Some thoughts:
Wow, the Beach has become *so* much better than what it was -- because it was *really* basic and underwhelming back in the day.
I definitely remember that Ferris Wheel. It was a big attraction. Coming of age just after integration, I don't remember African Americans *having* to go to American Beach (in fact, I don't ever recall going to American Beach as a kid). And as a teenager, the beach of choice for folks in Orange Park was St. Augustine / Anastasia Island, so I've always thought of the entire Fernandina / American Beach area to Crescent Beach area (that's where Gainesville goes) as "our" beach.
Watching The Players golf championship this weekend, they really showed off the area with multiple aerial shots of the Duval and St. Johns county beachfront. It was beautiful.
An old Jamaican girlfriend from my days at UF saw her family move to Jax just as she headed off to college. They lived in the Fort Caroline area and she never grew to like Jacksonville. Her family accrued properties in Springfield over time and they are now selling off a few pieces (she and her extended family now live in Atlanta). She was back in town recently and we met out at the Beach. She hadn't been there since the mid 1980s and was blown away by two things -- how much the place had improved, and how many black folks were out and about at Jax Beach. The first reaction I agreed with, the second I said shouldn't have surprised her. I told her my theory for why it *was* a surprise to her is that she only hung out in the Atlantic Beach area back then and just doesn't recall the diverse crowds at Jax Beach.
I wonder if some of you old-timers agree with that guess or have some other thoughts about the Beaches back in the 70s / 80s.
