616 Park Street Bar, in Riverside on the edge of downtown

The first bar you'll hit as you cross the St. John River via the I-95 bridge (heading north), 616 Park Street Bar (616 Park St., 904-358-6969) is also a welcoming, fun-loving gay cruise bar that's perfect for beginning your evening...or perhaps finishing it. From here you're a short drive from some of the city's largest gay hangouts, such as In Cahoots and Metro, and the Historic Five Points district is just a few blocks away. This long-running gay bar has a large patio in back (pictured here). Inside, there's a central bar and plenty of spots to sit and chat with friends or strangers. There's usually porn playing on the video screens above the bar and on the patio, and indeed, this is one of the cruisier gay bars in town, but it's also down-to-earth and friendly, and it draws a mix of guys in every age group, from college kids to silver foxes. A very fun gay neighborhood bar, all in all.