Gainesville

I've lived in and around Gainesville for years and I like the area a lot. It's more wooded than most Florida locations and a great University community. The main drawback is the lack of open water. There are lakes, ponds, rivers, streams and springs all around, but I do miss looking out over open water to an endless horizon. Still, the Gulf is only a hour's drive west, and an hour and twenty minutes in the other direction will get me to the Atlantic Ocean.

Here are a few links I'll be using in this section:

General Links:

Gainesville Weather

Gainesville Official Homepage

Current Weather Radar

Alachua County Homepage -- official site, lots of local links

Alachua County Visitors and Convention Bureau

Alachua County Commision -- speak up, or no one will listen

Places to go, things to see:

Calendar of Events

Gainesville Parks

Florida Museum of Natural History -- great site -- check out the bird songs

Thomas Center

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Historic Site

Lake Wauburg -- UF park for staff and students

Hippodrome State Theatre -- Great plays in a great location -- movies, too, with popcorn and beer.

Florida Players -- UF Student Productions

The Gainesville Community Playhouse

Friends of Morningside -- wilderness and a small farm just outside of town

The Gainesville Civic Chorus

The Gainesville Community Band Home Page -- auditions not required, but enthusiasm is

Gainesville Symphony Orchestra

Retirement Home for Horses -- good people, entrance fee is 2 carrots

Center for the Performing Arts

Paynes Prairie State Preserve -- just down the road, a great place to watch critters and rocket launches

UF Bat House Homepage -- Bats are way cool and there's a whole bunch of them down by Lake Alice on campus. Check 'em out around sunset.

The Save Lake Alice Page -- Dedicated to preserving this beautiful wilderness area on our campus.

The University City Pipe Band

Bear Archery -- the man, the bow, the stuffed animals -- check it out

Oaks Mall Theatres -- Todays film times

Organizations:

Alachua Astronomy Club

Gainesville Bonsai Society -- think small

The Gainesville Chess Club

Gainesville Herpetological Society

Alachua Freenet

The Gainesville Civic Chorus

North Central Florida Region Antique Automobile Club of America

Animal Rescue

Gainesville Pet Rescue

The Hogtown Brewers, Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville Friends of Jazz & Blues -- promoting Jazz and Blues in Gainesville, great concerts at the Thomas Center

Gainesville Hash House Harriers -- run, drink beer, run drink beer -- my kind of excercise

Florida Wildlife Care -- assist injured and orphaned wildlife through rehabilitation and release

St. Francis House -- local homeless shelter. Can always use donations.

Florida Search Dog Association

Florida Speleological Society -- for those who crave dark, cramped places

KAZARIE Worm Farm

Gainesville Regional Utilities Communications Services -- bringing high speed network connections to Gainesville

News and information:

The Gainesville Sun

The Gainesville Iguana -- Alternative slant on local stuff

Independent Florida Alligator -- off-campus student-run newspaper

Moon Magazine -- check out the local scene

Civic Media Center -- Reading Room and Library of the Non-Corporate Press

WUFT -- Channel 5, campus PBS station

WUFT-FM -- Classic 89

WRUF-AM -- or listen online here

Rock 104 Online

Alachua County Library District

Places to eat and drink, or just hang out:

Burrito Brothers Taco Company -- Simply the best -- watch for the guac light

Harry's Seafood Bar and Grill --

Amelia's -- good Italian resturant downtown behind the Hipp

Emiliano's Cafe and Bakery -- downtown, good food, great desserts

Maude's Classic Café -- Next door to the Hipp, outside seats are best -- coffee, wine, beer desserts

Phil-Nick's -- a Gainesville institution

Coney Island -- moved to a new downtown location -- veggie delights

World Guide to Vegetarianism, Gainesville

Brasserie -- Tapas Bar and Mediterranean Fare in the Sun Center

Crazy Burro

Domino's Pizza -- Busiest Domino's in the USA -- their cars are all over Gainesville.

Joe's Deli -- my local one -- great place for a sub, a beer and a game

Market Street Pub -- good beer, good music

Cafe Gardens -- nice cafe right off campus

Purple Porpoise -- student hangout across from UF

University Sites:

University of Florida Home Page

Listing of UF Web Sites

UF News Releases

UF Libraries Home Page -- A good reason for a writer to live in this city

Maps of campus

UF Computing and Networking

Athletic Association

Sports:

GatorSports - The Florida Gators Online

University of Florida Athletic Association - Football Page

UF Baseball

Gator Basketball

UF Volleyball

Florida Gymnastics

Gator Softball

UF Tennis