Pokestops and Pokemon are popping up everywhere you look. In your neighborhood, at the café, beach, and even in your car, Jacksonville is no stranger to the phenomenon known as Pokemon Go. If you’ve been a homebody or you’re new to town, you may be surprised at what you run into while hunting for Pokemon. I know I was! Take a look at some fun and unexplored areas in the River City that my family came across while trying to “catch ‘em all.”
Personally, playing this game started as a distraction when I developed a medical condition that limited my physical activity. I had chest wall pains and eye problems, requiring me to be on medication. The pain, vision impairment, and the medication hindered me from driving and being physically active like I usually was. My doctors recommended me to take it easy. The only physical activity they suggested I do was to walk. Also, unlike our typical summer breaks, my husband was unable to take time off this summer to go on a vacation.
That’s where Pokemon Go unexpectedly played a role in our summer. The game instantly caught the interest of my husband and two kids. Eventually, it caught me, too. I’m not a big gamer, and I wasn’t a huge fan of Pokemon as a kid, but Pokemon Go became my family’s traveling outlet and my motivation to get outdoors and take walks while I couldn’t do much else.
It offered us entertaining and simple date ideas, as well. Whenever we had a sitter, my husband and I went on outdoor dates. Since I couldn’t drive for almost an entire month, I wanted to be outdoors as much as possible. Sometimes, we only had a couple of hours to ourselves. We decided to take walks to a different part of town, maybe stop in to get a quick bite, drink, or cold treat while catching Pokemon in between. We enjoyed the thrill of catching them and showing them to our kids when we got back home.
One thing I really enjoy about Pokemon Go are the pokestops, which are based on actual locations. It can include details and historical background of the specific stop, offering educational discussions with your kids or fun facts if you’re interested in learning more about Jacksonville. It encouraged us to do more research on a location or landmark if there were not many details provided.
If you’re curious to see what types of Pokemon are lurking in the city, or are seeking some family bonding time, date night adventures, or a motivation to get those miles in, below are some of the top places in Jacksonville to find Pokemon and poke stops, plus photos we captured while playing the game that may inspire you to play, too.
Pokemon Destinations to Travel to in Jacksonville:
Jacksonville parks are booming with pokestops and Pokemon, which motivated us to visit a couple of new parks in town. Some parks we’ve visited that have a good amount to catch are Clarke House Park in Orange Park and parks in Mandarin and Riverside.
St. John’s Town Center is an easy place to walk around and catch them, plus you can pick up supplies at the pokestops there.
Aside from fish, Jacksonville Beach is swimming with Pokemon. We also caught plenty while we visited the pier.
Downtown Jacksonville has pokestops and Pokemon lurking throughout that area including Jacksonville Landing and Hemming Park. We discovered a beautiful mural while at Friendship Fountain that we probably wouldn’t have otherwise seen if we weren’t playing the game.
We discovered that certain stores are good places to play the game, such as Walmart on Branan Field where we found several pokemon while shopping.
Other pokestops around town include many neighborhoods, college campuses, churches, libraries, post offices, hospitals and some restaurants and banks. Cummer Museum and Gardens is a pokestop, as well.
The game has also led to some big Pokemon events this summer in town. One of them was the Pokemon tournament at University of North Florida, another one was at Museum of Science and History, and the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens has been holding Pokemon Go events with more on the schedule.
Pokemon GO has been a good way for Jacksonville businesses to attract customers if they are a pokestop. For a guide for more local pokestops and gyms, see this website and this one.
As you can see, Pokemon Go influenced me to take more photos, spend more time exploring our city, and bond with my family. Although we did not get to explore other cities, it helped us survive this summer by having some hometown adventures as we headed outdoors to catch as many Pokemon as we could while simultaneously picking up fun facts about Jacksonville.
Were you hesitant on playing this game at first, too? If so, what caused you to catch the Pokefever?
