From Noisy and Crowded to Serene

Since my last post, I've had such varied experiences. I traveled to the Atlantic coast, spent a night at St. Augustine and saw some of the historical features there, including a brief stop at the Fountain of Youth for a sip of water. Then I went down to Daytona to go to the Daytona 500 and the Speed Weeks events prior.

I hadn't necessarily expected to go to the races, but when I realized my timing was right in North Florida, I decided why not. I'm glad I went. It was an expensive side trip, but really enjoyable. Of course I thought of Steve the whole time. He's the reason I became interested in NASCAR racing in the first place, and the date of his birthday happened to be the date of the first race I went to there. I found a great place to park the motorhome. It was an industrial area just a couple blocks from the speedway that they open up as a campground for big events at the track. I called too late to reserve a space with power, but mentioned I'd be interested if they had a cancellation. It turned out that they were able to plug me in for the first six nights I was there, then I moved to a parking-only site for the last three nights. By being careful about my water use, I was very comfortable the whole time and never had to use the port-a-potties or shower-trailer. The place had a festive vibe without being too raucous, and everyone was very friendly, especially to Charley.

Charley headed out for one of our walks to say hello to everyone

Pretty much just a treed parking area, but it worked just fine for us

So close to the speedway - you can see the stands under the powerlines at the edge of the campground

Definitely got my fix of cars going around in circles

Manatees and Other Wildlife 

My original plan had been to travel south from Daytona to the Keys, but I learned that affordable reservations aren't easy to come by this time of year. I wanted to stay in at least one of the four state parks in the Keys, but they're all booked up through late spring. I eventually found out if I went online often, I could find a cancellation, and I finally got a 4-night stay booked in the Key Largo area around St. Patrick's Day. I was able to use that as a base to build my trip to the Keys from March 6-20, which will include two of the four state parks, and a stay in Key West. 

In the meantime, I had more destinations that I wanted to see on the Gulf Coast than the Atlantic, so I made my way back west through prime winter manatee country. At Crystal River I was able to see manatees in the wild.

I was almost as fascinated by the clear blue springwater as by the manatees

 

 

The next day I went to the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Refuge, which takes in orphan and injured wildlife and cares for, then exhibits them. There I was able to see more manatees, which have occasional access to the wild, but have become accustomed to the regular feeding at the park. I also saw a handful of other local critters, including this beautiful Florida Panther, which was found as an orphaned kitten, almost not going to make it.

 

Yuma purring and playing with his tail

Lately I'm in the Punta Gorda area and spent last night in the Babcock Webb Wildlife Management Area. It was so serene last night and early this morning. Only one other campsite was taken, and there's been a huge variety of birds, including a cardinal that keeps perching on my motorhome mirror and windshield.

Peaceful and serene...until the hunters arrived this morning for target practice across the lake.
It's an interesting mix of hunters, bird watchers, ATV's and bicyclists here.

Notice anything suspect about this hunting tally?

This afternoon and tonight I'm going to the "Funkfest" music festival in Punta Gorda, then it's a little farther south, across the Everglades, and down into the Keys. Here's hoping we're not gotten by the gators!

 

 

Florida's Emerald Coast

My lagoon-front campsite at St. Andrews State Park is on pretty high-value
real estate, judging by the neighbors "across the pond."

I'd never been to the Florida panhandle, and didn't really know anything about it before this trip. I'm afraid if I hadn't been talking to people to get first-hand suggestions of places to go, I might have missed the Emerald Coast and that would have been a terrible mistake. I think I assumed the beaches would be the same as in other locations along the gulf, but I'm really loving this area.

I had heard that Destin was a great place, but when I started looking into it, all the RV parks were expensive. One couple I talked to really recommended Henderson and Grayton Beach state parks in the area, and when I pressed them to tell me which was their favorite, they couldn't decide. So I've seen this as an exploratory mission and have just stayed two nights apiece at a number of locations, working my way down the coastline. The Fort Pickens national park was peaceful and full of wildlife (I finally spotted a live armadillo--in my campsite). Henderson Beach was pristine and airy, Grayton Beach was within biking and walking distance from two fun seaside village areas (recommend better walking shoes than I was wearing, though). St. Andrews is pretty and close to the tourist-y area, but out on the end of a peninsula so you're not in the middle of it. And I passed up several other state parks along the way that probably each have their own charm.

In Florida, I'm finding the best value in the state parks, which hasn't been the case in all states. The state parks hee offer more interesting settings and reasonable prices. Throughout this trip, I've gotten good value out of my $40 Passport America membership, which offers half-price camping rates at many locations, but in Florida many of the RV parks don't offer this deal during this part of the year. Thankfully there's an abundance of state parks here.

Next I'm going to travel across the state and see some of the historic sites around St. Augustine, staying in Anastasia State Park. After that, I decided, "What the heck, while in Florida, maybe I should experience the Great American Race." I'm going to go to the Daytona 500 and the Speed Weeks events that precede it. That'll be a real change of pace from the quiet beach life here!

New Orleans: A City for Music Lovers

Greetings from Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island, part of the Gulf Islands National Seashore outside of Pensacola. In case you wondered if I'd ever make it all the way to Florida, the answer is yes. It's been rainy all day, but tomorrow's forecast is dry to enjoy the fine "white sugar" sand beaches here. I'm overnight at the national park two nights, then plan to spend several more days in the area, hopefully also enjoying the beaches at Fort Walton, Destin and Panama City. After that I'll have to commit to a route through Florida.

New Orleans did not disappoint. My only regret was not getting down to Frenchmen Street until the last night of my stay there. Monday's not the best night, and I was sorry to realize only in hindsight that I had just been a couple blocks away Saturday night where I watched the Krewe du Vieux and Krewe Delusion parades. For the unfamiliar, these aren't "traditional" krewes, yet their satirical, risque parades have certainly become a New Orleans Mardi Gras tradition. These, plus the Krewe of Little Rascals kids' parade in Metairie on Sunday were as close as I was going to get to Mardi Gras during my stay in New Orleans, so I had to experience them.

The Spotted Cat Music Club was my favorite New Orleans stop, but I also really enjoyed the afternoons and early evening that I brought the dog with me and just wandered up and down Royal and Bourbon streets, listening to the street performers and watching people. It was tempting to stay long enough to experience Mardi Gras, but it would have been so expensive and would have definitely eaten into my Florida beach time.

 

 

I've still been trying to keep to the small, rural highways as much as is practical. I don't know how we ever found anything before GPS. I had decided I wanted to travel along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, see a few of the old plantation sites and go on a tour of the Destrehan plantation. Even using my road map and GPS, I took a couple wrong turns as I set out that day. You never know where you'll end up:

Leprosy Tour? Thanks, I'll pass!

Driving the rural roads out of New Orleans netted me the chance to see the beautiful beaches along southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. I found many places that I would have loved to stay awhile, but if I'm going to make my way around Florida, I had to keep on moving.