Exploring the World With Pokémon Go: Lovelace Park

Admin/ March 14, 2021/ Florida, North Florida, Travel

After another long pause, I finally got a chance to go exploring again. This time my destination was Lovelace Park. I found even more than I thought I would.

Look! Its my shadow. I exist. Anyway, it was a perfect day to explore. You can by the sky. Lovelace Park was peaceful and quiet too. Barely a soul here. A shame since the scenery was incredible. Plenty of space to walk around and most of it shaded from the hot Florida sun.

As I continued exploring Lovelace Park, the scenery gave way to a small lake and a trail. I had fully explored the perimeter trail in my last park adventure and decided to do the same here.

However, I struck gold essentially once I passed the lake pictured above. That last picture showcases something exciting. There was a dirt trail here too. It had been a while since I had gone hiking in the woods.

Choosing to explore the rest of the park first, I knew I would come back here in just a bit. Wanted to save the best part of my adventure for the end.

Oh and my shadow appeared again. I bet that some reading this and looking at those images will think that is unprofessional. Guess what? I’m not a professional photographer nor do I pretend to be one. No need to worry about such trivial matters I think.

A Trail:

Moving away from the hiking trails, I continued along the perimeter trail instead. There was plenty to see at Lovelace Park even without going into the woods. And since there was barely a soul, I had few limits to pictures I could take.

I wonder what this place is like when there isn’t a pandemic happening. Is this area crowded filled with noise and activity? Or is this a hidden gem that more people need to be aware of? I’m guessing the former since a school is right next door.

Anyway, I saw another entrance to the woods. Though this one looked a little less maintained. I decided not to go into this one since the last time I made such a decision, I almost ended up wading into a swamp. Florida has a lot of random swamps.

Playground:

I didn’t realize that I caught a spectacular halo courtesy of the sun from that top image. My camera noticed though since it dimmed the light. I promise I took all these images around the same time.

Unlike my last adventure, there were no children at play at the nearby park. So this time, at Lovelace Park, I got pictures of that area too. Since it was a weekday when I visited, many of those children were probably at school. Either at home or in a physical classroom. I hope at home since Covid is very real and even more dangerous still.

I saw another potential path along the fence pictured in the last image above. But I chose not to go that way. From what I could see, there was nothing that way except an exit from the park. Obviously I intended to stay here for this adventure.

I had explored most of the open area part of Lovelace Park. But I had missed a few spots on my return trip to the hiking trails. So I made sure to snap a few pictures of this missed spots on the way back. My first trip, I cut across the fields. On my second, trip, I stuck to the trail instead.

As you can see in the last image, I left the paved and beaten path and started my trip into the woods. I took each step excited to go for a hike. It had been too long.

The Woods:

Before I entered the woods properly, I crossed a bridge with a creek. This creeks seemed to be the dividing line between the two halves of Lovelace Park. While the trail I started on continued parallel to the water, I decided that I could miss out on whatever adventure lay that direction and went the other way.

I soon found patches of swamp right to the side of my chosen trail. Looks like I choose right in not exploring that other path earlier. Swamps are rarely isolated, especially in Florida. I’m sure in the not too distant pass, this entire park was probably a single swamp.

Though I am a writer by trade, I know when pictures can tell a story better than words. Rather than try and describe the scenery I found on this final leg of my adventure through Lovelace Park, I think I’ll let the images above tell their story. Sorry for the blurry quality on a few of them. I don’t have high quality equipment to work with.

All adventures most come to an end, and as I reached the edge of the woods, I knew my time at Lovelace Park was coming to a close. I truly enjoyed my time here. Especially given the calm and serene silence I was afforded. Its been a long time since I got to go on a hike. Covid had made me reluctant to explore parks for my safety. But I felt secure knowing that I barely encountered a soul on this adventure.

Pokemon Go:

So I have showed you Lovelace Park in the real world. Now let’s talk about Pokémon Go’s version of this park.

With three Pokestops and a gym on the open side of the park, there was plenty to do and catch. The gym like most at parks is EX Raid eligible meaning that whenever the pandemic comes to an end, it is worth coming here if for that reason alone.

But there are more reasons. The spawns here are plentiful, and despite the fact that there was an event happening which controlled what spawned, other Pokémon that were not part of said event also continued to appear in abundance. That indicates a Pokémon Nest. And since there were multiple occurrences with different spawns, Lovelace Park mist have multiple nests. Not bad for one location.

Oh and don’t be fooled by the lack of stops on the hiking side of the park. There were plenty of Pokemon to catch on that side as well. I didn’t let the game distract me from seeing the sights. But I didn’t let the sights prevent me from catching Pokemon to my hearts content either.

Trogdor the Deino had fun, though as I have mentioned before, he is blind. I wonder what such a Pokémon would smell in a place like this?

I hatched an Aloan Diglett or as I like to call them, future He-Man Dugtrio. Though disappointing that I got yet another of these from an egg, that just means I am one step closer to getting something good.

Here is another picture of me to round out this post. Since I looked angry in my last picture, I made sure to not stare at the sun this time. I love the backwoods and exploring them.

Wrap Up:

Right near this park sits another one. I’ll be exploring that one next. When I have a free day, you can expect another of these posts to follow.

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