
So, if you want really fresh shrimp, eat locally caught shrimp while vacationing in northeast Florida. Four types of shrimp live in the waters off the coast here: brown, white, pink and rock shrimp. Brown and white shrimp make up the majority of what is caught here. Those of us that are fortunate to live here, enjoy fresh seafood year round.
Here's a photo I took recently of a shrimp boat heading out to the Atlantic in the early morning. It came into the St. Augustine inlet when the surf and wind were rough. It is passing Porpoise Point near Vilano Beach.
Jun. 19, 2008
It seems everywhere you look in the Vilano and North Beach areas utility crews are working. A couple of weeks ago I noticed Powercon digging trenches along the west side of A1A around Villages of Vilano north to about 15th St. They said they are laying conduit to bury the overhead electrical lines. I have not gotten this information verified by FPL, however. Powercon did not know when the actually burial of the lines would occur, but the conduit is in place. They were contracted for 6000 ft. along A1A. They are not doing the east side due to safety issues of being able to have their equipment off A1A while doing the work.
AND... the big news: The poles are coming down in the Vilano Beach Town Center as I type this. This has been happening this past week and will continue. It shouldn't be long now. The Vilano Beach Town Center is looking good.
UPDATE- we've got a small snag to removing the poles---AT&T. Hopefully AT&T will get going soon and we can get the poles removed.
The grand opening of the streetscape will be in mid September. We'll know more in July as to the actual date. Stay tuned for more info or call me at 904-823-0027 or e-mail me at Barbara@BarbaraJenness.com
May. 24, 2008
Greg Caldwell from St. Johns County engineering reported the following updates on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at the Vilano Beach Main Street meeting concerning the Vilano Beach Town Center infrastructure improvements:
The roundabout fountain by the fishing pier will be operational by this weekend (Memorial Day weekend).
It was operational on Thursday, May 22nd. It looks great especially at night. Yes, it is shut off late at night. Have you noticed the nice neon lights on the bell tower by the fishing pier?
FPL’s underground utilities are now hot, so work can start on removing the poles and overhead utilities.
Hopefully you have noticed the nice streetlights with the neon trim in the Vilano Beach Town Center
The conversion to underground utilities is happening now and is expected to be complete by the first week of June 2008. Hampton Inn and Ocean Blue II has already been converted. The county is working from west to east. Once conversion is complete they can start removing the power poles.
Once the poles are down I think our streetscape will truly shine. The poles should be removed by the end of June.
Glass tile on the entry feature will occur next week (last week in May) along with completing the new sign for Vilano Beach Town Center.
As this is the first thing visitors see when entering our Town Center this will be nice when complete.
And finally, what we have all been waiting for:
Final paving will begin the first week of June 2008 and should be complete by the end of the month. Paving by Ocean Blue II should happen next week, but Vilano Road won’t be paved until the utility poles are removed as there will be some sidewalk repair that will need to be done after the poles are removed.
Friends visiting me in Porpoise Point have commented on the number of speed bumps we have on Vilano Road. I had to tell them those are crosswalks, not speed bumps. I can’t wait for the final coat!
Nov. 26, 2007
Summary of Congressman Mica's Nov. 19, 2007 roundtable discussion on beach renourishment from S. Ponte Vedra to Vilano including updates on feasibility study and temporary armament (seawall) permits.
May. 16, 2007
Please tell your neighbors that on Thursday, May 17th at 5 p.m. at St. Johns County Parks & Recreation Building at 2175 Mizell Road in St. Augustine Beach (the old Utility Building) will be a meeting soliciting your input and support for a grant to develop Nease Park. The address of the property is 3171 Coastal Highway. The county bought it for $1,200,000 on 10/25/2004.
Here's info on the park from the St. Johns County website:
Nease Beachfront Park
Nease Park is located 1 mile north of the St. Augustine Inlet on A1A Scenic & Historic Coastal Byway about 230 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. The Nease Park site is located within the vicinity of the Vilano Waterfront Community boundary area designated as a Community Redevelopment Area (CRA). Nease park site was the previous residence of Allen Nease built in the 1950’s on the eastern central edge of a 3.2 acre site.
The county has an excellent opportunity to preserve this historically significant home site as well as preserved the natural vegetative communities on site. The park site will only be modified slightly to accommodate beach access, some beach parking and the home will be turned into county offices for a staff naturalist and habitat conservation person, as well as establishing an environmental and historical education and interpretation displays. Anticipated new recreational facilities include bocce ball court, horseshoe pits, multi-use area, picnic and outdoor grilling area, nature trails and trail head, scenic wildlife observation platform and bird watching. In addition, cultural activities will be offered at this park site for the Vilano residents.
Because this project site is located within the Florida Forever Northeast Florida Blueway Phase II, this site is just another piece of a massive puzzle that interconnects federal, state and local initiatives to preserve, protect and maintain the natural resources (vegetative communities, wildlife habitat, improve water quality and protect shellfish harvesting areas) along the Intracoastal Waterway. The federal initiative is being pursued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and it’s administered through the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the implementation of the Guana, Tolomato, Matanzas (GTM) National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) Management Plan. Other State initiatives being pursued by DEP and the SJRWMD include the GTM Water Quality Task Force and Northern Coastal Basins Program, respectively.
Apr. 23, 2007
We finally got our Bluebird of Happiness back. On Friday, April 20th, Callaway Contracting (the company doing the Vilano Beach Town Center road and streetscape improvements) went across the Vilano Beach to the William Porter, Sr. residence off of San Marco in North City and picked up our bird. It is so great to have him back home in the Vilano Beach Town Center.
I would like to see him restored by local students in the area and decorated for each season. You know, the Easter Bunny, Cupid, Santa Claus, St Patrick, things like that. What do you think?
We hope to have him be located centrally to provide great photo opportunities for locals and visitors.
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