After the previous almost-sleepless night and extremely early rise, we had a wonderful first night of sleep in Florida, followed by a really nice buffet breakfast at the hotel. At 9:30 AM, we headed out to do some exploration. Except for a couple of afternoon scattered showers, we enjoyed a lot of sun throughout the day, with temperatures between 75 and 80°F.
Let me tell you a little bit about Jacksonville. Located in the northeastern part of Florida on the Atlantic Ocean, Jacksonville has many nicknames that reflect its vibrant community, including “the River City on the Sea” and the “Gateway to Florida” (It’s the first city one encounters driving south from Georgia.) The location where the current city rests has a long and varied history, and it is the largest city-by-landmass in the contiguous United States, with almost 900 square miles of space and over 20 miles of white sandy beaches along the coast.
The city has much to offer, including a popular zoo and an extensive riverfront and canal system along the St. John’s River. There can be found a wide variety of urban parks that lend a touch of nature to the metropolis of over a million people.
But above and beyond those attractions, of course, are the beaches. From Neptune Beach, where you can experience some of the most spectacular sunrises and sunsets on the east coast of Florida, to Little Talbot Island, a state park that boasts some of the most interesting ecosystems in the United States, The beaches are incredibly impressive. And the nicest thing about it all? It doesn’t have the uppity snootery that has taken over the southern Florida beaches in recent decades. Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and the Gulf beaches, have all become incredibly high priced money grabs with an air of “playground for the rich”.
We started our day by driving 15 miles from the centre of Jacksonville where we are staying straight east to the beaches. After a visit to the Jacksonville Pier and a 5 km walk north to Neptune Beach and back, we then went to downtown Jacksonville and did a 3 km walk along the Southbank Riverwalk, along the St. John’s River. Then it was back to the hotel for 2 1/2 hours of sitting by the pool, followed by dinner.
The Jacksonville Marriott Hotel, where we are staying.
Like a scene from a southern swamp monster movie, this “old man’s beard”, as we called it as kids, was prolific on the trees of the hotel’s grounds
The Jacksonville Pier is at ‘ground zero’ of the beach strip.
The wide beach looking south from the Jacksonville Pier.
Looking north from the Jacksonville Pier.
And that’s the Jacksonville Pier!
The Jacksonville Pier offers wonderful views of the beach strip, and if you like to fish, it is a fishing hotspot.
A fisherman on the pier showed us his catch for the morning. He called these Whiteys.
The surfers were out in full force today
Protected sand dunes line the beach strip in Jacksonville.
We were early for turtle nesting season by a couple of months!
With all the news coverage of Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, this sign caught our eye! It turned out to be a summary of a Nazi U-boat attack on an American oil ship called the SS GulfAmerica that was carrying crude oil to New York from Florida. It was attacked right off the beach in Jacksonville, where it sank. We had no idea that there had been you boat attacks on the East Coast of the USA.
Neptune Beach is one of the most pristine sections of beach along the strip, accompany by a quaint community. It was the terminus of our walk northbound on the beach strip.
I apologize for the crudeness of this. But we saw this written in the sidewalk in Neptune Beach. I think it says a lot about the American self-view these days.
Downtown Jacksonville is a good 15 miles west of the beach strip. The downtown was built up around a widening of the St. John’sRiver. In recent years, following Tampa‘s example of its elaborate Riverwalk, Jacksonville has developed amazing walking infrastructure on both the north and south sides of the river.
This statue pays homage to the naval history of Jacksonville.
The skyline of downtown Jacksonville
We drew some parallels between the design of Central Jacksonville, and Dartmouth Halifax back home. That is, the main Downtown core being on the north bank (as with Halifax), and a developing competitive downtown core on the south bank of the river (as with Dartmouth). This is a view of the south bank business core.
Arguably Jacksonville's most recognizable bridge, the official name is the John T. Alsop Jr. Bridge, however, everyone calls it by street name or just simply the “blue bridge”. Alsop was a mayor of Jacksonville for eighteen years, the longest duration in the city’s history. Opened in 1941, the bridge is a popular Downtown landmark appearing in many skyline photos. It is the only “lift bridge” or movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck.
A typical section of the Southbank Riverwalk.
VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena seats 15,000 people.
Ever Bank Football Stadium.
The pool at the Marriott Jacksonville.
At 3 PM, we hit the pool deck for 2 1/2 hours of “sheer nothing” contentment. It was wonderful.
For years and years, our visits to the United States have been marked by one consistent thing: finding a local Applebee’s restaurant and enjoying their strawberry lemonade. Some people may go for high-end fancy drinks and martinis, but we love our Applebee’s Strawberry lemonade. It’s as simple as that.
And along with the strawberry lemonade, we’ve also been ordering the Applebee’s spinach and artichoke dip for many years. Tonight was no exception. And then we both had an order of their fiesta lime chicken with rice.
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