JACKSONVILLE, Fl. – As many of you have noticed, we have a new member of the Morning Show team. Meteorologist Katie Garner joined us in May. Since she is new to our area, we asked our viewers for some suggestions of places she should visit to get to know Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia better.
We know a lot of you will rely on her forecasts to help you plan a trip to the beach this summer so we -- Melanie, Bruce, Amanda and I -- took Katie “4 a Tour” of the beach with a little help.
The mayor of the city of Jacksonville Beach, Christine Hoffman, met us at the Jacksonville Beach Pier, a staple in the city.
“Our residents here take so much pride in the beach,” she explained to Katie and the rest of The Morning Show team as we walked to the end of the pier. “We protect our dunes. We know how important the dunes are when it’s storm season.”
We started the tour at the Jacksonville Beach Pier since it’s had a storied past with previous hurricanes, something Katie will become all too familiar with as we enter the height of hurricane season in a few months.
Hoffman showed us how the new pier design makes it stronger to withstand a hurricane’s powerful winds and waves.
The mayor also took us on a tour of the historic American Red Cross Life Saving Corp. lifeguard station. We headed straight to the top, called “the Peg,” located on top of the station.
“If you look at historical pictures of Jacksonville Beach, they used to be able to drive on the beach,” Hoffman explained as we looked out across the water.
Thank you to Mayor Hoffman for the tour.
Our next stop was in Atlantic Beach where viewer Eddie George suggested Katie visit Pete’s Bar for a game of pool.
It was a little early for pool, but we enjoyed a short conversation with the bartender. Katie promised to return when she didn’t have to get up at 2:30 a.m. for work. Thank you, Eddie, for the suggestion.
Next, we visited Singleton’s Seafood Shack in Mayport. Viewer Lynn Minkel thought Katie should try out the fresh seafood and check out the Mayport Ferry. We enjoyed a delicious meal sitting on the outside deck near the “Jennifer Ann” shrimp boat.
Singleton’s manager, Dawn Parker, said the boat catches all the seafood they serve to customers.
“Everything we get comes off that shrimp boat right there,” she said referencing the “Jennifer Ann” behind us.
The restaurant opened in 1969. Parker said vacationers often plan their trips around a visit to Singleton’s.
We capped off our meal with a tour of the boat room, which showcases dozens of miniature boats handcrafted by the original owner, Capt. Ray Singleton. Thank you, Dawn, for the tour, and thanks to Lynn for the suggestion to visit Singleton’s Seafood Shack.
Stay tuned, we hope to take Katie “4 a Tour” of other parts of Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia, but for now, you can send your suggestions of the best place to visit in our area by participating in our SnapJAX competition.
We are offering different communities in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia an opportunity to “brag and tag” by posting pictures of places they love where they live.
Click here to learn more about posting those pictures and sharing some suggestions with meteorologist Katie Garner as she gets to know her new home.