East of Jacksonville, at the mouth of the St. Johns River, Hwy-A1A curves around a large U.S. Navy base, past the Bath Iron Works shipyard and the sizeable fishing port of Mayport, where you can enjoy a quick bite at a seafood shack (try Singleton’s, 100 yards west of the ferry landing) while watching the ferry shuttle back and forth. From Mayport, Hwy-A1A zig-zags inland south and east, reaching the water again at Jacksonville Beach, a welcoming, family-oriented community with the usual gauntlet of cafés, mini-golf courses, and video arcades, and a nice beachfront centering on a small pier.
South of Jacksonville Beach spreads the enclave of Ponte Vedra Beach, where country club resorts replace roadside sprawl. Hwy-A1A bends inland through here, so if you want to keep close to the shore (most of which is private), follow Hwy-203 instead, rejoining Hwy-A1A on the edge of town.
South of Ponte Vedra, Hwy-A1A passes a pair of beachfront state parks (the marvelous 12,000-acre Guana River and smaller South Ponte Vedra), both of which give access to usually uncrowded sands. About 30 miles south of Jacksonville Beach, across the water from St. Augustine in the town of Vilano Beach, Hwy-A1A passes by a real historic Florida landmark, Oscar’s Old Florida Grill (closed Mon. and Tues.; 904/829-3794), at 614 Euclid Avenue, east of the highway at milemarker 52. Built in 1909 and hardly changed since, this funky little shack has great fresh seafood, steaks, and burgers, and you can listen to live bluegrass and other good music while watching the sun set over the Tolomato River, the slow-flowing stream that doubles as the Intracoastal Waterway.
