Born to travel, stuck in Duuuuval

<---Me on vacation in Boulder last summer.
Have you ever played the ice breaker game "If you really knew me"? When I play that game my first answer really depends on the company I am in. The real answer though should always be "I live to travel." You are probably think that being a teacher makes it really easy for me to travel, and it would if travel wasn't so expensive (or if I was paid a more reasonable salary). Since I can't live out my original plan to drive cross country to Northern
California and visit my friends and family a long the way, I decided that this summer I would attempt to be a tourist in my own city, Jacksonville. Yes, I was born and raised in this city. Jacksonville is so spread out that it is easy to stay in your own pocket of the city (mine being Mandarin) and never venture anywhere else. In fact, it is easy to stay within a 15 minutes radius of my own house as everything I need can be found just that close. (I say minutes because Jax natives measure everything in time instead of distance.) Jacksonville is the largest major city in the USA, so needless to say there is a lot of the city I have never even seen. My crazy roommate suggested I blog my adventures. I am a science teacher so let me apologize in advance for grammar errors and nerdy scientist-like comments.

My city from the Southbank Riverwalk-->