Things to Do in Bellair-Meadowbrook Terrace

Kristin Hendrix teaches students to create functional and decorative ceramics during Morning Glory Fire Arts' classes, field trips, and other hand-crafting adventures. All materials are included in the two-hour clay classes ($24/child, $30/adult) where students can sculpt a bowl, vase, or replacement sock before returning a week later to glaze the fired piece. Clay players can also put together a pottery-to-go kit ($7+ depending on selected item) packed with a custom set of brushes, glazes, and other materials to create and fire ceramics at their own pace. Hendrix will tote glazes, tools, and clay or bisque to a location of the customer’s choice for a reverse field trip ($5/person for groups of 12 or more), sparing supervisors the trouble of collecting notarized permission slips.

Asbury Arts Center owner Jeanne Glogowski taps experience on both sides of the curtain—boasting bachelor's and master's degrees in dance—to oversee an eclectic array of dance classes for children and adults of all experience levels. Instructors gather budding dancers, fitness-minded patrons, and experienced shimmiers in practice rooms lined with mirrors to ensure both students and teachers can keep an eye out for proper form during dance, yoga, and martial-arts classes. Hammier classes include lessons in performing arts and music, giving patrons the opportunity to test their performing chops under the same level of personalized attention they enjoy in the studio’s fitness classes and during IRS audits.

After the tidal surge, 5 feet of water settled over the main office. Splintered fragments from 22 yachts floated by the docks and lay strewn across the highway. Investment advisor and maritime aficionado Don Shapray gazed toward the now-tame seas, surveying his crippled fleet. Though he and his business weathered 1983's Hurricane Alicia, he knew he couldn't stay in Houston. Memories of weather reports touting calm waters and seasonable heat called him to Jacksonville, where he rebuilt his sailing academy from the ground up. Nearly 30 years later, he's instructed more than 15,000 students in the art of sailing keelboats and sailboats. A team of certified captains helps him train students aboard a fleet of Sonar 23 and Precision 15 boats, each lightweight enough to allow for drag races against other boat gangs with names such as The US Coast Guard.

Southern Sailing's experienced captains sail year-round, but conduct their summertime lessons and cruises at night to avoid the brunt of the day's heat and seasonal storms. They teach sailors to navigate the St. Johns River's calmer waters, drifting up or downstream as the evening wind permits past trees, docks, and riverfront homes. Though they guide novice sailors through basic sailing overviews, instructors can also certify them through a 12-hour bareboat sailing program that begins with an educational DVD starring Don Shapray himself. In each on-water lesson, instructors coach students one-on-one, allowing for personal attention and hands-on instruction. When not teaching, captains ferry visitors through the waterways on chartered cruises, or help customers find their sea legs among a fleet of small yachts.