The Ritz Theatre and Museum

On Saturday, my mother and I went to the Ritz Theatre and Museum. The Ritz Museum is dedicated to keeping the African American history of Jacksonville, Florida alive. The first exhibit was of the Jacksonville high schools, with an emphasis on sports. This exhibit blended in well with another section of the museum that displayed sports, not only in the high school setting, but the college and professional setting as well. The third exhibit was of brothers James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson. The final exhibit was a walk-through displaying African American life in historical Jacksonville. We were shown around each exhibit by a tour guide. She really impressed me because this was the first museum I had ever been to that she actually knew her information and did not have to read off of the displays. Having the tour guide was helpful because she was able to tell us stories that provided addition facts that were not displayed.

Exhibit 1:

Edward M. Stanton was the first African American public high school in Jacksonville, Florida, beginning in 1868. It was also one of the first African American public high schools in the state of Florida. The Stanton team was also one of the first schools able to participate in football. One news article headline dated November 28, 1950 read “First Negro Football Game will be played in Gator Bowl”. Another dated November 30, 1950 read “East-West Classic will be played in Gator Bowl tonight”. Stanton’s football team went on to will the East-West Classic.

Northwestern William Raines opened in 1958. Our tour guide told us that this was an African American public school built less than a mile from Ribault high school, which at the time was an all-white school. Before the times of desegregation, white families moved from Ribault high school, soon making it an all-African American high school. She said that this was significant because this was the first time that two African American high schools were within a mile of each other, giving Raines high a lot of history. An event that is coming to the theatre soon is a documentary by Emanuel Washington called We Remember Raines. This documentary was made to help identify and make known the history of Raines high in order to keep it from being torn down.

Exhibit 2:

The next exhibit was all about sports. Here the East-West Classic trophy that Stanton high school won was displayed. Also on display was memorabilia from Robert Lee “Bullet Bob” Hayes. He was an athlete from Jacksonville. Hayes was a two time Olympic gold medalist and a Dallas Cowboy’s SuperBowl champion. Another fact the tour guide told me was that Don Gaffney, was from Jacksonville and was the first black quarterback to play for the University of Florida Gators.

Exhibit 3:

The third exhibit was all about the life of two brothers, James Weldon Johnson and John Rosamond Johnson. The museum had a robotic display that gave a ten minute bio of the two brothers, more so James than John. James Johnson had been the principal of Stanton high school, an author, a poet, a huge name in Broadway and music, a NAACP executive secretary, and the first African American admitted to the Florida Bar. The two brothers along with fried Bob Cole wrote and composed over 200 pieces of music together. One piece, Lift Every Voice and Sing, is still widely known today and has been called the “Negro National Anthem”. 

 

Exhibit 4:

The final exhibit showed what life in the African American culture in Jacksonville had been like in the early to mid-1900. It showed home and family life, church, an insurance company, barber shop, doctor’s office, legal professional’s office, Eartha M.M. White, pharmacy, school, Photos by Weems, live entertainment and night life, and civil rights. There were three displays the tour guide stopped and had stories for. First was the church. The display was of Central Metropolitan C.M.E. Church. It was an African American church open from 1905 to 1986. In the stained glass window of the church, a black Jesus was portrayed with a white woman kneeling down to him. The tour guide said that she was surprised nothing had happened to the window because in the times that the church was open, this was a radical move for the people of the church due to discrimination and segregation. The second display she discussed was the Photos by Weems. Weems lived from 1929 to 1979. He was a visual storyteller who dedicated his life to capturing the lifestyle and culture of African Americans in photos. Weems work was names La Villa. The final display she took the time to discuss was the civil rights movement. She described the everyday discriminations that took place against the African American people and what they did to combat them. She stressed that most of the people working in the civil rights movement were adolescents and young adults. She said that they were pretty much throwing their lives away because they would not stand a chance in life after an arrest, but they believed that what they were fighting for was way more important.

The Ritz Theatre and Museum provided a great experience for me. I was able to not only learn history of a different culture but history of where I live as well. This museum is definitely a hidden treasure that I would encourage everyone to visit.

Dinner at La Nopalera

Over the weekend, my boyfriend and I ate dinner at La Nopalera. La Nopalera is a very popular Mexican restaurant in Orange Park. We chose this restaurant because this is one of my favorites, not just of Mexican restaurants, but of all restaurants. I have been going to this restaurant for a few years now because this is the first true Mexican restaurant that I have eaten at and enjoyed. I’m not afraid to try something new there because everything on the menu is excellent. One of my friends, who lived in Mexico for a few years, said that since he’s been back in the states, La Nopalera has been the only Mexican restaurant he has ate at that has actually served true Mexican recipes. La Nopalera has a very stereotypical environment. All the waiters and waitresses are of some Spanish decent, mariachi music is played over the speakers, and unless someone requests a channel change, soccer is on all the t.v. screens. La Nopalera is known for its friendly and fun atmosphere, white cheese sauce, and margaritas. We started our dinner off with some chips and salsa. For dinner we both had different versions of the fajitas. I had the Fajitas Texanas, which is steak, chicken, and shrimp mixed with green onion, tomatoes, and peppers. They bring out lettuce, cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and refried beans out to put on the tortilla with the meat and vegetables. I always eat the meat and vegetables by themselves and take all the other stuff home home with my left overs to make the actual fajitas the next day. La Nopalera is one of the only restaurants in which the food is actually good left over. Also, the only guacamole I have ever liked is served there. My boyfriend ate the Fajita Nachos. I have had this before too and it is excellent. It pretty much the same ingredients as what I ate, only it is placed on a bed of chips and smothered with the white cheese sauce instead of a tortilla wrap. La Nopalera, no matter what you order from the menu, you get a ton of food that tastes great and is well priced. I have tried other Mexican restaurants that are similar to La Nopalera but the food is never as good, the atmosphere never as fun, and the people never as friendly. No matter how often I eat at La Nopalera, I never get tired of eating there. There is such a large variety of food and it all tastes good, so I never worry about getting tired of eating there because of being limited to always ordering the same thing. I encourage anyone who is ever in Orange Park, Fl, to stop in and eat at La Nopalera, especially if you like Mexican food. It is the best Mexican restaurant I have ever been to and one of my top all-time favorite restaurants. Even my boyfriend, who is very picky when it comes to food and can usually find something about a restaurant he doesn’t like, loves La Nopalera and has nothing negative to say.