Atlantic Beach

With a nod to Carl Weese

Atlantic Beach

Rust never sleeps, Jax Beach

This is the back of an abandoned Wendy's fast food joint. It is finally, after two years of small changes, showing some major decay.

Green door, Jax Beach

Jay Beach

This is the building my Gym, Bailey's, rents space in. Every Sunday I start my post-spinning class walk by going around the back of it and continuing to the beach and back. There is always something new.

Weigh out, Jax Beach

You go away for a while and they change everything.

 Sonic Drive-in

 Freebird Live

Seawall Hotel

The above three places were all open three weeks ago, when we went to San Francisco. The Freeboard Live is still open but not for much longer. They were all "institutions" in Jax beach. Sonic is a chain of retro drive-ins that takes baby boomers like me back to our youths. Freebird is there as the result of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd ,which originated in Jax Beach. The Seawalk Hotel was our little version of the South Beach art-deco hotels in Miami. The Sonic has been gutted, the Seawalk is for sale and Freebird has been sold to people who will develop it as a surf themed bar/restaurant. I guess change is the only constant, but three in a week?!?!?!?

Wiring scheme, Jax Beach

Is this "fuzzy logic"?

Clever solution, Jax Beach

I have been watching these condos go up for a year. In the top picture they had finished the parking garage, which I thought looked like a monolith and not very attractive. I went away for long periods and took a walk and didn't really notice that I couldn't see the garage. I finally noticed that they had built condos right onto the front wall. Clever....but, the middle condos only have windows on the front and back up to a garage wall. The end caps will be a bit airier due to two sides of windows. They also are not very deep as you can see. I would love to see one when they are finished just to get a feel for being close to a major road, Beach Blvd., with a cement wall behind me.

Beach Bowl, Jax Beach

New neighbors II, Jax Beach.

This is an almost finished condo unit from the post below. I can see the ad, 4Rms.,Tattoo view.

New monolith, Beach Blvd., Jax Beach

This will be a parking garage for a new housing complex on Beach Blvd. Right up against the road. I can't wait to see how they try to soften it.

Magic Beach Motel, Vilano Beach, Portrait

My first building portrait, ref. Carl Weese

Survivor, Jax Beach

I believe that in every town or city there are what I call Restaurant Dead Zones. These are plots or buildings that look like perfect restaurant locales but seem to have huge turnover rates. This location has in the twenty years I have been in Florida, had at least four different Chinese or Japanese restaurants, then a very fancy Italian restaurant and a few other concepts to boot. This one, Mario's, has lasted pretty well. I have not eaten here but my guess is that the food overcomes the curse.

McDonald's in ruins.

They are knocking down the McDonald's on Third Street in Jax Beach. I'd be happy, but I'm sure that a newer, bigger one is on it's way.

Bowling alley, Jax Beach, cracks and weeds.

 These show the perils of building on sand. Our barrier island is almost all sand, with a light layer of soil on top. Sand moves wherever it is, but when it is an island between the Atlantic and the Intracoastal Waterway, it moves more. Therefore our large buildings are always shifting and need to be shored up from time to time. The weeds are very aggressive this year. Probably due to Carl Weese's visit to Florida earlier this year.