Jacksonville, Florida, has been my home for more than 20 years.
I moved to Jacksonville when I was in the navy.
I spent 8 years in Jacksonville and another two years at the Mayport base. After that I decided to retire from the military. I bought a small fishing boat and I take people out on the water every day for fishing charters. When I’m out on the water, I feel very much at ease and relaxed. 15 years in the military was really hard on my body and my mind. I like living in Jacksonville and I recently moved to the beach. Living near the beach is dangerous, because I have seen a number of hurricanes and tropical storms demolish houses, condos, and apartments all along the beach. Last year a tree fell in my backyard during a tropical storm and it landed right on top of the window air conditioning system in the garage. When the tree hit the window air conditioner, it also hit the side of the building. Half of the garage was destroyed when the air conditioner broke out of the window and the wood and I had a mess to clean up. I got a sizable amount of money for the damages and I used that money to fix up the house. After that I sold it and decided to buy the place by the beaches. I won’t need a window air conditioner in the garage now, because I will have the wonderful breeze coming in off the ocean. Hopefully that will save me some money during the summer months.