RV’ing with Peter & Ann Vander Sar
The Eastern Gulf Coast and Florida

Introduction
This article is the fifth in a series in the RV Guide about things to do and places to see RV’ing around the periphery of the US and Canada.  In this article we talk about traveling the Gulf Coast areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and the coasts of Florida. Unlike the country covered in previous articles, we ran through most of this area only once about six years ago in our smaller class C motor home without the benefit of a towed vehicle, so this is somewhat of a travelogue. We have made sure any key items, such as costs, places being open, etc, are current. 

Eastern Gulf Coast
Louisiana
After crossing from Texas into Louisiana one can continue over 100 miles along highway 82 through the coastal swamp area to end up at New Iberia on highway 90 or follow highway 27 north. The latter route allows you to see the alligators in the Cameron Prairie National Wildlife Refuge and camp in Sam Houston Jones State Park near the city of Lake Charles and Interstate 10: it has some interesting campsites nestled among cypress trees. 

East along the Interstate one can rejoin the more coastal route by turning onto more scenic highway 90 at Lafayette. Nearby is Avery Island, the home of Tabasco sauce, with a small self-guided factory tour and a company store. About 90 miles along one crosses highway 1, which runs alongside Lafourche Bayou, a busy canal. Evidence of high water ranges from mobile homes suspended 12 feet in the air to above-ground graves in the cemeteries. Grande Isle East State Park on the Gulf at the end of the road has camping as well as picnicking facilities.

Then back on highway 90 to New Orleans, with its historic streetcars, huge and striking Harrah’s Casino, the mansion area and the legendary French quarter. Like San Antonio, it is not to be missed because of its uniqueness, and once there a 50 mile trip up the Mississippi River to see the plantation homes is well worth the effort. As of late 2006 some campgrounds are still closed or fully occupied because of hurricane Katrina in 2005, but the Jude Travel Park where we stayed is open for business.

 

Mississippi and Alabama
One can rush across Mississippi’s 80 miles on Interstate 10 in an hour and a bit, and another hour could get you to Florida, but why not stick to US 90 closer to the coast. A plethora of casinos in Biloxi gives you the opportunity to save on camping fees and spend it in slot machines. Both highways take you into Mobile, Alabama, from which highway 98 becomes the major coastal highway as far as the central Florida Gulf coast. You can avoid Mobile and stay closer to the water longer by taking the Fort Gaines – Fort Morgan ferry, fairly pricy at nearly $45 for an RV with two people and a towed vehicle.  

Alabama State Gulf Park with its 500 sites is oriented to long term visitors, and offers many craft classes and similar things. It was crowded and short of convenient spots for transients like us when we visited - our water hoses reached (a shared tap) but the electric cord did not. Much renovation has been done since then.   

 

Introduction
Florida
True to previous articles, we will stick to the Florida coasts, rather than the tourist destinations most of which are inland. That still gives us lots of territory to cover – around 1300 miles of coastline as the crow (or pelican) flies. The southern part of the state is quite a bit warmer and more expensive than the north, especially private campgrounds: $100/night is easy to pay in the southernmost Keys.  Camping fees in State Parks there, in contrast, are around $30 a night – with fewer facilities of course. Florida has about 150 state parks, gardens, etc, with entrance fees ranging from $4 to $6 per vehicle. A $40 park pass allows a vehicle and the driver to enter all such spots for a year plus $1 per additional person, so if you make more than 10 stops it’s worth it.

Western Florida (the Panhandle)
The panhandle is definitely the cooler, windier, and less expensive part of Florida. Highway 98 is the coastal route from the Alabama border, starting near Pensacola. There are several State Recreation Areas (SRA’s) with campgrounds and beautiful beaches in the area with reasonable camping rates of around $19-24 per day. They include Grayton Beach SRA just east of the town of Fort Walton Beach, St Andrews SRA south of Panama City, which also has a Coney-Island type of amusement area, and  St Joseph Peninsula State Park further east. It was too late in the day for us to check out Ochlockonee River State Park just off the highway but I’m told it has lots of birds and is “low key”. Note that Florida Parks and Recreation areas may or may not have camping so check. 

North and Central Florida Gulf Coast
Highway 98 soon turns into a busy four-lane highway and stays well away from the coast for about 100 miles. At the south end of this stretch is Manatee Springs Park which is worth visiting with its swimming spring and pool, and guided walks to view manatees in the Suwannee River. Another 50 miles brings one an area with lots of interesting spots to view and camp, most associated in name or fact with the springs that are common in this area of Florida.

At Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park
manatees and zillions of fish can be seen really up close right in the spring from an underwater viewing area. There are also flamingos, alligators, and a pair of whooping cranes, because of their association with nearby Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is the winter home for an eastern population of whooping cranes that are taught to migrate behind ultra-light airplanes. Tarpon Springs a little further south used to be centre of the sponge-diving and processing industry, and has now become a “quaint” but interesting tourist spot.

Just south of St Petersburg is Fort de Soto County Park, one of our favorites in the south-eastern US. It has lots of historical exhibits, many walking and biking paths, lakes for canoeing, and a beach rated the best in the US in 2005.  The camping area is PACKED during winter weekends but you may be able to get in during the week as some sites are left for walk-ins (drive-ins?). Watch out for the many large, aggressive, hungry raccoons which may go so far as to steal a lamb chop off a hot barbeque griddle. (Yes!) 

Southern Gulf Coast and the Keys
The approximate 100 miles between the Tampa-St Petersburg and Cape Coral-Fort Myers areas has several museums and two State Parks that we did not visit “and as for real estate, we could not even afford to look at it" A little further south are Koreshan State Historical Site and Park, not very busy so there should be space in the campground, and Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Recreation area, a day-use only park that is so busy that its web-site warns about lack of parking. Then we had to go inland on busy two-lane highway 41, which parallels a canal full of birds and alligators. At Micosukki Indian Village one can take an airboat tour as we did to see to more alligators (some very large), snakes, and birds including the Purple Gallinule, all up close. Highway 997 is a shortcut to Highway 1 to the Keys, meeting it at Florida City which has an absolutely no-frills, grassy field type, relatively inexpensive municipal campground. It’s a good jumping off spot for the southern part of the Everglades.

There are several State Parks in the Keys with reasonable costs (for the area) of around $30/night. John Pennekamp Coral Reef State park on the northern east coast has only small, gravel camping spots but snorkelling, scuba diving, and glass bottom boat tours make it popular so reserve or arrive early. Nearby is Key Largo, the current home of the African Queen boat of movie fame. Further south is Resort-like Bahia Honda State Park that has fancy facilities on the Gulf side and boondock type camping on the Atlantic side. We cut short our stay there because of the no-see-ums. Small enough to go through normal screens, they are a real problem in coastal Florida, probably more so in state and federal parks because of less intensive use of insecticides.

Key West has RV parking at the Tourist information Centre and a shuttle service from there. We found the treasure museum relatively expensive, but the  “watching the sun go down over the sea” experience at the docks a lot of fun, with buskers, a large crowd, and take-out drinks all contributing to the party atmosphere.  

 

Florida’s Atlantic Coast
The Atlantic coast side of Florida is just a bit different from the Gulf Side. The main coastal highway is four lane divided highway 1. As 1 is the highway on the Atlantic coast side, but A1A is closer to the water in some cases right next to it. The no-see-ums will still keep you company in parks that have lots of water and vegetation.

Not many miles north of the Keys begins 100 miles of city. First is Miami, with its oceanfront art deco hotels which are nice for Sunday brunch if you get there early enough for a parking spot. There are several state recreation areas in this stretch, mostly on the water including a pretty one near Key Biscayne, but few with camping facilities. County campgrounds fill the void, including Broward County’s Easterlin park right in Fort Lauderdale, quite pretty and within stumbling distance of a pub. It is somewhat noisy as it is close to a railway line and Interstate 95, but hey, two out three ain’t bad!

It’s nearly 100 miles north to Sebastian Inlet State Park which includes two small museums and several fishing piers to walk and meet up with fishermen, have a snack, and see water birds including white pelicans, ibis, egret, herons, and storks, as well as porpoises. Then it’s another 75 miles or so to the Kennedy Space Centre which has several interesting tours.  Once past the very crowded Daytona Beach area highway 1A1 is a welcome respite, running almost next to the beach with several small state parks and beaches that are great for coffee or lunch stops.

Our next destination was Saint Augustine, a town that struck us and others as being quite different from a lot of Florida cities. Its historic old town and fort area is quite touristy with shopping, bars, etc but very interesting nevertheless. Close by is the Memorial Presbyterian church, which was donated by Henry Flagler, an early Florida tourism and agriculture entrepreneur.  One of his hotels is still open for business: it is very much in the old, Ritzy style but anyone is allowed in the lobby to admire the beautiful glasswork available for sale in the gift shop. (Sort of like souvenirs, but more expensive). Nearly within walking distance of downtown is the Anastasia State Recreation Area, which includes sheltered campsites and lots of beachfront.

Jacksonville is another big city with lots of freeways, but several waterside state recreation areas with camping just to the north. However, we chose to go inland about 80 miles to visit and camp at Okefenokee Swamp just north of the Florida border. It became one of our favorite parks in the South east.

But that is outside the scope of this RV travelogue about the Eastern Gulf coast and Florida. Perhaps next time …..