Exploring the World with Pokémon Go: Riverside Park
Normally I don’t explore two parks in a single day. But my roommate asked if I wanted to check out Riverside Park in downtown Jacksonville. I hadn’t done a night adventure in a while so I took up her offer.
Riverside Park is a large circular complex with a small pond in the center. Even at night, this area was lit enough that I could see clearly. The only reason it might be harder to see the pictures is because I’m limited in tools. Every picture I capture is with my phone. I lack more sophisticated means.
Something that is hard to spot in above images are the ducks. There were lots of ducks in this part of the park. Some were sleeping. Others were woken up abruptly when humans came making noise near their nests. One specific mommy duck was guarding her young. I wisely stayed as far away from her as I could. Its never wise to upset a mother protecting her children.
Next my roommate took me towards the dog park. She had brought her dogs with us on this adventure. Though I did not get any pictures of them. This is after all my travel blog and I limit pictures of people. I prefer to showcase the environments.
To the Dog Park:
As we walked across Riverside Park with the dogs leading the way, I took in the atmosphere. I’m sure this place is bustling and crowded during the day. But at night, there is a serene calm and silence that I rarely get to experience. Not bad at all considering that downtown Jacksonville is visible in a few of the photos.
Unlike my last adventure, there were plenty of pathways around the park. Many recreation areas have one central walkway and leave the rest of the space as open grass. Not this one. There are multiple paths that branch off in multiple directions like a well designed spider web.
Something else I noted as can be seen in a few of the above pictures is a concrete bridge. That is Interstate 95. I drive up and down that section of the road multiple times a week. Yet I never even noticed this park right below. Its amazing what we miss because we are always in a rush. I started this blog to help me slow down.
Although I mentioned earlier that I try to keep people and pets out of my pictures, it looks like one of the dogs snuck into a photo. Well now you can appreciate her in all her adorable glory. She’s near the fence in the bottom picture if you can’t spot her.
Surreal Pictures:
The dog park at Riverside Park has plenty of room for man’s best friend to get exercise. Like many areas of this size, it also features a little dog and big dog area to make sure every pet is safe.
Once the dogs had their fun, we left that section and went to check out the rest of the park. There was still plenty to see and do. Being night didn’t change any of that.
In fact, the dark allowed for some surreal photos of signs. Look at the neighborhood watch sing I found while walking around. During the day, that image might have just been another in a sea of green and white. But at night, everything behind the sign is obscured by darkness creating a unique and spooky image.
Like many urban parks, Riverside Park goes all the way up to the streets that serve as boundaries. The sign mentioned above wasn’t the only normal thing that looks neat under the cover of darkness. Look at that stoplight. I like the way the lighting looks in that image.
Plenty to See:
Continuing the journey around Riverside Park, I retraced some of my steps and got images of places I had already been from other angles. That fountain and pond should look familiar by now. I know I have mentioned it already in this post, but I really like when parks have more than one path to get around. Its best when exploring to have choices of where to go.
The night atmosphere continued to produce amazing images. I love how the lighting lets you see the leaves on the trees while everything around them is pitch black. Seeing lights reflected on the water makes me think of some of the more sinister stories I write.
Some trees naturally have gnarled branches when their leaves fall off. At night, those same trees add to the spooky aesthetic. I should mention though that there was never a point in this adventure where I felt unsafe. My roommate felt the same. In fact its the very reason we chose to come to this specific place at night.
Take a close look at the final picture above. There is a playground in that image. Ignoring almost every horror movie trope in existence, we decided to go that direction. I also explained to my roommate how during the day I have to be cautious about taking images in playground since children are often at play. At night though, no one else was here.
Playground:
Without further wait, I got to explore and make use of the playground at Riverside Park at night. Between the swings, the slides, and even a climbing wall, there was plenty to do. Once again I want to point out that I am completely aware of all the horror tropes associated with playing on a playground in the middle of the night. I write Cosmic Horror, those thoughts crossed my mind while there.
So completely ignoring every story I have written on that topic, I went to the swings. Sadly this is real life and no monster clowns came to kill me. Nor did some malevolent spirit come to try and rip me apart. Instead I peacefully sat on a swing for the first time in almost ten years.
The climbing wall might be my favorite part of this section. The image came out perfect since the wood reflected light. It almost looks like I took that picture at a different time of day. Only the corners where the dark sky is still visible betray that truth.
The final few spots at Riverside Park that I had not explored earlier left me with a few more surreal images thanks to incredible light and tree placement. I fully enjoyed my time here and am considering coming back during the day just to take in the sights with different amounts of light.
I usually don’t go on journeys at night since the pictures don’t always turn out well. In this case though, I’m glad that I decided to last minute check out this park.
Pokémon Go:
Well I have fully described my experience at Riverside Park in reality. Let’s talk about the Pokémon Go portion of this adventure. Where do I even begin? This park was nothing short of remarkable in game. Pokestops everywhere, plentiful spawns, 3 Pokémon Gyms right next to each other, and rare spawns everywhere.
This park finally ended my bad streak. This park is absolutely a place worth checking out both for the amazing sights, and for Pokémon Go. You will not be disappointed no matter what reason you choose to come. I promise. All three of those Gyms are EX Raid eligible too. Whenever the pandemic comes to an end and EX Raids become a thing today, this is a great chance to easily get into one of those battles.
My journey with this Eevee is coming to an end. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the short time that I’ll have them as my buddy. They seemed to enjoy themselves at Riverside Park. I’ll be sure to evolve them into an Umbreon since they seem to be a night person.
You can see most of my maskless face. I took this picture right at the end of my adventure at Riverside Park so it was pretty dark out by then. But since it was late, that meant I could safely go without a mask anyway.
Wrap Up:
So I ended up going on two adventures in one day. I can’t promise to do that often, but you can still look forward to whatever adventure I go on next.