A Bridge Runs Through It

Jacksonville is a city of bridges. In fact, there are very few places you can go here without crossing over some type of bridge. So this last weekend we decided to get up close and personal with bridges. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

The City has taken advantage of all the bridges by setting up what is called "The River Walk". It is a fairly long stretch that runs along the St. Johns River and provides a view of the city, a place for exercise if you like, or simple reflection if that is what you desire.

The walk takes you under one of the major bridges that leads to I-95, the highway that runs from the Canadian border to the keys. People here rattle off the different names when asking you where you are going: the Fuller Warren, the Hart, the Buckman, the list goes on and on. Until now the names meant very little to me except for where each bridge would take me. But after close inspection, the Fuller Warren is a beautiful bridge in it's own way. The walk allows you to see both the strength and geometry that went into it's construction.

Alex says I am a sucker for perspective and I think he is right. I always seem drawn to those types of shots. For example, I love this shot that highlights the lines of the pillars and the way the stretch of the bridge seems to fade away as it rounds the curve. Even the lines in the parking lot seem to move your eye toward the curve.

The expanse also serves as shelter for the very popular "Arts Market" which takes place rain or shine every Saturday. Artists can come and display their work safe from the oppressive beat of the sun and covered if there is rain.

Further down the walk is a bridge next to a bridge (the Fuller Warren). This bridge is strictly for trains and I loved the rusted worn look of it.

And we were treated to a train actually crossing over it.

There are flowers planted along the walk which adds to the feeling of a garden along the river.

We also discovered this oddly shaped monument dedicated to a local politician, Tillie Fowler, who served in the House of Representatives.

And the find of the day was this office building that almost appears to be Jacksonville's architectural version of the Guggenheim Museum. I have to smile... notice the geometry?

And finally, on our way back on one of the side streets we ran into this funny door I simply had to include. The ferns above the door look like a bushy mustache. A fitting end to the River Walk!