After months of deliberation, the quorum landed on “The Bold New City of the South,” and embarked upon the grinding process of establishing a reputation. Overnight, billboards popped up and jingles peppered the 15-second slots between TV commercials. Suddenly, a city that had hidden against the wallpaper for decades, stood out like the awkward kid at the dance.

Years passed and, itchy for a newer, better identity, the city eventually divorced itself from that original brand and remarried – not once but twice - changing from “The Bold New City of the South” to “Florida’s First Coast,” and finally settling on “Where Florida Begins,” embracing each transitioning brand with a bullishness seldom seen outside of fraternities and stock-trading floors.

Flash forward 30 years and, as if the volume was finally turned up loud enough to hear, Jacksonville started dancing. The stage was set; a Superbowl was secured, and finally Jacksonville endured the push it needed to enter the 21st century.

As a displaced native and notorious eye-roller about my hometown, I have somehow, against my own best devices, become a fan. Every trip home is like watching an awkward pre-teen turn into a more fun, less self-conscious, and slightly more in-step version of itself. It is, if not exciting, then at least encouraging.

Here’s the other thing: for travelers on a budget, you can’t beat Jacksonville for its ability to provide weeks’ worth of free activities, miles of public beaches, affordable lodging and 220 sunny days a year. While it doesn’t have Miami’s stylish swing, and its no match for Atlanta’s shopping and concerts, Jacksonville provides an affordable and accessible gateway to Florida and the old South with good barbecue and friendly locals who feel like they’re living in a city that’s finally getting somewhere. Learn more about visiting at Jacksonville Convention Visitors Bureau.

For the real Jacksonville experience, don’t miss out on these free (or low cost) attractions:

• Create your own masterpiece at Art Connections at the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, a hands-on area of the museum that caters to adults and children alike. Walk through the riverfront grounds and take a gander at the live oaks buttressed by guide wires and surviving by sheer force of will. Complimentary admission every Tuesday evening.

• Explore up-and-coming artists each month at First Wednesday Art Walk, a self-guided downtown tour of art galleries, restaurants and local hotspots, all featuring artwork from local artists.

• Sample taste treats straight from the ocean at the yearly Great Atlantic Seafood Festival and generally enjoy the Jacksonville Beach Sea Walk Pavilion. Bring your sunscreen and prepare to people-watch.

• Dance the night away on the river at The Jacksonville Landing where there’s free live music every Friday and Saturday night. Long derided as a homeless hangout, the Landing has upped its image in recent years, drawing a new crowd of downtowners, families and young couples.

• Chill out at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival each April where the smooth jazz and experimental jams roll along the banks of the St. Johns River.

  

• Celebrate African-American heritage at the Kingsley Plantation with a guided park ranger tour of Florida’s oldest standing plantation house.

• Check out the largest modern and contemporary art collection in the Southeast at the Museum of Contemporary Art Every Sunday is “Family Free Day.”

• Nibble on chocolate popcorn samples and learn the process of creating chocolate delicacies at hometown favorite Peterbrooke Chocolatier’s Production Center.

• Belt out the blues with your favorite musicians at the yearly April Springing the Blues Festival at the Sea Walk Pavilion on the Atlantic Ocean.

• Flutter with the butterflies at Tree Hill Nature Center’s butterfly house during “Free Family Saturdays.”

Sarah Reiss a full-time travel writer, SATW member and contributing travel editor. Her column, The Thoughtful Traveler, appears quarterly in 11 East Coast newspapers, and her monthly column, 10 Reasons to Love..., runs on OffbeatTravel.com. When she is not on the road, she calls the mountains of Southern California, where she lives with her husband and two dogs, home. SarahReiss.net © 2008

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