Two days of surfing, live music, and female athletes taking over the sand at Jacksonville Beach.

The sound of a World Surf League horn will echo off the Jacksonville Beach Pier again this November, calling more than 2,000 female athletes into the water for one of the largest women's sports and music festivals in the country. On November 7 and 8, the Super Girl Surf Festival presented by Jersey Mike's takes over the Pier and SeaWalk Pavilion for its sixth year in Jacksonville Beach, and its twentieth year as an organization overall. For two full days, the beach becomes a stage for elite surfing, free concerts, and a festival village built entirely around lifting up women and girls.

This is not a niche surf meet tucked away for die-hard fans. It is a…

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Key dates, calendar differences, and how local families can get ready for the new school year.

Summer's winding down, and for families across St. Johns County and Duval County, that means backpacks, school supply lists, and the return of morning carpool lines. Here's what local families need to know to head into the 2026-2027 school year prepared.

back to school traffic

Key Dates for Both Districts

Both St. Johns County School District (SJCSD) and Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) kick off the 2026-2027 school year on Monday, August 10, 2026, and both wrap up on Friday, May 28, 2027. Beyond that shared start and end date, the calendars diverge a bit.

St. Johns County School District

  • First day of school: August 10, 2026
  • Thanksgiving Break: November…

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by Jennifer Walker

A local look at why Rita's Italian Ice on A1A has become a multigenerational favorite in Ponte Vedra Beach.

There is something undeniably special about finding a taste of your past in your present. For me, that comes alive at 840 A1A North in Ponte Vedra Beach, where a local spot serves up far more than frozen treats. It serves up nostalgia, joy, and what they call "Ice Custard Happiness." I'm talking about Rita's Italian Ice, and our neighborhood location has become a genuine favorite across every generation of our family.

Family enjoying Rita's in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

From a Front Porch in Pennsylvania to the Sunshine State

My first visit to a Rita's was back in my twenties, and I was instantly won over by the vivid flavors and smooth texture of the Italian ice.…

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Inside DogBeach: The Ultimate Guide to Ponte Vedra's Luxury Dog Resort

If you've driven down A1A near Ponte Vedra Beach and spotted a building with a beach mural and a line of happy pups being walked in, you've seen DogBeach. It's part daycare, part boarding resort, part spa, and it's become the go-to spot for local pet parents who want more for their dog than a kennel and a leash walk.

Here's what's actually inside, what it costs, and what to know before you book.

DogBeach in Ponte Vedra Beach

What the facility looks like

DogBeach is a 15,000+ square foot indoor facility at 830 A1A N, fully climate-controlled, so there's no rain, mud, heat, or bee stings interrupting playtime. The beach theme runs through the whole building: a lobby with beach-scene murals, a…

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by Jennifer Walker

A charming French café bringing Parisian warmth and gluten-free options to Ponte Vedra Beach.

Step through the door at Le Petit Paris and the Florida coastline seems to fall away for a moment, replaced by the warmth of a true Parisian café. I stopped in recently with my mom for lunch, and the visit turned into one of those small, memorable outings that stays with you.

French setting at Le Petit Paris in Ponte Vedra Beach

The room does the transporting before the menu ever does. Soft decor, the scent of something freshly baked drifting from the kitchen, and a welcome that felt personal from the first minute. At the counter, a familiar face greeted us: my friend's daughter, Harper, who guided me toward her mom's favorite, the Raspberry Nectar Herbal Iced Tea. It arrived…

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A 63,000 square foot open-air marketplace is about to give Nocatee residents a whole new reason to walk instead of drive. 

Picture a Saturday evening with live music drifting across an open courtyard, string lights overhead, and neighbors pulling up in golf carts instead of cars. That is the scene Nocatee is building just west of Valley Ridge Boulevard South, right next to the Publix at Marketplace at Nocatee. It is called The Hub at Nocatee, and it is set to become the community's newest walkable destination when it opens in 2028.

 It is the kind of announcement that gets people talking, and once you see the plans, it is easy to understand why.

Rendering of the Nocatee Hub

Photo Source: Nocatee.com

What The Hub at Nocatee actually is

At just over 63,000 square…

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by Collette Strickland

As a little girl, one of my favorite summer memories was our family's trip to the Kennedy Space Center a few years after it opened.  We rode the bus for a tour, posed for pictures in front of rocket ships, and got so excited to see a “pretend” launch countdown.  We still talk about it.

If you've lived in the Jacksonville area for any amount of time and haven't made the drive down to Kennedy Space Center yourself, this summer is the nudge you've been waiting for. It's just about two hours south — an easy morning departure, a full day of something genuinely extraordinary, and home in time for dinner. And this July, there's a reason to go that won't come around again for another sixty years.

Kennedy Space Center

Sixty Years of Looking Up

On…

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We believe a great place to live means more than great schools and ocean access.

On a weeknight last spring, a sold-out crowd packed into a 500-seat room a few miles from the beach to watch Bruce Hornsby perform from close enough to see his hands on the keys. No stadium screens. No parking nightmare. No sense that the act was passing through on the way to somewhere more important. It was the kind of evening that reminds you exactly why you chose to live here.

That venue is Ponte Vedra Concert Hall. And we are proud to be a corporate sponsor.

Rendering of the Ponte Vedra Concert HallAI-Generated Photo

A Room Worth Knowing

Ponte Vedra Concert Hall operates as a nonprofit, which means it runs on ticket sales, community support, and sponsorships to keep a serious calendar of live…

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The Show Goes On

For over six decades, community theater has been the beating heart of local storytelling in the Jacksonville Beaches area. But fourteen months ago, that heartbeat faced its toughest challenge yet. An isolated fire, paired with the subsequent severe flooding from necessary sprinkler systems, left the beloved Players by the Sea facility devastated and its operations temporarily displaced.

But true to the spirit of the arts, the curtains didn't stay down for long.

On Tuesday, June 9, local leaders, artists, volunteers, and supporters gathered to witness a momentous occasion: the official grand re-opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony of Players by the Sea.

Players by the Sea in Jacksonville Beach, FL

A Community-Driven Resurrection

The atmosphere was electric as staff…

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For most of us, our home is our largest financial investment and a sanctuary for our families. But imagine waking up one day to find out that, on paper, you no longer own it.

It sounds like a plot from a movie, but property and deed fraud are among the fastest-growing white-collar crimes in the United States. Scammers use stolen identities to forge deeds, transfer property ownership into their names, and then take out massive loans against the home before disappearing. Because these documents are filed directly with local government recording offices, the true homeowners often have no idea anything is wrong until a foreclosure notice arrives at their door.

Fortunately, Florida homeowners have a powerful, completely free tool at their disposal to…

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