We ran the skiff only 30 minutes away from the boat ramp before Rami hopped on the poling platform and began pushing us through the labyrinth of spartina marsh creeks. Evan, posted on the front deck, fly rod in hand, scanned the grass flats for any sign of the targeted species, Sciaenops ocellatus, aka redfish. This was no regular day fishing the creeks, though, but an unusually early flood tide for the season, and I was sharing a boat with two of the most dialed fishermen from the area. Evan Tucker and Rami Ashouri of Cowford Conservation are two local …

Back for its sixth year, the Sing Out Loud festival kicks off Sept. 9 with more to offer than ever before. September is the month of music, and there’s no better way to celebrate than with free music, huge headliners, local artist spotlights and even a chance for your band to perform in a professional venue. Sing Out Loud has grown to become more than just a way to bring free music to the people of Northeast Florida. Since its inception, the festival has brought hundreds of musicians from around the country to St Augustine, catered to more than 50,000 …

Avondale cycle shop keeps on spinning Walking into Tucker Cycles in The Shoppes of Avondale, the first bike that caught my attention was a Reeb hardtail mountain bike painted a bright Jaguars teal. The frame design was a modern take on the setups mountain bike pioneers rode called “klunkers,” which were essentially souped-up beach cruisers with fat tires. The bike sported fat, knobby gumwall tires, a beautiful front suspension system and tall BMX-style handlebars; as OG as it gets, while keeping function and aesthetics at the forefront. When I pointed it out to Holt Tucker, owner of the shop, he …

The boys over at Neighborhood Jams did it again, but this month they took it to the next level. Brothers Trevor and Travis Hall’s names have become synonymous with local “house shows,” pop-up concerts hosted at makeshift venues in people’s homes and backyards, but their venues are maturing alongside the music talent they support. If you’re not familiar with Neighborhood Jams, you can bring yourself up to speed HERE (interview, photos and story by Lily Snowden).  In short, Neighborhood Jams, created by Trevor and Travis Hall, is a grassroots approach to supporting local musicians. They provide not only a stage …

You remember that solo sailor guy we told you about a few months back? The one who was preparing his boat to compete in the Golden Globe Race to circumnavigate the globe? The 27-year-old who was going to be the youngest to ever compete? The one named Elliott Smith? If not, let me jog your memory. The Golden Globe Race is a retro, solo, non-stop race covering 33,000 miles. Starting in Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, skippers travel south through the Atlantic Ocean then eastbound around the Cape of Good Hope (Africa), Storm Bay (Australia) and Cape Horn (South America) before returning …

According to the Florida Wildlife Commission, only one in 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings mature to adults. We’re in the heart of sea turtle nesting season in Northeast Florida, and turtle nests and hatchlings have been spotted all over the beaches. According to the Jacksonville Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol, around 100 nests have already been counted along our coastline, including over 90 loggerheads and a few leatherbacks, the largest sea turtle in the world that can measure as long as six feet and weigh up to half a ton. With summer in full swing, people are flocking to the beaches in …

“This isn’t any of my best or favorite work,” Walter Coker joked as he pulled a quite impressive stack of Folio Weekly issues out from under the bottom shelf of his bookshelf. The other shelves, lined with photography books authored by some of the most impressive photographers of all time, photojournalism textbooks, stories by local novelists and a beachcombing collection, stood as a sort of ingredient list for what Coker created within the pages of those copies of Folio humbly stashed on the bottom rack. Coker’s 21 years with Folio is one of the only reasons we still have a …

Shell rock crushed underfoot as we stepped out of my car into the Big Talbot jungle. The backroad we just followed for miles ended in seemingly nowhere with the thicket too dense to even see a few feet off the road. The sun was at its peak yet was barely peeking through the canopy above us, no-see-ums buzzed at our faces, and sweat was already running down my neck. A wiry middle-aged man appeared in a narrow clearing and motioned for us to follow him. The man in question was Keith Ashley, professor of archaeology at the University of North …

Nothing says “America!” more than failures in gun control, a tanking economy, record high inflation, further marginalizing already marginalized groups and taking bodily autonomy away from the majority of the United States population? (Yes, according to the U.S. Census over 50% of Americans have vaginas. Sorry, Chad. Your dry spell isn’t due to a lack of opportunities, but more a lack of interest.) This Fourth of July, rather than celebrating whatever it is we are supposed to, let’s all gather and celebrate the fact that the United States is the first country to time travel! And all it took was …

Inside the Mind of Henry Nader The first time his paintings were on public display Henry R. Nader watched through the gallery window. Rather than pushing himself, his views and his artistic intentions onto the viewers, he sat back, observed and let people experience his art in the most natural way possible: through their own curiosity with their own interpretation. “I saw people having conversations around my pieces. I’m not sure what they had to say, but I’m happy to have sparked any conversation. Even if they were just talking about how much they hated it,” Nader recalled cheekily. Henry …