![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/20259004_Jax_Tours_1_t850.jpeg\" "\\"Jax")
<\/p>\nAs a nearly lifelong resident of Jacksonville and an anthropology degree holder whose studies included an internship at the Fort Caroline National Memorial, Tina Sauvage was well acquainted with the city\u2019s history before she founded Jax Tours in 2023.<\/p>\n
But since then, she says, her understanding of the city\u2019s past has grown far deeper.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I love about it is there\u2019s so much I still learn every single day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Sauvage, the daughter of Lebanese refugees who found a home in Jacksonville when she was 4, started Jax Tours to put her degree and appreciation for the city to use.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having also earned a master\u2019s degree in international business, she had spent nearly 20 years as a bank project manager and was looking for a new venture.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started thinking, what can I do not only to pursue my passion but help revitalize Jacksonville?\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I realized, a lot of people don\u2019t know about our history.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That realization led to ideas to incorporate the city\u2019s past into various types of activities, starting with a culinary tour. She shared the thought with her boyfriend, Dan Haddock, and suggested Jax Tours as a potential name for the company.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just going to sleep on it and think about it the next day,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the next morning I woke up, and he had already created the LLC, he\u2019d already built the website, and he was, like, \u2018Here you go. I have faith in you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jax Tours founder Tina Sauvage was leading one of her company\u2019s history-focused tours when she noticed the more than 120-year-old clock at Laura and Adams streets had stopped running. She took action that led to the four-sided clock being repaired in mid-2025.<\/p>\n
Photo by Ric Anderson<\/p>\n
Sauvage said Haddock\u2019s push was what she needed to start the business. Since launching with the culinary tour, she has expanded into a pub crawl, a dog-walking tour and a Junior Explorer program in Jacksonville, plus three St. Augustine tours.<\/p>\n
For every variation, Sauvage says her goal is to partner with businesses and organizations to bring in new patrons and create activities that will spur economic vitality. About 85% of her customers are locals, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Aug. 25, Jax Tours announced its new Sips & Ships Pub Crawl, which starts with a drink on the deck of the USS Orleck floating Naval museum and extends to several Downtown bars and breweries. The tour ends with a rooftop DJ mixer at Sips on the Roof at Decca Live, the music and dance venue that opened in early 2025 at 323 E. Bay St.<\/p>\n
The activity is scheduled for every other Saturday beginning Sept. 13. Tickets begin at $60, according to jaxtours.com.<\/p>\n
Sauvage said the business is poised to grow this fall with the addition of its first shuttle bus. In addition to Haddock, who oversees the business side of Jax Tours, the team includes Noelle Sevier, the guest experience manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While connecting participants to food, drinks, dog-bonding moments and more, Sauvage presents a narrative sprinkled with details from Jacksonville\u2019s past and dispelling some misconceptions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For instance, she points out that Isaiah D. Hart, not Andrew Jackson, is recognized as the city\u2019s founder. She notes two of Downtown\u2019s original streets are named for Hart\u2019s daughters Laura and Julia.<\/p>\n
After founding Jax Tours, Sauvage went from talking about the city\u2019s history to helping preserve part of it when she noticed that the historic, four-faced clock at Adams and Laura streets had stopped running.<\/p>\n
Through phone calls, she learned that JWB Real Estate Capital had purchased the Greenleaf & Crosby Building, now called The Greenleaf, adjacent to the clock. A call to JWB President Alex Sifakis, a family friend, led to him committing to pay for the repair of the city-owned timepiece.<\/p>\n
The Verdin Co. from Cincinnati repaired the clock for an undisclosed sum, and it has been displaying the correct time since midsummer.<\/p>\n
As Sauvage\u2019s venture grows, she says she keeps her eyes open for new partnerships and new variations of tours. The more businesses she can lead participants into, she said, the better for Downtown Jacksonville and the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does encourage me when I see a business succeeding after we helped them,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen people who go on our tours say, \u2018I never thought about coming Downtown to go eat or hang out with my friends,\u2019 and now they do, that\u2019s success to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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