Please Tell Me About Kings Bay

Hi A.,
My husband and I moved here in June so I'm still learning about the area. The cost of living in Saint Marys and Kingsland is pretty low, so if you're considering buying a home, you can get a lot for your money. As for the area, there is a lot to do in Jacksonville and there are beaches about 30-45 minutes away from Kings Bay. We considered living in Yulee or Jacksonville but decided on getting a bigger, nicer home in Saint Marys. This works for us because my hubbie is just a few minutes from the base and we drive down to the beach or Yulee or Jacksonville on the weekends for entertainment, etc. The towns around Kings Bay are small but there are perks to that...you don't have to worry about break-ins, etc if/when your hubbie is underway or working shift work. There is another board that you might want to look into..it's segamommies.com. This group is full of military moms and local women who know just about everything about this area. Good luck on your move.

Hey A.,
My family and I have been here for about 2 years now. I love it, but then again I like small towns. As far as neighborhoods in Saint Marys, Sugarmill and Shadowlawn are nice. I live in Sugarmill. There is not really a "bad" place to live. Yulee is about a 3o minute drive and Jax is about a 45 min to and hour depending how you drive. If you want to spend a fortune on gas I guess living there would be ok. I don't really know about play groups, although I am sure they exist. Everyone in this town is so nice. Expect that there is not a lot of shopping here, you will have to go to Jax for that. My favorite things, going downtown to the waterfront and just taking in the quiet. I hope you like it when you get here. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask, I would be willing to help you however I can.

Hi A.,
We have lived here for 3 years and are about to leave soon. We love it here and are reluctant to go, but have no choice since my husband is being transferred. We live off of Harriets Bluff Road in a quite community on the Marsh. There are nice neighborhoods throughout the area. Sugarmill and The Lakes are popular neighborhoods for Navy families. Elliot's Plantation is nice and close to the base. Deals Landing, Wind Gables and Deerfield are some neighborhoods that are a little north of Kings Bay if you didn't want to live right in town. I don't know if there are Tennis Teams around, but the High School here has a nice court and I think they offer lessons for kids in the summer? If you would like living in a big city then Jacksonville is the place, but I avoid it if possible since I'm not into big cities and traffic. I like this area because it has a small town feel, but is accessible to bigger shopping areas in Yulee, Jacksonville and Brunswick. The Waterfront Park in St. Marys is beautiful and the Riverwalk in Woodbine is lovely too. In the summer there is a great Aquatic Center open that my kids love. There are plenty of restaurants in the area, my new favorite is Pepper's, a Mexican Restaurant in St. Marys. There may not be a ton of things to do, but if you're creative you can find things around here. The local libaries offer lots of programs and there are lots of festivals and parades in the little town around Kings Bay. We have made lots of friends, through church, school, neighbors, and the MOMS Club of Kingsland. It's a very friendly area, I hope you will enjoy your time here!

I just heard an ad on the radio about tennis. Go to www.camdenareatennis.com and you can check it out.

There really isn't too much to do around here. There are small towns around the area but not much here. The biggest thing is Wal-mart. You have to go down to FL for any bigger stores. As far as living in FL it's up to you if you want your hubby to spend the money driving back and forth to work. It really adds up!!! There are defiantly a lot of places in Jax you wouldn't want to live, but I couldn't tell you exactly where they are I just see them on tv a lot. Yulee is a nice town and has a whole lot more there then here and the beach is close by to. As far as tennis teams I'm not sure. I know they have the tennis courts on base, but that's it. I'm sure there's something down in Jax. If you can try to stay away from base housing as much as possible. I live here and hate it, but were stuck cause they take all BHA and we don't have any extra money to save up. Plus it's no longer ran by the navy, and the people that do run it are lazy when it comes to fixing things in these run down places. If you need a realtor I can give you and name and number to a really good guy who's a retired navy guy. He can also give you more info about the surrounding area. Hope this helped. Good luck on your move.