By now you are probably thinking, “They sure seem to move a lot…they just can’t seem to settle down in one place…what’s their deal?” We have an abundance of reasons and responses to those comments, but I will boil it down to one fundamental principle. From the absolute beginning, we agreed to share a life of adventure. We know that every location has and will have its benefits and drawbacks. We do of course acknowledge the benefits of living a conventional lifestyle and putting down roots, buying a house, etc., and we understand why so many people do so! Nevertheless, through our methods, Frank has gained invaluable work experience, and we have been able to really immerse ourselves in a variety of environments. It has been exhilarating!

Also, we realized we had the freedom to try out new locations particularly because we had no kids at the time. That is not to say that one can’t still move around and explore the world with kids! Why not experience all this world has to offer? Plus, by bouncing around as much as we have, we now have close friends in a wide variety of locales that we otherwise would not know! To sum up, we have moved a lot because we want to, because we can, and because we hunger for collecting experiences and making memories!

Why Jacksonville?

What’s wrong with Jacksonville? Why not anywhere? I jest, we had reasons. While we lived in Chicago, we had several friends come and visit us. While eating at one of our favorite restaurants, Frank and I reflected on how much we missed having a large community of friends. Gainesville, where we met, had contained some of the most wonderful people we knew. Many of those people had since moved to Jacksonville! Thus, when the concept of visiting Chicago instead of living there became preferable, Frank targeted the Jacksonville area for a new job. He found one and signed a contract within eight days! He moved, I stayed behind, and those three months apart both dragged and flew by. Before I knew it, I moved too, and our next nomadic stop began!

Favorite Parts About Jacksonville

Community

As mentioned above, we greatly enjoyed reconnecting with old friends! We joined Bible studies, went to parties, attended Mass with friends, ate out at restaurants, and did many of the things one seeks community for. We still treasure those memories and those lasting friendships that have continued to thrive no matter the distance between us. These are the wonderful friendships that might lag a little because many of us have kids now and life can be crazy, but when we make time to catch up, it is as if no time at all has passed! There may be tentative plans to pop back into the area sooner or later; we miss those lovely people so much!

Convenience of Day Trips

Another major benefit, in my eyes, was how Jacksonville seemed to sit right in the center of many places I wanted to quickly access. We took a day trip back to Gainesville once; another time, we spent a day exploring Savannah, GA. My parents lived roughly two hours from Jacksonville, so we got to spend time with them fairly often. 

Our most frequently visited alternate location, however, had to be our own City of Love, St. Augustine. One of our favorite pastimes involved driving south along A1A to get there, with the windows down, blasting our favorite music. We occasionally stopped by the Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche, but more frequently we parked in a rare free parking lot near downtown and would stroll past the Cathedral and down St. George Street. Prior to the leisurely walk, however, we often bought coffees to go from The Kookaburra, which were delicious! Another favorite stop for extra special dates: The Backyard at Meehan’s, Tropical Café and Island Bar. This spot inevitably made us feel as if we were relaxing in the Caribbean, instead of halfway up the coast of Florida. (Not the same thing!) Especially because we married there, St. Augustine will always hold an extra special place in our hearts.

On the route south to St. Augustine, we stumbled upon a relatively undisturbed beach. Whenever we wanted to have a quick date, we often came back to this beach for a nice walk and to enjoy the fresh ocean air. We even made a little friend once!

FOOD

As per usual, I must reflect on the food. Now, I mean no disrespect by this next statement. When it comes to food, Jacksonville is the Toledo of the South. Both Jacksonville and Toledo tend to have a Lot of chain restaurants, which is not necessarily a bad thing! For example, we often frequented Bento’s. BENTO asian kitchen + sushi, with many locations throughout Florida (and one in Atlanta), provides an affordable and delicious quick sushi night at any time. Another chain of sorts that we Loved: Maple Street Biscuit Co.! Our first exposure to Maple Street happened to be our wedding day-Frank and the other men shared Maple Street that morning. Somehow I waited several months before I finally got to try it. Our go-to was The Sticky Maple. A perfectly seasoned fried chicken breast, two slices of bacon, covered in maple syrup and stacked on a homemade biscuit = HEAVEN ON EARTH. Or a heart attack on a plate, who can say.

Jacksonville also had its amazing “hole-in-the-wall” type places too. Our favorites are the Boiling Crawfish, now called The Big Crab Baymeadows, Picasso’s, and TacoLu. Now, we still have not visited Cajun Country in Louisiana, so we don’t have authentic Cajun boils to compare to. Nevertheless, the crawfish boil from Boiling Crawfish satisfies Every. Single. Time. Every visit to Jacksonville, we stop there for a scrumptious meal. Picasso’s has the best pizza we have had in Florida. Every meal tasted incredible and was perfectly fresh and delectable! Lastly, TacoLu has truly excellent, gourmet-style tacos. My personal favorite, the Carne Royale, includes carne asada steak, brie cheese, and grape salsa in a flour tortilla. Might not be for everyone, but it sure pleases my taste buds! For dessert, nothing compares to sopapillas, and they have great margaritas too!

Building the Bucket List

Over the course of our year in Jacksonville, the world kept turning and life moved on. We attended weddings, other friends had babies. I gained valuable counseling experience through several more internships, and Frank thrived in his contract. Yet, during the spring of 2019, I had to take a bit of a break in my program for my own mental health and to refocus on my goals. During this time, I discovered the concept of the massive, seemingly impossibly large bucket list! I believe in giving credit where credit is due; Annette at bucketlistjourney.net changed my life. Her post 1000+ Ideas for a Bucket List provided the building blocks for ours, and I spent a good deal of that spring continuing to add to it. Our Catholic faith remains incredibly important to us, and I felt compelled to include the vast number of beautiful churches and houses of worship I want to visit. I hope to spend the rest of our lives chasing these adventures and soaking in the beauty and goodness this world has to offer. It will challenge us every day, and hopefully inspire Victoria (and You!) to never stop chasing dreams.

Life Happens

Life moved a bit more slowly in Jacksonville. After so much constant stimulation and excitement in Chicago, it was a welcome change. Dates were simpler, but no less meaningful. We went on bike rides, relaxed on the beach, ate food from our favorite restaurants, and enjoyed quiet nights in our apartment. Also, I knitted, Frank taught himself programming, and Augustine lazed about when we weren’t taking him on walks. These tranquil days were interspersed with hangouts with friends and those fun day trips. In early May, we celebrated our third anniversary in St. Augustine with a stop by the beach, dinner at Yamato, and a stroll down St. George Street. Little did we know how quickly things would change.

June and July turned our world completely upside down. Though Frank was doing well in his contract, all of a sudden, funding ran out. Therefore, Frank had about a month to find a new job. As we still had friends in the southwest Florida region, Frank applied in that area once again. Unsurprisingly, he quickly found a new contract. For the second time, Frank had to abruptly move for his job while I stayed behind to finish out an internship. (Yes, we developed a bit of a pattern…) Frank temporarily lived in an extended stay hotel in Naples while I resided in our apartment. We saw each other every weekend, because that drive across the state had become incredibly easy for us.

Life Unexpected

First the distance, then even bigger news: Mid-July, I found out I was pregnant! Yet, because of the separation, I had to wait a whole day and a half before I could tell Frank (obviously, I had to do it in person). I took three tests to be completely positive *pun intended* and I left them in the bathroom for Frank to find. When he made it home, he kissed me and went to use the bathroom. He saw the tests and exclaimed, “Wait! Are you pregnant?!” Then, he rushed out to hug me for an eternity, and we just soaked in the moment. (Now, some feel strongly about not sharing news of a pregnancy until 12 weeks. Yet, we immediately reached out to our families, so they could share in our joy! We believe that whether or not it is a successful pregnancy, we should still rejoice over new life. Also, should anything go wrong, we would have that many more people to be there for us in our grief. Or pity us, so I do understand the hesitation.)

The following day, we celebrated at our favorite shrine and ran into some friends in St. Augustine! We also ate at the Boiling Crawfish again, and after one last week of my amazing internship, I joined Frank in Naples once more.

Be back in a week with Naples, Pt. II!