Along with being where the St. Johns River meets the Atlantic Ocean, Jacksonville is also where the old meets the new. While being steeped in history, Jacksonville boasts of hosting Florida’s youngest population. Because of this unique combination, Jacksonville hosts many attractions. Out of the many experiences to have, here are the six best cultural experiences in Jacksonville, FL.

Thrasher Horne Center Art Gallery

The Thrasher Horne Center, located at St. Johns River State College, prides itself on its commitment to music, dance, and theatre. In addition, the TH Center art gallery contains two visual art galleries: the Lee Adams Florida Artists Gallery and the Jack Mitchell Gallery.

As for the Lee Adams gallery, it showcases local Florida artists in various mediums. Along with the Adams gallery, you can tour the Jack Mitchell gallery, which focuses on photography. Within this gallery, you can view Mitchell’s celebrity portraits along with other local and national artists.

Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens

If you’re interested in art, then you will also want to visit the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens. The museum, located in Jacksonville’s Riverside neighborhood, houses over 5,000 pieces including objects that date all the way back to 2100 BC. Artists featured include Peter Paul Rubens and Norman Rockwell.

Within the vast holdings, you can find several special collections that include Meissen porcelain and rare books. After viewing the collection, you can take a walk through 1.45 acres of gardens that are home to Florida’s plants and trees along with sculptures. With so much to see, it’s worth the couple of hours it takes to walk through the museum and the gardens.

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Big Talbot Island State Park

If you’d rather spend your time outdoors, then you’ll want to make the trip to Big Talbot Island State Park. With it being primarily a natural preserve, it’s a great place to view the local flora and fauna including tide pool creatures. The locale is perfect for studying nature, bird watching, or photography.

To accomplish these tasks, you can hike trails or take a boat tour. While there, you can enjoy a nice picnic with a scenic view under a pavilion or on the beach.

Kingsley Plantation

Being Jacksonville’s oldest home, being built around 1798, Kingsley Plantation takes you back in time. As such, this estate provides you with a view of Jacksonville history. Along with touring the plantation house, you can also explore the slave cabins, kitchen house, barn, and kitchen house. Touring this historic house, provides insight into pre-Civil War Jacksonville.

The Florida Theatre

One of the only four remaining theatres of its kind built in the 1920s, the Florida Theatre is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally, a movie theatre, it now hosts over 200 events each year. It’s also the home of the Florida Ballet.

Along with ballet, you can attend the opera. Or, if you’d rather experience a contemporary music concert, it hosts rock, country, jazz, or pop concerts. Whatever your tastes, you can find an event at this key landmark within Riverside.

5 Points

Speaking of Riverside, 5 Points is a unique, hip neighborhood within Riverside. Within 5 Points, you can find all kinds of unique shops and restaurants. It’s here that you get a sense of Jacksonville’s young population. Along with a flare for art, you can also find antiques and collectibles.

Jacksonville- So Much Culture

As you can see, Jacksonville has so much to experience culturally. By visiting these six places, you gain perspective as to the unique combination of old and new that makes Jacksonville unique.

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