The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: st. johns river

  • How Soon We Forget

    I used to work the graveyard shift at the Ortega River Drawbridge in Jacksonville, Florida. It was usually a quiet shift, and that’s the way I liked it. I’m not someone who thrives on drama. But there was a certain ebb and flow to that shift: people who jogged at the same time every day;…

  • What I’ll Miss/What I Won’t About Jacksonville, Florida

    When you know you’re about to move away from a place, the things you’ll miss about it become all that much more poignant, and the things that irritate you become increasingly annoying. I’m definitely experiencing those feelings now. Without further ado, here’s what I’ll miss and what I won’t about Jacksonville, Florida. What I’ll Miss…

  • Big Jim—Jacksonville’s Longest Running Tradition

    A friend of mine calls our city, Jacksonville, Florida, “a truck stop that got out of control”. Actually, he has a point. Jacksonville is a sprawling monstrosity of a city with, frankly, not much to recommend it for its size. Tourists generally drive right on through here on their way to Disney World. They don’t…

  • Mother Nature Trumps the River Goddess Every Time

    It can be a heady experience being a bridgetender. After all, you are operating a piece of equipment that can weigh several million pounds if you work on one of the larger bridges. You also control the flow of marine, vehicular and pedestrian traffic. You can make people very late for work. If a boater…

  • Jacksonville, Florida: America’s Best Kept Secret

    Since we all seem to have survived the Mayan Apocalypse, it’s time to climb out of our bomb shelters and live a little. Get on the road. See the sights. For those of you who are in the mood for a road trip, Jacksonville is that big city that you drive through on Interstate 95…