HeatherLovejoy's blog

I tried out the new Five Guys Burgers and Fries in Riverside on Saturday. It's across from Publix where Qdoba the fake Mexican Grill used to be. Let's just say it was fine, whatever. Eh. Maybe they need another guy (or a gal) to give them advice on making things tastier. I dunno, I'm not a food critic. Have you eaten there yet? What did you think?

Maybe I'm just jaded because the burgers my neighbor grilled the other day were far superior. They were fresh venison mixed with Maverick Ranch buffalo, and we put them on Publix French hamburger rolls. I know, French hamburger sounds like an oxymoron, but they're good. His wife whipped up some ranch dressing and we had some Alexia rosemary and olive oil fries that come frozen. They were better than Five Guys' fries.

I traipsed through my neighborhood a few hours ago when it stopped raining for awhile (it's back now). There were lots of other sightseers out, too. Hmmm, it seems a storm really brings out a sense of community. What would it be like if the walking/biking community was always so robust?

People were everywhere snapping photos of all the crazy flooding, including me, as you can see by the photo album on this site. There was even a guy (the one on the left) riding his bike and text messaging while the water was almost to the top of his wheels. It's only halfway up in the photo, but the water gets deeper toward the middle of the intersection. I wonder if he was sending photos to his friends who are somewhere dry, like the midwest.  

Riverside is such an interesting place to live. It's urban, historic and you can have close encounters with wildlife. Possums, millions of tiny lizards, raccoons, doves, your neighbor's strange yellow lab...

Seriously, though, my dog and I recently had a couple of brushes with a large owl. A couple of weeks ago we were walking at night around the corner of Barrs and Park streets by the foot center when one came swooping down over us and then up into a tree. Let's just say that if my dog had been challenged to a duel, she would have run away, dragging me behind, holding onto the leash for dear life. Then, just a few nights ago, we were walking around the same corner when we heard a very loud, unpleasant-sounding screech. It was so striking that we both stopped in our tracks and looked around for awhile. We didn't see anything. I thought maybe it was a screech owl, but a little Google action helped me determine it was a barn owl. (Turns out, screech owls don't really screech the way barn owls do.) I'm assuming it was the same owl we had seen before.

This is just a quick note to let everyone know I am the Westside-area reporter. My Westside Sun and this site cover the Westside, Riverside, Avondale, Ortega, Murray Hill, Lake Shore, Wesconnett, Cecil, Baldwin and surrounding neighborhoods.

I took over this beat a little more than a month ago, and am looking forward to working with you all! Look for a lot more to come on this site, and be sure to check out the print editions on Wednesdays and Saturdays in The Florida Times-Union.

Until next time,

Heather Lovejoy, reporter

heather.lovejoy@jacksonville.com