The Treaty Oak

A tree worth seeing.

Downtown Jacksonville isn’t anywhere you really want to be.  I’ve been in some busy and intimidating cities (not New York though, not yet) and Jacksonville intimidates me.  It’s oddly grim.  Building construction impresses me as architecturally utilitarian rather than showy.

But nevertheless, I went downtown on a mission: to find the Treaty Oak.  Yes, after Savannah, Houston, Louisiana, and Charleston, I’m still pursuing live oak trees.  Anyway, this one is special: legend has it that the Spanish signed a treaty with the Native Americans there.

In stark contrast to the Angel Oak in Charleston, the Treaty Oak is not located on a country plantation, but right smack in the middle of downtown.  Visiting Treaty Oak Park requires navigating to a public parking deck and an elevator that smells like only 1960s-era Florida can.

Stepping off the streets into the park, the Treaty Oak absorbed my attention – a younger tree than the Angel Oak but still incredible.

But first, of course, you had to get past those killjoys who post signs like this:

The ground around was covered in deep grass and clover.

Leaving, it was nice to think: some trees are truly worth seeing.

~ The Dauntless Princess ~