Riverside and Avondale Under the Oaks

Five Points intersection where Park, Margaret, and Lomax Streets collide — anchored by the Sun-Ray Cinema, a restored 1927 movie palace still spelling titles in plastic letters. Live oaks so dense the streets feel like green hallways. Houses: Prairie-style bungalows, Mediterranean Revival mansions, Colonial Revivals with porches and ceiling fans stirring the humidity.

Bold Bean Coffee Roasters on King Street: pour-over bright and clean in a ceramic mug chosen by someone who cared about the weight of things in your hand. Memorial Park on the St. Johns: a bronze winged figure on a column, river moving brown and wide and tidal. The St. Johns flows north — one of the few rivers in North America going the wrong direction, which delights me every time.

Biscottis on St. Johns Avenue in Avondale: shrimp and grits in cast iron, grits creamy, shrimp with andouille and tomato gravy from somebody's opinionated grandmother. The patio sits under a live oak so large it functions as a second roof. Riverside is Jacksonville being itself, quietly, under the oaks.