Cummer 1

This statue greets visitors on their way to the garden in Cummer Art Gallery. It is a beautiful entrance to a lovely garden by the river.

Riverside

An older part of Downtown Jacksonville, Riverside Avenue is full of quaint old houses with loads of character. The Acosta bridge will take you there though this part of the street is closer to the Fuller Warren bridge that carries I95. I took these pictures while visiting the Cummer Art Gallery. More pictures from the gallery tomorrow.

heat wave

Eat Out

The Baymeadows and Gate Parkway property prices went through the roof when 9A was constructed. Sneakers, Carrabas and Outback cater quality dining for the younger generation who moved in right before the prices exploded. These three restaurants are right next to each other and are always full. There was an earlier picture of 'Sticky Fingers' which is in the same block.

Dog Owner

The Dogwood dog park boasts a 35 acre fenced in property for dogs complete with a doggie lake where humans are not allowed. It was a striking day for a photo essay but this picture came out so well that I had to post it separately. This is, by far, the best portraiture I have taken. The subject did say that she was not dressed for a photograph! I think she couldn't have been dressed better.

More of my portraiture here: link

Ducks

This is a sequel to the previous post. The few ducks that my apartment complex boasts about are in this photograph. These ducks inhabit the lake that is supposedly a part of the apartment complex but the complex is only one side of the lake. Our neighbors include a new condo construction site on the second side and a small warehouse complex complete with straight trucks and tractor trailers on the other two sides.

Rent Me

With housing prices at a constant down, renting is the way to go. Moreover, families prefer the prosperous St. John's county for their better school system than this Duval county. Notice the duck engraved on the sign. The next picture will explain it. The apartment complex boasts a fairly large lake and some happy ducks in it.

George's Music

This is a fairly large music store on A1A (3rd street) just north of J.T. Butler. Many people have spent small fortunes here. Of special note, Springing The Blues is a large music festival in this side of the pan handle for, you guessed it, blues. They have teamed up with George's Music to present this large outdoor festival. More information here: [link]
Now, I am a hard rock kinda guy, so here is something to enjoy when I have already brought up music. In this song, the hard part of hard rock kicks in at 5 mins and 24 secs, so stay tuned and crank it up people...

Tool - Right in Two

Parched Limbs

These parched limbs find intermittent shade among itself in the Florida heat.

Sticky Fingers

The Nameless-Onion-Thingies or whatever they have decided to call it lately keep bringing me there. They make good ribs but once you eat at Famous Dave's, every other rib place does not taste good enough. Other highlights include blues, real good sweetened iced tea and miniature beach towels large napkins to wipe off those sticky fingers!

Patriotic Prowler

The Otis Smith Foundation sold these big cat statues to raise money for kids. More information here: [link]
I will be visiting the other cat spots in the future for more pictures. They also sold Manatees last year. That will appear on this blog too.

3rd Street Diner

Third street in Jacksonville Beaches is highway A1A. This particular diner has the panache of the older styled diners with attractive purple neon lighting. The night shot makes it look almost artificial. This diner is between JT Butler and Beach Blvd on 3rd street. I have not eaten there yet but the reviews say that the food is nice and the people are great.

I 95

The main vein of Jacksonville. I 95 cuts through the center, running parallel to St. John's River is the main line of commute for a lot of people. This picture was taken outside the Shell gas station on exit 341 at the west side of the interstate.

The Bench

A lone bench sits between the planned foliage providing a rest stop to the volley ball players. This is a bench near my apartment. While it is not a picture of some place of significance or some important building in Jacksonville, it captures the warm emotions of a beach town that decided to explode in size but remained humble in its roots.

Atlantic Beach

For those who can not afford a home on beautiful Atlantic Beach, a sand castle fuels the real-estate hunger. This is a picture of the Atlantic Beach part of Jacksonville Beaches taken when only dog walkers and early risers arrive to watch the sunrise on this beautiful weekend.

Little Man

The sand box of a volley ball court outside attracts all the stray cats in the apartment complex that this beagle puppy watches over oh so carefully.

Lone Fireplace Chimney

The Florida summer makes way for the Hurricane season with tremendous doses of temperature and humidity. The changing heat waves probably produce these dramatic and spotty clouds. A lone fireplace vent stands up to the test of the coming season. It prepares to keep standing more like a testament to its builder's skill against treacherous heat and winds rather than its intended function as a indoor heater. Not many people use a fireplace in Florida. Isn't that the reason they have winter homes in Florida so that they don't have to use a fireplace in the north!

Titan

The sports car of the south, this Nissan Titan is all glory on the road with its heavy 5.6 liter V8

Pier

The pier on Beach Blvd, Jacksonville Beach. It was a busy and hot day. This pier was built and opened on December 30 2005 after the older one was rendered unsafe by a passing hurricane and then burnt in a fire. More information here: link

coffee on a stormy evening

Under Dames Point Bridge

the big pearl

Today marks the third year end of me in North America. I arrived on a stormy Gainesville evening on 10 Aug 2004 to pursue a Masters at the University of Florida.

docks

I stand alone

Fishing time