San Marco Square on a Weeknight

South of the St. Johns River. Mediterranean Revival buildings from the 1920s that make Jacksonville feel, for a few blocks, like a town that cared about architecture before it cared about parking. Twin lion fountains copied from Rome's Piazza del Popolo. Ambitions above the zip code.

Taverna does Mediterranean small plates — grilled octopus charred and tender with lemon vinaigrette. Maple Street Biscuit Company around the corner does "The Sticky Maple" — fried chicken, bacon, maple syrup on a house biscuit in a size you didn't expect. The San Marco Theatre (1938 Art Deco) still shows first-run films with buttered popcorn and original signage that makes streaming feel like a compromise.

The residential streets are live-oak lined with bungalows and colonials. Walk to the riverfront at the square's south end for a view across the St. Johns to downtown — less polished than the standard postcard, more honest, framed by oaks.