Day of Data Jacksonville 2026 (#1128) is now over and what a great time it was (as usual). I added a vacation stop along the way, so this post is coming out a week later than desired, but that is still much better than the last few have been!

We started the trip down Thursday, stayed in Macon GA for the night (close enough to have Buc-ee’s for breakfast and make Friday less rushed), and then arrived in Jacksonville Beach, FL just in time for lunch.

This meant we were there in time for one of my wife’s favorite restaurant Tacolu, and then we went off to the beach for a short visit. Pictures from that in the last section of the post along with other pictures of our post-conference stop.

Then we went to the speaker dinner at another place that has been a favorite for years now because Jeff Taylor (who is the principal leader of the event), has had the dinner there every time I have been down for the event. Angie’s Subs was an instant favorite and a place I wish was in my town instead of hundreds of miles away.

The event

From arrival on Saturday morning until the very end, everything other than the weather has been perfect (as far as I could notice… there were a few issues with lunch from what I heard, but what I had heard as delicious.) I attended a few great sessions, and hopefully gave an adequate one. (I got a few pieces of feedback, and they liked it at the very least.) More questions than normal, so I didn’t really finish, but we got to the important stuff I think.

The favorite session

Jeff Taylor always does this conference well with all the people who help out. It is a very well run event, with lots of sessions and lots of fun stuff going around (like in the past Stormtroopers strolling around…I didn’t see them this year, but I did see some other Empire people strolling the halls…I might have missed them too), and crazy stuff going on in the finale of the conference (love the t-shirt cannon!).

But let’s be clear, it is worth going for the ice cream session. This year the ice cream was from Kilwin’s, which is a place that I have been to in Franklin, TN many times and the ice cream (and toppings) did not let us down!

The finale

While I didn’t win any prizes (especially sad as the two main prizes were the Lego Dark Millennium Falcon and the USS Enterprise (both fantastic sets!), it was a great ending time, with Jeff thanking people, giving stats, and shooting cloth projectiles at the crowd (t-shirts doesn’t sound nearly as terrifying).

We were all then invited to Buffalo Wild Wings for the after-party for a custom mocktail and wings, sliders,!nachos and conversation. The food was great and the conversation better. This year’s after-party felt better attended than ever before, which meant it felt better and sort of packed (which is just how it should feel! If I still had a hand in sponsoring stuff, this is where I would definitely want to be!)

The scenic route

As is the custom, I always try to tag in a sight or two. Ask you also may know about me, I am a theme park fan. So on Sunday, we pack the car back up and headed a bit south of Jacksonville, down I-4 to spend the rest of the week at the Animal Kingdom Lodge: Kidani Village with is one of our favorite places to stay.

So here is a few pictures from the beach, and a few pictures from the start of our week of vacation!

Jacksonville Beach

Disney World

See you real soon Jacksonville

As I am making my plans for next year, Jacksonville’s ability to be predicable in event dates make it a 100% on my list destination. It has always been around the start of May, on or around May 4 (wish is kind of how it ended up with the Star Wars theme that has been so prevalent.

This year was Star Wars vs Star Trek, which has also been a nice thing. Can’t wait to see what next year brings!