Exploring the World with Pokémon Go: Balis Park
For my next adventure I traveled right to Balis Park. Its situated right at the very center of San Marco Florida. Let’s see what I found while there.
Balis Park is situated right in the middle of San Marco. Why did I repeat this you ask? Simple. Since this is in the middle of a shopping district in a downtown area, taking pictures was much more difficult than usual. Covid 19 did not stop people from shopping on a Sunday morning.
I took each picture with care. Not only did I have to avoid getting induvial people in photos, but I also had to be careful of license plates on parked cars. Hopefully I was successful and this blog doesn’t create a problem down the road.
Since this entire area is right in the middle of San Marco, I found multiple plaques documenting important information about the town. I won’t elaborate on what I found on those. You should come check them out yourself if you are genuinely curious.
The Very Center:
At the center of Balis Park, which happens to be near the center of San Marco itself, sits a fountain with lion statues. I am always fascinated with fountains. Architecture like this has always been interesting to me. While many people prefer to go out into nature to discover new things, I am most at home in cities and urban areas.
That might seem strange considering I travel to many parks for this blog. Many of them happen to be near urban areas though. Not only do I showcase places worth checking out. But I tend to look in populated areas for those spots where one can take a break from their busy day.
As the pictures above showcase perfectly, there are plenty of spots to sit back and relax. Don’t be fooled from the angles I took a few of these images from. Right to my left and right were entire blocks worth of shopping centers. Balis Park really is at the heart of things.
Picture Difficulties:
The last two pictures I took at the park proper were the hardest to snag. Every inch outside of these images was filled with people. Lots of people doing their best to enjoy their time in the park while a strange man took pictures with his phone.
Considering the sheer number of people, I wore a mask the entire time. I’m certain I drew lots of looks. Florida never really did a good job with Covid in the first place, but people are acting like the danger is over. I might have been one of the only ones with a mask on during the walk.
Anyway, enough about that. I really enjoyed my time spent here. This was one of the spots in San Marco I was most excited to check out for my travel blog. I have lived in Jacksonville over a year now and have known about this area almost that entire time. Yet it took this long to document my journey here under this specific context.
I liked the art and how it melded perfectly with this park’s ascetic. Never too far from the humans that built it, this resting spot never pushes that element away. Unlike some parks which go for the whole isolation feel.
Pokémon Go:
Let’s take a look at Balis Park under Pokémon Go’s lens. Crowded areas are always prime spots to play Pokémon Go and this area was no different. Balis Park might be small, but it has several Pokestops and two Gyms to compensate. There are no spots out of range if a player is starved for items. The spawns were nonstop every step of the way.
San Marco as a whole is a great spot for Pokémon Go. But if you must be limited by only one park, Balis Park might be one of the best options to check out.
Here is a picture of the Eevee I am currently traveling with. I accidently got some extra people in this image. But they are far enough away that none of their features are easily identified. Good thing I choose this spot to take a picture of my Pokebuddy. I thought I had snapped more images of the fountains. I was mistaken.
Hey look its me again. This time visiting Balis Park. I figured having artwork as a backdrop was appropriate for this trip. A shame the sun was so bright. It makes me look unhappy. The truth is that I just suck at taking selfies. You know what, I just suck at being in pictures in general.
Wrap Up:
There are still plenty of parks left in San Marco. I’ll be sure to check each and every one of them out before I leave Jacksonville.