Old Orange Park

[NVGator]

I just visited my mom in Orange Park. She lives in the country club/Lock Rane. First of all, Orange Park as a whole has turned into a freaking dump if you ask me. I drove all over the places I used to go when I grew up there....everything is dingy, overgrown, and cluttered with junk. Secondly, to make matters worse, the asshat who bought the golf course in OPCC declared bankruptcy and let the place go to seed. Its a disaster. I walked the course for about six holes to check it out....everything is overgrown with weeds and the greens are just rotten sandy areas. It looks like something from the apocalypse. There are still some nice neighborhoods and the houses along the waterfront are generally nice, but those areas are all wedged in between some serious low-rent crapola. Sad really. I guess what happened was when the market tumbled, a lot of people turned their homes into cheap rentals, and once a lot of renters moved in they didn't take care of the place and everything just snowballed. I would never move back there in a million years.

At least Whitey's fish camp is still there and in one piece. Got some crab bisque and some fried shrimp and it was tasty.

I’ll be back in Jax in 2 weeks to visit My Mom and Sis. I’ll make a trip to the old stomping grounds but I expect the same results. Sounds like OP wasn’t the up and coming place everyone thought it would be.

 

[bradgator2]

Too crowded with horrific traffic. The nice areas just keep spreading further and further away.

 

[BMF]

I lived on the west side until about age 9 when we moved out by Julington Creek. Probably would’ve winded up in prison if we hadn’t.

I grew up on Julington Creek Road - about a mile from Clark's. I went to Loretto Elementary, moved there in Dec 1978.

 

[BMF]

I tried to eat that George's Creations thing they had (where you get your picture on the wall) and couldn't get it all down! We used to go to Stickland's and Kingsley Lake about 3 or 4 times every summer. Great memories!

 

[BMF]

Down on the corner of Moody Road and Suzanne. Rode our bikes here all the time when we were young to get candy and such. Ah, nothing like Big League Chew and candy cigarettes! To this day, I call all convenience stores "The Jiffy."

This is where the universal term "Jiffy Feet" comes from (black feet from white trash not wearing shoes inside the store). Anytime I see someone w/ black feet I yell "Jiffy feet!"

 

[MJMGator]

I grew up on Julington Creek Road - about a mile from Clark's. I went to Loretto Elementary, moved there in Dec 1978.

I went to Loretto 76-79.

 

[BMF]

I went to Loretto 76-79.

I was there 78-81 (3rd thru 5th grade).

 

[NVGator]

Good times.

 

[MJMGator]

I was there 78-81 (3rd thru 5th grade).

Fun place to grow up.

 

[NVGator]

Going to Clark’s tomorrow night.

 

[BMF]

Going to Clark’s tomorrow night.

I remember when Clark's was a bait shop (i.e. "fish camp"). We'd ride out bikes there to buy a coke and a candy bar. It was a DUMP! I had moved out to the beach by the time it became a popular restaurant. I still see it as the dump I grew up riding my bike to. We'd swim off the dock out front. It's amazing how much that area has changed.