What’s your name and what fills your time?

I’m Steve Macri and these days I work in the real estate business with Rise Realty Advisors. My hope for the First Coast is that some how, some way the powers that be can control the commercial growth and keep what’s left of our friendly home town atmosphere.

How do you like living on the First Coast?

I love living here on the First Coast. I grew up in Empire Point on the Southside, and was in the last graduating class of Landon High School. I was on the swim team there and ultimately earned a swimming scholarship to the University of Florida. During a summer break I got a job on the crew building The Holiday Inn on the oceanfront in Jacksonville Beach and I met the beach guys that got me into surfing places like ‘Access Five’ and going to Pete’s Bar! That is when I knew I was going to have to move out to the beach. In 1975 my buddy and I moved to Neptune Beach in a small oceanfront house at the end of Lemon St. Yep, basically right behind Pete’s!

In the 1970’s my dad bought The Homestead Restaurant from Preben Johansen (also the owner of Le Chateau in Atlantic Beach) and naturally I went to work there. It was the best work experience of my life! In all the years I was at The Homestead I met so many great people and to this day the old Homestead is still a great topic of conversation everywhere I go!

What’s something (funny, different, cool) that many might not know about you?

Well, people all over the First Coast still remember the Coppertop Pub, or “The Skinny Bar” at The Homestead and the fun atmosphere with our loving patrons, our great bartenders and our unique list of drinks, one of which I created called The Upside Down Margarita! We brought in an old barber’s chair and put it at the bar so people could sit back and put their head on this thick, purple, velvet pillow on the bar and Lindy or Larry or Marilyn would pour each ingredient of the margarita into your open mouth! Those were great times at The Homestead.

My friends, of course, know I have three terrific kids, Steele, Cade and Carmen, but one thing not many would know, and it’s one of the coolest things ever, is that when my daughter was born, the nurse in the delivery room asked me if I would like to deliver the baby. I immediately said yes and they got me scrubbed up and dressed and allowed me to actually deliver my daughter! To this day I still cherish that memory over all others!

Anything else that you would like to tell the community?

I would just say that even though we live in crazy times, we should all acknowledge that everyone is different and respect each person’s right to their individualism and always do the best we can to make our community and the world around us as good a place as we can. No one is perfect and we all are just trying to get through life as best we can. I love this place we call the First Coast and have been blessed to get to call it home!

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Mike Kaufmann

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.

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