My 'new' city

Favorite new thing to do between errands in Jacksonville: drive around and wander aimlessly. Getting to know a new city with no real guide or friend to take you around can make quite the adventure. For years, when discovering new places, whether it be for fun, work, or a place where I've recently moved, wandering around is my preferred way to get to know a neighborhood.

Sometimes not the safest thing to do if one doesn't have a good sense of direction, as you may end up in a bad end of town with just one wrong turn, it's important to remember which way you came from, and have an anchor point, remember landmarks, main roads, etc.

Well, when Matt and I first came to Jacksonville, and he was interviewing for his new job at Florida Times Union, I met up with his new bosses for lunch. I had been wandering around downtown all morning, finding cute new coffee shops and reading newspapers in the park when I got the call to head across town. To get to the restaurant, I took an expressway from downtown and cut down a side street, to get to a little neighborhood called Avondale. On this side street, I saw "Office Space" and a cute little building with a crazy low rent price in a neighborhood called Riverside.

Since we've been planning our Jacksonville life and new start here, I've returned to that building, called on it, and looked at office space. Yesterday morning, on my way to look at these offices, I made a wrong turn, or shall I say, I wasn't looking at my map and just navigating with my memory, and came across this park, Lakeside Park.

This park borders a drawbridge south of downtown where the view of the skyline is breathtaking. It's just a few miles away from my house, but the runners I saw while snapping some pictures are probably having the best day ever, after that run through this beautiful park and neighborhood. I wish I was a runner to be able to discover more of the city on my feet. Maybe someday. Until then, I'll grab my morning tea or coffee and drive or walk to find my new favorite places in Jacksonville.

Again this morning, I'm going back to the same building in Riverside to look at the office that wasn't open yesterday. While I sit and blog remotely from Starbucks, I'm making a route in my head of the new direction I'll take to get there, hoping I'll find some more beautiful places to take Zeus and have picnics with Matt on our lunch breaks. Also, I'm really crossing my fingers my 10 AM appointment this morning yields the cutest little window office that my poor starving artist money can buy.

Pretty soon, I'll be spending my eight hour days in the sweetest little office, my name on a window, and sewing my little heart away. Lunch breaks downtown in the Florida sun. Evenings cooking at home. Agh, can't wait to plan more new things.

I hope y'all are having the best week ever! Because I sure am, and I don't want to hog all the happiness. Have a great day friends. Tutorial coming later this week, promise.

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