Plan a Staycation in Your City This Summer

Let's face it, sometimes it just isn't in the budget to take a Summer vacation. Sure, we'd all like to pack our bags and fly away to lie on the white, sandy beaches of some exotic location or visit a historic location that the kids have learned about in school. I bet, though, if you did a little research you'd find lots of fun things to do right in your own city.

This is called a staycation. It's a real word, y'all.

stay·ca·tion, noun: a vacation spent at home or nearby

For the past two Mondays the kids and I have gone to the Main Branch Library in Downtown Jacksonville. Of course there's a couple of library branches that are closer to our house but, I wanted to venture out of our normal, everyday routine and go see some sights we've never seen before.


This library opened in 2005 and two Mondays ago was the first time we had ever been. {that's just awful!} At over 300,000 sq. ft., it's the largest public library in the state of Florida. That's pretty remarkable!



Located on N. Laura Street at Hemming Plaza, the Main Branch Library is surrounded by lots of things to do and see.

This last Monday we started at the library. We checked out a few books and then set out to discover the JTA Skyway. Again, something that has been a part of Jacksonville for YEARS that we've never been on before.


The Skyway runs Monday through Friday from 6am until 9pm. The track is only 2.5 miles long, traveling from downtown to San Marco, so it's a short trip. However, it's a fun way to see our city from places and angles you haven't seen before.

After we rode the Skyway we walked to the Duval County Courthouse to have a look inside. Another beautiful, new building in our city's downtown area that I hadn't taken the time to go see. From the outside, the courthouse is magnificent. The entire building is GRAND and HUGE and looks like it belongs right in the middle of NYC. The inside? I'm not sure what I was expecting to see when I walked inside but, it was very boring. It's beautiful with all of its marble and gold but, no pictures or color. Maybe if we were able to tour courtrooms and see other interesting things it would've been a more memorable experience.
After a long day of touring our city, we had only seen a small amount of what's to be seen in downtown Jacksonville. There are tall buildings, museums, art galleries, wall murals, statues, and so much more! I'm hoping to go downtown more often and bring you little snippets of what you can see when you come to Jacksonville, FL. It really is beautiful here!




Have you ever had a staycation in your city? Did you discover something you didn't know was so amazing until you finally went??