1980s Downtown Jacksonville

[Gunnar]

Germania Club building.. what a loss.

And to think they tore it down to widen a friggin' road 

[KevinG]

The Hotel Robert Meyer. Good intentions, but turned into a dump.

[VillageVicarage]

Crikey! These were absolutely lovely!  Thank you so very much for sharing them with us!

I was wondering whether anyone might possibly have a photo of the Phelps Fabric's building, which at one point in time, also known as The Hotel Phelps?

And not to appear too selfish, I'd absolutely love to see some interior photos of the old Hotel Robert Meyer, especially of the Pharmacy, the Bali Hi Lounge, Cafe Caribe, and some of the old business that were in the lobby/reception area....either of the era when the hotel was in vogue, or, heaven forbid, when that drug rattled designer did the hotel in bright purple and white vinyl furniture....  what a disaster!
As a child I spent many nights at the HRM...my father and I would arrive on the overnight ACL train, then transfer to the HRM for two nights...then we'd head out to the Ponte Vedra Club.   My father was what we would describe as a creature of habit. We had no reason to stay at the HRM...it was simply what 'he did.'  And we'd visit the same places, have the same meals, and then off to Ponte Vedra...always to the Inlet as it was removed from the hustle and bustle....
And whether we liked it or not, I remember how he'd force us to have a rather boring lunch across the river at a Deli, in a shopping centre where there was ....if I recall correctly, a cinema and a 'pic N save' store...it was called 'Waldz,' Waldz had the most disagreeable owners you could ever imagine. They were born and bred New Yorkers and had a penchant for being 'cheap.' If I'd ask for a coke without ice, it would arrive in a glass half-filled, and always the owner would point out that 'it would be full if you had ice in it!'   Or, with knees knocking, if I asked for a second pat of butter, we'd find a charge on the bill for two cents....Yet we tolerated the place....I think it was because the people who owned the place were the very Antithesis of the people of Jacksonville. They were crude, rude, and often obnoxious. But it was fun to have the woman play Jewish Mother to me, always telling my father that I wasn't getting enough to eat...and her husband secretly telling me the most vile and dirty jokes - many of which I didn't understand at all, especially when some of the words would be in Yiddish. But I still loved it. And if truth be known, I miss the people in a strange sort of way.
And if I were really being selfish, I'd love to see a photo of interiors of the old terminal station when the trains were actually there! And a rather strange tiny little shop downtown that sold, as I recall, nothing other than Coconut Milk and perhaps Pineapple Juice.  I'm going back almost 40-50 years, so I'm sure those things are long gone...
nevertheless....it never hurts to ask!   :-)

Thank you for resurrecting some nice memories!

Fr B+

www.dogdogma.blogspot.com
www.bigworldsmallboat.blogspot.com

[fsujax]

love the cover photo...All the different banks names, Barnett, First Union, Florida National, etc. Now if wee could just get the old Barnett Bank clock/temp sign back up and running!

[Wacca Pilatka]

Crikey! These were absolutely lovely!  Thank you so very much for sharing them with us!

I was wondering whether anyone might possibly have a photo of the Phelps Fabric's building, which at one point in time, also known as The Hotel Phelps?

And not to appear too selfish, I'd absolutely love to see some interior photos of the old Hotel Robert Meyer, especially of the Pharmacy, the Bali Hi Lounge, Cafe Caribe, and some of the old business that were in the lobby/reception area....either of the era when the hotel was in vogue, or, heaven forbid, when that drug rattled designer did the hotel in bright purple and white vinyl furniture....  what a disaster!
As a child I spent many nights at the HRM...my father and I would arrive on the overnight ACL train, then transfer to the HRM for two nights...then we'd head out to the Ponte Vedra Club.   My father was what we would describe as a creature of habit. We had no reason to stay at the HRM...it was simply what 'he did.'  And we'd visit the same places, have the same meals, and then off to Ponte Vedra...always to the Inlet as it was removed from the hustle and bustle....
And whether we liked it or not, I remember how he'd force us to have a rather boring lunch across the river at a Deli, in a shopping centre where there was ....if I recall correctly, a cinema and a 'pic N save' store...it was called 'Waldz,' Waldz had the most disagreeable owners you could ever imagine. They were born and bred New Yorkers and had a penchant for being 'cheap.' If I'd ask for a coke without ice, it would arrive in a glass half-filled, and always the owner would point out that 'it would be full if you had ice in it!'   Or, with knees knocking, if I asked for a second pat of butter, we'd find a charge on the bill for two cents....Yet we tolerated the place....I think it was because the people who owned the place were the very Antithesis of the people of Jacksonville. They were crude, rude, and often obnoxious. But it was fun to have the woman play Jewish Mother to me, always telling my father that I wasn't getting enough to eat...and her husband secretly telling me the most vile and dirty jokes - many of which I didn't understand at all, especially when some of the words would be in Yiddish. But I still loved it. And if truth be known, I miss the people in a strange sort of way.
And if I were really being selfish, I'd love to see a photo of interiors of the old terminal station when the trains were actually there! And a rather strange tiny little shop downtown that sold, as I recall, nothing other than Coconut Milk and perhaps Pineapple Juice.  I'm going back almost 40-50 years, so I'm sure those things are long gone...
nevertheless....it never hurts to ask!   :-)

Thank you for resurrecting some nice memories!

Fr B+

www.dogdogma.blogspot.com
www.bigworldsmallboat.blogspot.com

There's a recent book called Lost Restaurants of Jacksonville by Dorothy Fletcher that I am pretty sure contains some residents' memories of Waldz.

[jcjohnpaint]

Germania Club building.. what a loss.

And to think they tore it down to widen a friggin' road 

Now a dirt lot. 

[Redbaron616]

"Remember the good old 1980s? When things were so uncomplicated . . ." From an Electric Light Orchestra song (forget which one).