Duckpond of Gainesville

The Duckpond of Gainesville is a beautiful place.

Upon arrival, my friends and I were greeted by loud quacking. We were surrounded by a beautiful neighborhood with a pond right in the center of several houses. Of course, we responded to these animals by tossing bread to them- as we had seen some other girls doing as we arrived. There were white, brown and multicolored colored ducks. In addition, there were two beautiful black ducks with red beaks, one in the water, the other hidden away by the tree shade.

After feeding the ducks, we all decided to explore the nice little neighborhood. The roads around the pond itself are confusing to navigate when in a car. Personally, I had a more difficult time locating different landmarks when I was in my car. Also, while enjoying the serenity of the pond, a woman in her late 40’s/early 50’s pulled up to my and companions and me asking for directions to a particular place we were unsure of. Unfortunately, we had told her that we were unfamiliar with the area and we were just visiting. The woman thanked us and continued on her search. One of my companions, Andre, convinced our group to walk around. The more we walked, the more little quirks we noticed. For example, several of the houses had plaques on them with the year. It seemed as if each house had its own unique appearance. None of the houses were the same but none stood out too vapidly. The Fagan House was constructed in 1910 but renovated in 1982. The original owners of the house, the Fagan family, owned a downtown shoe store. The house itself sticks out because it is on the corner of the boulevard and has beautiful shades of blue and white that show off the house's own antiqueness.

Based on my observations, most people in the area walk. They are able to go to the downtown area without relying on buses or automobile transportation. Seeing bicycles was also very common. One of the benefits of walking is avoiding having to find a parking spot. Also, the houses are less than 15 minutes of walking distance of the restaurants and little shopping areas.

Despite the closeness of the restaurants and boutiques, a majority, if not all, of the houses had cars. This infers that the residents usually have to drive to a work place that is too far for walking. Additionally, many of the residents had a variety of beautiful plants. Several houses my friends and I passed had fruit trees such as lemons and papayas. The fruit all seemed as if they were begging us to pick them, but that may have just been our hunger teasing us.

Subsequently, we started walking toward the downtown area to find places to eat. On our way there, we found a park that had a few families in it. We had stopped at the park for awhile and began to absorb the scenery. There are several different structures for children to play on and it is a very safe environment out in the open. There is much shade from the trees in the park and there are also benches to rest. The children who came to the park were around 6-9 years old. The parents who accompanied them were in their late 20’s, early 30’s. The families all seemed content with the park but mainly kept to themselves and kept a close eye on their children. The park’s vibrants colors oddly enough didn’t contrast the the more calm colors of the surrounding houses. The laughter of the children seemed to echo through the relatively empty streets.

The further we traveled, the more busy the streets became. As we continues, we began seeing buses, busy cars, and mopeds. We passed through an event that was occupying one of the streets. There were tables set up and little carts selling cheap hot dogs, chips and icees. Some of the tables set up were selling trinkets or jewelry and other tables were set up to promote politics. For example, one of the tables set up was to gain support for Bernie. As we reached the end of the street, we saw some people dancing and singing and just celebrating. There were people on the grass near them sitting on blankets eating foo for just watching and having a great time. Although the event was fun, we still hadn’t found anywhere to eat.

Around the corner, my companions and I decided on a small pizzeria to eat called Big Lou’s. The outside tables were mostly full so we seated ourselves inside. Big Lou’s tables were wooden and seemed like it was a little old fashioned but still flourishing. The waiters were running around frantically serving guests. Everyone there offered amazing service and had a great attitude. The food was especially good and came in generous serving sizes. Although there are other places to go to eat, I look forward to returning to Big Lou’s and sitting outside with the other customers who were taking advantage of the great weather.

In conclusion, places as simple as the Duckpond can have their own uniqueness underlying the normality of everything. This place was more than just a nice little neighborhood. Sometimes, its hard to see the beauty in places or things as simple as a Duckpond. I believe the Duckpond of Gainesville is a beautiful place. It is full of character and has little quirks that add to its overall beauty. I look forward to returning there soon.