[ala119]

My in-laws live in Jacksonville. We are going there for the holidays. We'll be in Daytona 12/20-12/27. Then back to Jacksonville through 1/8/2010!!! Does anyone have any helpful ideas of thrifty activities to do in the area? I imagine it will be just me and my DS (3 1/2 yrs). Any great deals I should be aware of? We saw an episode of Jon&Kate+8 about Butterfly World. My DS thought it was really cool. I don't know where that is, and I haven't done any research for the north Florida area. Any ideas or tips are appreciated!

[dimwitt]

St. Augustine is always beautifully decorated with lights. Check out what is going on at Amelia Island. You can ride the ferry over from Mayport-$5 each way for fun. The state parks there are beautiful.

[ala119]

more ideas please

[dimwitt]

The Museum of Science & History has been having 1/2 price admission on Wed. afternoons. Don't know the age of your children. The Cummer Museum has been having free admission on Tuesday nights. The Karpeles Manuscript Museum and the Brest Museum have free admission.

Give me an idea what you are interested in and I will try & help

[ala119]

As in the first post DS is 3 1/2 yrs- Museums, playgrounds, libraries, frogs, bugs, snakes (caged of course) water, any kind of animals/insects really. And particularly in the Jacksonville area as I don't know the area well enough to venture out on my own. Still looking for your ideas please.

[catielee]

Jacksonville Zoo

[dimwitt]

I agree Jacksonville Zoo is great! I don't know what part of town you are going to be in, but in the intercoastal area and near the beach there are several small parks. One cute one on San Pablo is called Castaway Island. It has a short nature walk with foot prints/paw prints that you follow and learn about birds & animals indigenous to the area. Your little one would probably enjoy the MOSH (Museum of Science & History). To me it is geared more to younger kids.

Guano Preserve is a little south on A1A. It has a nature center. Admission is $2 for adults. Children can go on a "scavenger hunt". You can get info from the staff on that. It is really cute. You go around opening drawers, etc. and learn about fish, birds, shells, etc. There are also different hikes you can go on. That time of the year it should be really nice. Also the right whales winter in the area so you might spot one. There is a picnic area by the nature center.

Fort Caroline also has some nature walks out into the marsh. That is a very beautiful area.

I'll try and keep an eye out for upcoming events.

[tiggercat]

jax4kids.com is a good website to look for activities

[ala119]

awesome ideas keep 'em coming! I'll need to fill up almost 2 weeks of stuff to do. They live on Arrowleaf Terrace. It's probably a 15 minute drive to Jax Beach.

[dimwitt]

Oh, then Fort Caroline is very close by as is Castaway Island. Another place close by is Tree Hill Nature Center. They have a butterfly garden but I'm not sure how active that will be in winter.

You mentioned Butterfly World but it is about 5 hours away. Gainesville has a Butterfly Rainforest (about an hour away).

[ala119]

thank you for all of your ideas! What about any inexpensive places to create crafts & stuff? Like maybe painting pottery? My MIL loves the chocolate popcorn @ Peterbrooke Chocolatier. Anyone know if they have a hands on experience?

[dimwitt]

I don't know of any cheap places to paint pottery, but I'll ask around. There may some special children's events during the holiday since they are out of school. I understand that the Peterbrook located in San Marco gives tours of their operation.

[ala119]

Will be in Jacksonville/Daytona in less than a week. Please get me your ideas and also the stores I should shop (ie. which stores take doubles? to what value? what days? etc) All I really know is Winn Dixie since my SIL works in WD management.

[miralys]

I would check out the state parks for hiking, picnics, etc. You could print out information on plants and birds and make a scavenger hunt for them. There's also lots of museums that you can get into for fairly cheap, especially if you can use a AAA or student or military discount. Definitely do the zoo! You can't go wrong with the beach either.

[tiggercat]

I heard that Planet Pottery in Jax Beach is reasonably priced to paint pottery.

[ala119]