December 2011

Found 5 blog entries for December 2011.

Jacksonville For Caroline - Arlington

By: Alan Aptheker

Arlington was one of the first areas in the United States visited by Europeans; it was the site of the French Fort Caroline, built in 1564-1565.  French explorer René Goulaine de Laudonnière, led a contingent of 200 new settlers to Florida. They built Fort Caroline atop a high river vantage point now called “St. Johns Bluff.”  But the colony was beset by hunger, Indian attacks, and mutiny.  Even so, it looked like an attractive option for the  Spanish authorities who considered it a challenge to their control over the area.

Enter the daring Spaniard Don Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, who violently evicted the French.  The French retreated 35 miles south, where they established the first settlement of St. Augustine.  Today, Fort

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Metro Diner Mandarin Jacksonville FL
By: Alan Aptheker

Banana Stuffed French Toast will soon be available at three locations, maybe more, in Jacksonville.  Oh goody.

Even before Metro Diner was featured on Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,” we gladly stood outside, summer and winter (or what we call winter), waiting for a table at Metro Diner in San Marco. We were blessed with a second location in Mandarin, at 12807 San Jose Blvd., near The Fresh Market and Hurricane Grill & Wings. The new location, thankfully, has  more space with its wraparound porch and outdoor seating for up to 32 more hungry customers.  

Metro Diner Mandarin Jacksonville FL Side Entrance

Now, the inevitable next step is a third location at the Beaches, and ultimately, a huge leap to begin the Metro Diner franchise, giving birth to as many as six

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Harriet Beecher Stowe

By: Alan Aptheker

In the 1870s and 1880s, Harriet Beecher Stowe and her family vacationed in what is now North Mandarin, on their St. Johns River estate. While living there after the Civil War, Stowe wrote Palmetto Leaves, arguably an eloquent piece of promotional literature directed at Florida's potential Northern investors at the time. The book was published in 1873 and describes Northeast Florida and its residents.  In 1870, Stowe created an integrated school in Mandarin for children and adults. This predated the national movement toward integration by more than a half century.

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Rivertown St. Johns

St. Johns master-planned riverfront residential development, has launched a full court press to boost their online presence, with a full blown web redesign and social media push to promote the 4,170-acre community.

The new RiverTownFlorida.com features streamlined navigation, easy to use for future homebuyers researching the community. The new site provides a wealth of resources for homebuyers, including builder profiles and home site maps, lifestyle information, community resources, and news and events. There’s all the information that homebuyers consider when purchasing a home, from school zones and proximity to shopping and entertainment to builder information and community amenities.

RiverTown has also launched a Facebook community page, with

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Real Estate Misconception, Mystery and Myth
By: Alan Aptheker

Three false assumptions we make about real estate. Some things we just know to be true, can either be a misconception, a mystery or a complete myth. 

Real Estate Misconception, Mystery and Myth, in that order.
My old boss told the same joke a thousand times. We got so sick of it, it actually hurt to laugh. Here it is: If it walks like duck, and talks like a duck, it could be a goose. [laughter].  She was trying to tell us not to be so quick to assume. (Why didn’t she just say that). Here are three assumptions, one of each type: a misconception, a mystery and a popular myth.

Misconception: a foreclosure is a bargain. It’s an easy way to get a house for a steal.
Many foreclosures cannot even be viewed by the public. If they are,

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