Happy Wednesday, friends! I have been loving being outside this week — my roses are even starting to bloom, which feels like Jax's official permission slip to spend every spare minute in the sun. Speaking of getting out, this week is loaded: Dining Out for Life is tomorrow, Sporting JAX dropped some big news, and I found you the cutest little café south of town. Let's get into it.
In today's edition:
🍽️ Dining Out for Life returns tomorrow
⚽ Sporting JAX picks a stadium site
🏡 Listing of the Week: a Ponte Vedra oceanfront stunner
🐮 Featured Business: The Fluffy Cow Cafe
📅 Everything happening this week
— Austin
🍽️ Dining Out for Life Returns Tomorrow
Tomorrow, Thursday April 16, marks the 21st annual Dining Out for Life Jacksonville, and it's one of the easiest "feel-good" days on the calendar — you eat, a local restaurant donates, and families across Northeast Florida get fed. Participating restaurants, bakeries, bars, food trucks, ice creameries, and breweries donate at least 25% of their day's sales to the NFAN Mary H. Lewis Food Pantry Dining Out For Life, which provides food assistance to low-income individuals living with HIV across our region.
Here's what this means:
It works for any meal — breakfast, lunch, happy hour, dinner, or a late-night bite
Participating spots include Biscotti's, European Street Cafe, and Hardwick's, among others
Last year alone, the food pantry and Dining Out for Life provided 15,388 meals to 595 families Folioweekly
Action News Jax anchor Tenikka Hughes and meteorologist Trevor Gibbs are this year's spokespeople
This is the kind of day where picking where to eat actually matters. Skip the chain, hit one of the participating spots, and your dinner does double duty.
P.S. If you can't make it out, the Virtual Table accepts donations year-round.
⚽ Sporting JAX Reveals Its Stadium Site Near Town Center
Source: Jacksonville Daily Record
It's official — Jacksonville's newest pro soccer club has a permanent home picked out, and it's going to reshape one of the busiest corners of the Southside. Sporting Club Jacksonville announced March 2 it will build a mixed-use development centered by a new soccer stadium in the St. Johns Town Center area, with hopes to begin playing there by 2028. Sporting JAX intends to develop 150 acres of a 364-acre site across Interstate 295 from the University of North Florida, just north of the Town Center. Jax Daily Record
Here's what this means:
A 15,000-seat soccer-specific stadium will anchor 500,000 square feet of restaurants, retail, hotel, and residential space
The project is privately funded — no public tax dollars — and is backed by John Elway, Tim Tebow, Chick-fil-A CEO Andrew Cathy, and former Jaguar Blake Bortles
As of last week, the St. Johns River Water Management District is already reviewing the project's stormwater and wetlands application
The development is designed to be active 365 days a year, not just on match days
If you live or work anywhere near the Town Center, this is going to change your daily life over the next few years — for better or for traffic-jammed worse.
🏡 Listing of the Week: 901 Ponte Vedra Blvd
If you've ever driven down Ponte Vedra Boulevard and wondered who lives in those oceanfront homes — well, one of them is now on the market. 901 Ponte Vedra Blvd sits directly on the sand in Ponte Vedra Beach, with the Atlantic out your back door and that classic A1A address on the front.
This is the kind of listing where the location is the story. Steps from the dunes, a short drive to Sawgrass and the TPC, and tucked into one of the most coveted stretches of coastline in Northeast Florida.
🐮 Featured Business: The Fluffy Cow Cafe
Just 35 minutes south in St. Augustine
Okay, this place is adorable and I had to share it. The Fluffy Cow Cafe opened in February out on SR 16 in St. Augustine, and it's already racking up glowing reviews. It's not a traditional café — it's a small-group, guided animal encounter where you get up close with rescued Highland cows (the shaggy, wavy-coated, ridiculously photogenic kind) plus donkeys, sheep, goats, tortoises, camels, zebu, and pigs.
Here's what this means:
It's operated by Noah's Ark Sanctuary — every ticket directly supports daily animal care, enrichment, and education programs Thefluffycowcafe
Encounters are about 50 minutes, staff-led, and capped at small group sizes for the animals' calm and your experience Thefluffycowcafe
You can feed and brush the animals (supplies provided), and yes — your photo roll will never recover
Reservations are required and slots fill quickly
This is one of those experiences that's perfect for a girls' day, a daughter's birthday, or anyone who needs an hour of pure serotonin. Worth the drive.
📍 The Fluffy Cow Cafe — 4485 SR 16, St. Augustine, FL 32092
📅 Events This Week
🎨 Arts & Culture
Sip & Stroll Downtown — Thursday, April 16, 5–8 p.m. (free) — Southbank Riverwalk, between Friendship Fountain and the Chart House, 1015 Museum Cir, Jacksonville, FL 32207 Stroll the Southbank every third Thursday for live music, food vendors, riverside bars, and a picnic area against a sunset backdrop. Stick around for the free Silent Disco after-party on the DoubleTree pool deck — headphones provided. See more details →
Lawson Ensemble & Friends: An Afternoon of String Quartets — Sunday, April 19, 3 p.m. (free) — UNF Fine Arts Center, Building 45, Recital Hall (Room 1200), 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32224 A free chamber music afternoon at UNF — bring a friend who appreciates a little Brahms with their Sunday. See more details →
MOCA Spring Family Day — Sunday, April 19, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. (free) — MOCA Jacksonville, 333 N Laura St, Jacksonville, FL 32202 A full day of FREE family activities at MOCA — interactive artmaking, live performances, and partner activities throughout the museum, all presented by the PNC Foundation. Street parking is free downtown on Sundays. See more details →
🎶 Music & Nightlife
Trace Adkins — 30th Anniversary Tour — Thursday, April 16, 7:30 p.m. — St. Augustine Amphitheatre, 1340C A1A South, St. Augustine, FL 32080 The country icon hits the Backyard Stage at the Amp on his 30th anniversary headline run, celebrating three decades since "Every Light in the House." See tickets →
Spring Garden Concert: Dustin Monk & the Hustle — Saturday, April 18, 5:30–9 p.m. ($60) — Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, 829 Riverside Ave, Jacksonville, FL 32204 Pack a blanket and groove by the river. Northeast Florida favorite Dustin Monk & the Hustle bring their roots-rock fusion sound to the Cummer Gardens — doors 5:30, music 6:30–8:30. Beer, wine, cocktails and snacks available on site (no outside food or drink). See tickets →
Two Friends at Decca Live — Friday, April 17, 10 p.m. (18+) — Decca Live, 323 E Bay St, Jacksonville, FL 32202 The DJ duo behind the viral "Big Bootie Mixes" lights up Decca Live downtown — come early and grab a drink at SIP next door if you're 21+. See tickets →
Color within the Wines — Every Thursday, 4:30 p.m.–close (free) — Silver Cow Jax, 4860 Stuart St, Jacksonville, FL 32205 A weekly bring-your-inner-child wind-down at this Murray Hill favorite. Coloring books, featured wines, craft beer on tap, and Vegan & GF snack plates available — happy hour runs 4–7 p.m. with $3 select drafts. See more details →
🏃♀️ Get Outside
Jax Healing Hearts Race 5K & 1M — Saturday, April 18, 8 a.m. ($35 / $30) — Episcopal School of Jacksonville, 4455 Atlantic Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32207 The 8th annual Healing Hearts Race benefits The Healing Hearts Project, supporting families at the Terry Heart Institute at Wolfson Children's Hospital and UF Pediatric Cardiology. 5K kicks off at 8 a.m., 1-mile walk at 9:30 a.m., festival area open until 1 p.m. See more details →
Oyster Fest — Saturday, April 18, 11 a.m. — Riverview Park, 9620 Water Oak Dr, Jacksonville, FL 32208 Get ready to shuck and slurp. Fresh oysters, live music, food trucks, local vendors, and a kids zone — all with a mission to protect what makes our city thrive. See tickets →
👜 Shop Local
Small Town Boutique Crawl 2026 — Saturday, April 18, 10 a.m. — 418 Walnut St, Green Cove Springs, FL 32043 A day of shopping unique boutiques, finding one-of-a-kind items, and exclusive discounts in charming downtown Green Cove Springs. Grab the girls and make a day of it. See tickets →
Brew & Browse Pop-Up Market (Jacksonville Fun, Eats & Drinks Meet-Up) — TONIGHT, Wednesday, April 15, 7 p.m. — Myrtle Avenue Brewing, 1012 Myrtle Ave N, Jacksonville, FL 32204 Tonight's the night! Come join the Jacksonville Fun, Eats & Drinks Facebook group meet-up and shop the Brew & Browse Pop-Up Market over a cold one at Myrtle Ave Brewing. Local makers, good people, great beer. See more details →
🎬 Family
Flower Vase – Paint and Sip in Jacksonville — Saturday, April 18 — Jacksonville (check listing for venue) A Classpop! paint-and-sip session focused on a flower vase canvas — perfect for a girls' night or solo creative reset. See tickets →
JaxParks Movie Night: Zootopia 2 — Friday, April 17, 7 p.m. (free) — Riverfront Plaza, 2 W Independent Dr, Jacksonville, FL 32202 A FREE outdoor movie night downtown with popcorn and food trucks — JaxParks is screening Zootopia 2 at Riverfront Plaza. Bring chairs and blankets, weather permitting. See more details →
🏟️ Sports
Jacksonville Sharks Home Opener — Country & Camo Night — Friday, April 17, 7 p.m. — VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena (The Tank), 300 A. Philip Randolph Blvd, Jacksonville, FL 32202 The 4X champion Sharks kick off their 2026 IFL season at home against the brand-new Orlando Pirates, and they're doing it big. Country & Camo Night is presented by Rolland Reash Plumbing — dust off your boots, throw on your camo, and the first 1,000 fans get a 2026 magnet schedule. Plus, a halftime performance by the world-famous Disc-Connected K9s WOKV. See tickets →
Guns N' Hoses 27th Annual Charity Boxing Event — Saturday, April 18, 7 p.m. — UNF Arena, 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville, FL 32224 This one is uniquely Jacksonville. The Guns N' Hoses charity boxing event is back, with local cops and firefighters trading the badge for boxing gloves — all for charity. It's fun, it's loud, it's a little rowdy, and every dollar raised goes back into community programs supporting local causes. If you've never been, it's the kind of night that reminds you why Jax hits differently — first responders stepping up for the community they already serve every day. See tickets →
That's everything for today. Whatever your week looks like, I hope you find a little pocket of sunshine in it.
See you Friday! — Austin