Lo and behold, one of our Volksmarch friends from Arkansas, Patricia Thompson, is on vacation in Florida and we picked her up this morning from her timeshare near St. Augustine and took her up to Jacksonville with us. We plan to do the 10k Riverside Volksmarch.
The walk started at a grocery store. It was a bustling place. Because the store was in a strip mall, we were able to find a place to park for a few hours.
Right out of the gate, we walked to the St. Johns River. Wow! It's huge. We walked alongside the river past elegant homes and then a hospital.
 |
| St. Johns River, Jacksonville, Florida. |
 |
| Waterfront homes. |
 |
| St. Johns River waterfront home. |
 |
| A posing butterfly. |
The next three photos are different views of the same mansion. They have an awesome view of the St. Johns River.
 |
| Quite a front entry on this mansion. |
 |
| Such a tropical waterfront stroll. |
 |
| Bob Alton and Patricia Thompson. |
 |
| Inviting place to walk. |
From the St. Johns River, we headed into Jacksonville's Riverside neighborhood. Mostly, we saw historic homes, along with parks. The residents who were out in their yards were very friendly.
 |
| We saw huge trees with Spanish moss. |
 |
| This lizard posed long enough for a pic. |
We entered 17-acre Willowbranch Park along Willowbranch Creek. Little did we know at the time, but The Allman Brothers Band got their start at 2844 Riverside Ave. and played live music in Willowbranch Park circa 1969. Lynyrd Skynyrd also hails from Jacksonville.
 |
| Patricia and Bob entering the park. |
 |
| Willowbranch Park. |
 |
Willowbranch Creek flows under
this bridge in the park. |
 |
Detail of the painting under the
Willowbranch Library's eaves. |
 |
| The Willowbranch Library is in the park. |
From here, we wound our way through neighborhoods and saw unique architecture, a mural, and stopped for lunch in Five Points. Five Points is an area of shops and restaurants in the Riverside area.
 |
| A Halloween candy chute. |
 |
| Nissan Figaro. |
Some of the houses have faces! |
Trees look like they're growing
out of this mural. |
 |
I did not see a registration number on
this Little Free Library (but it's funny!). |
 |
| Here's a registered Little Free Library. |
 |
| Baby yoda pumpkin carving. |
We didn't have a clue about where to eat lunch, so we asked a local. A lady recommended Hawkers Asian Street Food. Good find! We loved the decor, service, and most of all, the food. We shared spring rolls, Singapore Mei Fun (excellent), and Pad Thai. Yeah, it was good.
Partway through the meal, we had a little scare. Our assumption was that we were sitting next to a wall with windows. The next thing we knew, the wall was gone and the restaurant was open to the street! It was such a nice day, they opened the folding doors. It sure startled us.
 |
| Hawkers Asian Street Food decor. |
 |
| Inside dining at Hawkers. |
 |
Patricia sharing the Pad Thai, Singapore
Mei Fun, and Spring Rolls. |
After our tummies were satisfied, we continued the walk into Riverside Park. This park is the second-oldest park in Jacksonville and encompasses 11.4 acres. In 1907, it had been one of the south's nicest parks. Back then, it included decorative bridges, a carriage lane, a bandstand, and tennis courts.
 |
| Riverside Park's lake and fountains. |
 |
| The Spanish moss is awesome! |
To finish up the walk, we were directed back to the St. Johns River and one end of the River Walk. We passed by the Cummer School of Art and Gardens twice, so we saw their outdoor display.
 |
| Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. |
 |
| Outdoor museum display. |
 |
| Downtown Jacksonville from the River Walk. |
 |
We learned about North
Atlantic Right Whales. |
 |
| The River Walk near its end. |
 |
| More of downtown Jacksonville. |
 |
Information about this yacht will be
included in the River Walk blog tomorrow. |
 |
| Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. |
 |
The Garden Club of Jacksonville, Florida
(established 1922). |
Our next point of interest was Memorial Park next to the St. Johns River. The "Life" sculpture here is one of my favorite sculptures.
 |
"Life," by Charles Adrian Pillars
(1924). |
The inscription on the base of the fountain says, "Spiritualized Life symbolized by the winged figure of youth; rises triumphant from the swirl of wars, chaos which engulfs humanity, and faces the future courageously."
The rest of the walk was a chore. It's hard to walk past where you parked your car and not realize it's still a long way back. We debated just stopping at the car, but ultimately completed the whole thing.
It was an absolutely gorgeous day in JAX (the local abbreviation for Jacksonville). Tomorrow, we plan to come back and do the JAX RiverWalk year-round event. Thank you First Coast Trail Forgers Volkssport Club for creating this walk.
The rest of the day, after dropping Patricia back at her timeshare, will be Part 2: the St. Augustine Lighthouse.
To be continued...
