A Day in Jacksonville, FL…

The weather has been dicey for most of our stay so far in Jacksonville, Florida. We are currently experiencing what they are calling a mini-mini-nor’easter which must mean a weather event that brings lots of wind and cool temperatures. We haven’t been able to spend much time over at the nearby beach due to the blustery conditions. With the misting rain, salt spray and the sand blasting we would have to endure to walk along the beach we have shifted our walks in the interior of the park.

We did have one day that was at least sunny and since it was too windy to spend the day at the beach we drove into downtown Jacksonville. We never hat time to explore it the last time we were here so we planned to walk around the downtown area a bit.

We drove over to the Riverside Park area and found a place to park the CRV near the River City Brewing Company, a great spot for our walk to end at we thought… We walked along the Jacksonville Riverwalk and read some of the historical panels about Jacksonville. An interesting factoid is that Jacksonville is the largest city in the  Florida by population and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States at 747 square miles and that excludes the 138 square miles of water found in Jacksonville. Jacksonville was founded in 1564 which was originally the site of the French colony of Fort Caroline,

The Jacksonville Riverwalk is along the north and south banks of the St. Johns River. Near where we parked is the Friendship Park River Fountain, a large fountain capable of shooting water 500 feet high. From there we made our way from the south bank of the St Johns River to the north bank via a walkway along the Main Street Bridge. On the other side is the Jacksonville Landing which houses a lot of stores and restaurants, a good place to get a beverage and sit along the river and watch all the boats go by. After walking along the north bank we returned via the bridge (they do have water taxis for $3 one way if you prefer) and looked back over the river to take in all the beauty of the river and the skyline of the city. It is said that the Riverwalk was not fully constructed and has never lived up to the expectations created by the project blueprints but nonetheless we found it to be an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon…