Preben Johansen Jr
I’m retired and spend my time doing pretty much what I want, mainly spending time with family. After years of working in the Foodservice industry beginning at my father’s restaurant Le Chateau in Atlantic Beach, then getting married to a wonderful woman, Betsy, moving to Tallahassee where I managed a country Club before opening two small restaurants called The Mustard Seeds and then merging them into one larger restaurant, The Mustard Tree. Before and during all this time I was blessed by becoming a father to two wonderful children, Leighton and Trey. I eventually got out of the restaurant business as I realized I was missing out on all of my children’s activities and went to work as a buyer for a Foodservice company in Tallahassee and then a larger company in Cairo, Ga. Cairo is only a 35 minute commute and I was off on weekends for the first time in my adult life!! Ended up spending most weekends traveling all over the southeast with my children’s travel soccer!!
I try to spend time with my 3 grandchildren in Atlanta and am so fortunate to my daughter Leighton and son-in-law Jamie for blessing us with this wonderful gift. I also love spending time with my son Trey and his beautiful wife Kat unfortunately they live in New Jersey which makes it a little harder. I enjoy my trips up there as we always find time to go to The Big Apple and enjoy a ballgame.
Growing up in the old Selva Marina was a blessing! I was blessed with many good friends in the neighborhood and we all took up surfing by the age of 12! We normally kept our boards over at the Hamilton’s house on 14th and Ocean Blvd so we would surf together on the 14th street access. Many great memories!
Unfortunately I had cancer treatment in 2016 and the radiation damaged a nerve in my left arm and the result was I can’t raise that arm and therefore my two favorite hobbies, surfing and golf are things I can’t do anymore, But I still enjoy watching the newest generation of youngsters out there cutting it up. I can’t help but think of how blessed they are to grow up in what I consider paradise!
I really enjoy being back to what I call home, the wonderful beaches of Duval County. I enjoy being so close to the beach and still get that wonderful feeling of peace when taking walks on our beautiful beaches, although I don’t do it as often as I should! I also love our wonderful restaurants in the area and I’m only 4 blocks from Beaches Town Center so can walk to many of my favorites, especially Sliders. I also like hooking up with old friends at The Beach Diner!
God bless to all the wonderful people that I crossed paths with here at the beach!
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Mike is a native First Coaster and was a leading figure in surfing and skateboarding for most of his life. After promoting music for many years on the local music scene, Mike now brings a unique perspective to FirstCoast.Life as a contributing writer.
One Response
I remember going to school with you . I also remember your family’s restaurant.