Riverside and Avondale in Jacksonville

Exploring the historical neighborhoods of Jacksonville proved to be a treat.  The neighborhoods of Avondale and Riverside were developed on plots of land that were at one time plantations.  Dell's Bluff and Magnolia Plantations were begun in the early 1800's. In 1868 the southern part of Dell's Bluff was developed into Riverside, while the norther part of Dell's Bluff was developed into Brooklyn.  A great array of architectural design can be seen in these neighborhoods.  

Avondale was begun as the new part of Riverside in 1884 to be called Edgewood but never really took off until 1920 when it was renamed Avondale after the Chicago neighborhood.  Many structures in Avondale are in the Mediterranean Revival style. 

Parks are interspersed with commercial areas throughout Riverside and Avondale.  These commercial districts  are called Five Points, Shoppes of Avondale, and King Street 

After spending the morning visiting the commercial districts we landed at Primi Piatti for lunch. I had the mixed green salad with pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes,  and Parmesan cheese topped  with grilled shrimp and a lemon basil vinaigrette.  

I liked the dressing so much I found this recipe, made it for our dinner salad.  It is very close to the drssing at Primi Piatti.

Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil 

1 clove garlic

2 tsp Dijon Mustard

 Whisk all ingredients and serve over salad

(recipe from vegetariantimes.com)

Steve had the Lobster Ravioli with a sun dried tomato pesto cream sauce.  Looks pretty good too!