Campground Review - Fisherman's Cove

We made a stop at Fisherman's Cove RV Resort in Tavares, Florida mostly to meet up with another fulltime family, Margie and Allen Lundy and their three kids. The Lundy's have been on the road for about two years and have a cool rig they travel around in! We enjoyed meeting up with them after talking online for the past months.


Staff - 8 - Large campground with lots of maintenance staff. Office staff was helpful and friendly, although once I could not find anyone in.

Natural surroundings - 8 - Close to highway, but very quiet area. Next to Lake Harris. We also picked some juicing oranges and some apricot-like fruits. 

Facility Fun - 8 - Heated pool, shuffleboard courts, club house, planned activities. 

Facility usefulness - 6 - propane, laundry, boat launches.

Cleanliness - 8 - typical of Florida snowbird park.

Nearby attractions - 6 - over an hour to Orlando, lots of lakes and Ocala National Forest close by.

Value - 9 - Paid $19.50 a night for a back-in gravel site with full-hook-ups.

Overall - 8 - We had a nice time with the Lundys, cooled off swimming, picked some fresh fruit and got a good deal on the price!

Campground Review - Vacation Village

After teaching at the church in Pinellas Park, we stayed at Vacation Village in Largo, Florida.

Staff - 7 - Staff was not there over the weekend when we checked im, but was there on Monday morning.

Natural surroundings - 7 - Close to Highway 19, but still our site was off the road quite a ways.


Facility Fun - 8 - Heated pool, shuffleboard courts, club house with pool tables, planned activities.

Facility usefulness - 7 - propane, exchange library, laundry, Sunday church services.

Cleanliness - 8 - typical of Florida snowbird park.

Nearby attractions - 9 - very close to St Petersburg and beach fun.

Value - 5 - Paid $46 a night for a back-in gravel site with full-hook-ups.

Overall - 7 - A bit costly for what it was, but a nice park still.

Kidology to Go - Pinellas Park, Florida

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Big Oaks RV Communuty

The first thing you notice when you pull into Big Oaks RV Community in Spring Hill, Florida are the huge oak trees at the front of the park, draped with Spanish moss and home to lots of little song birds. The name certainly fits!

Staff - 7 - Friendly, but not super knowledgeable, since regular staff was absent quite a bit!

Natural surroundings - 9 - of course there were lots of trees and birds, and some nice floral bushes and palm trees as well.

Facility Fun - 8 - Heated pool, shuffleboard courts, club house with pool and ping pong tables, planned activities.

Facility usefulness - 7 - propane, exchange library, laundry, Sunday church services.

Cleanliness - 7 - Country shabby, but not dirty.

Nearby attractions - 8 - with an hour to all Tampa Bay stuff and closer to beaches and preserves.

Value - 7 - Paid $30 a night for a back-in grass site with full-hook-ups.

Overall - 7 - We took full advantage of the pool all three days we stayed here! Loved the birds as well.

Weeki Wachee Springs State Park

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Campground Review - Tampa South RV Park

Our stay at Tampa South RV Park in Ruskin, Florida was quite nice except for the nearby train tracks.

Staff - 9 - Spoke with several staff members who were very nice. They all went out of their way to make us feel welcome. Fellow campers were also quite nice.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Close to all Tampa Bay attractions.

Natural surroundings - 8 - Park borders the Little Manatee River where Brendan and I saw a dolphin swim by! Flowers and mature palm trees scattered throughout park.

Value - 9 - We paid $25 a night for a pull-through crushed shell site with full-hook-ups using our Passport America card.

Bathrooms - 7 - Smaller bathrooms for such a large park, but they were modern and clean. Showers were a bit erratic.

Roominess - 7 - Sites were about average size.

Facility fun - 9 - Heated pool, activities, shuffleboard court, deck overlooking river, fishing, boat slips. We attended an ice-cream social while we were here. 

Cleanliness - 9 - Very orderly and neat park.

Facility usefulness - 9 -  Picnic table at each site, clubhouse, laundry, propane, exchange library, free wifi.

Overall - 7 - Nice park but close to train track that starts at about seven in the morning. Only a few go by each day though. River access is great!

Campground Reviews - Shady Acres and Ellenton Gardens

We are reviewing two campgrounds in this review. the first is Shady Acres RV Resort in Fort Myers, Florida.

Staff - 9 - Spoke with several staff members who were very nice. They do make you sign lots of papers promising to follow the rules, although not much out of the ordinary as far as the rules go. Guests get a little check-in gift bag.

 Nearby attractions - 8 - In Fort Myers, close to beaches and other attractions in area.

Natural surroundings - 8 - Several mature trees scattered throughout park with a large pond in the center. Close to main roads, but you feel a little isolated from all the city stuff.

Value - 6 - We paid $45 a night for a pull-through crushed shell site with full-hook-ups.

Bathrooms - 8 - Smaller bathrooms for such a large park, but they were modern, clean and functioning.

Roominess - 8 - Our site was very large. Roads in and out are a bit tight and some of the other sites look a bit crammed, but that was because of the long term snow birds spreading out on their sites.

Facility fun - 8 - Heated pool, activities, horse shoes, shuffleboard court, deck overlooking pond.

Facility usefulness - 10 -  Picnic table at each site, clubhouse, laundry, propane, exchange library, car wash area, free wifi.

Overall - 8 - This was a friendly park with lots to do!



Our second campground is Ellenton Gardens in Ellenton, Florida.

Staff - 10 - Super nice staff went out of their way to make sure we had everything we need.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Close to Bradenton, Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota.

 Natural surroundings - 8 - Big palm trees, plants and flowers throughout park with a pond in the middle.

 Roominess - 6 - Our site was pretty tight. Roads in and out are a bit tight.

Facility fun - 8 - Heated pool, activities, shuffleboard court, fishing in pond.

Cleanliness - 8 - RV sites mixed in with park models, did not see any trashy looking. Clubhouse and bathrooms and pool are clean.

Bathrooms 9 - Clean with huge walk-in showers.

Value -7 - Paid $35 a night for a crushed-shell back-in site with full hook-ups.

 Facility usefulness - 7 -  Picnic table at each site, cheaper laundry, clubhouse, exchange library.

Overall - 8 - Despite the small size of our site, we liked the friendliness and feeling of this campground.

Shells, Owls and Citrus Heaven

 

 

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Valentine's Day on the Road

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Big Cypress National Preserve

This post has been deleted because it is in our new book entitled Napkin Dreams. It can be found on Amazon.com

We stayed at the Midway Campground inside the preserve. The campground is run by the National Park System and is one of several in the park, but the only one with electric hook-ups.

Staff - 10 - Very helpful and kind campground hosts.

Nearby attractions - 7 - Within an hour of both Naples and Miami.

Natural surroundings - 10 - Surrounded by trees and bushes. Large pond in middle of campground is home to a couple of gators.

Value - 10 - We paid $10 a night for a back-in black-top site with electric only. Dump station on site is free to campers. Rate was with National Parks Pass discount - normally it is $19.

Bathrooms - 6 - Modern and clean, but no showers.

Roominess - 8 - Plenty of room for our rig, tow dolly and van.

Facility fun - 5 - Not a lot to do in the campground, but plenty of trails and exploring in the park itself. Our boys enjoyed finding various types of bugs while playing Legos.

Cleanliness - 9 - Very clean and nice park.

Facility usefulness - 5 -  Dump, picnic shelters, fresh water fill-up.

Overall - 9 - The park is super clean, super cheap and very serene.

One Thousand Pin Drops

 

 

This post has been deleted because it is in our new book entitled Napkin Dreams. It can be found on Amazon.com

This post has been deleted because it is in our new book entitled Napkin Dreams. It can be found on Amazon.com

 

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John Pennekamp State Park

Our third night in the Florida Keys was spent at another state park, John Pannekamp Coral Reef State Park. We were so blessed to find another state park in the Keys to stay at. This particular state park is mostly underwater and daily boat trips for snorkeling and scuba diving adventures are part of the opportunities for visitors to the park.

There are also a couple of places closer to shore where you can go snorkeling and Blake took the chance to snorkel out to some sunken cannons that were located about 100 feet from the shore. This was his first time snorkeling outside of the swimming pool, so he was pretty pumped about the chance to see some ocean dwelling creatures, even though it was a bit of a rainy and cold day.

The weather also did not stop our boys from spending some time at the beach here. In fact they also put on their goggles and saw some fish. At our beach some ibis decided to swim with the boys! Not everyone can say they have swam with ibis!

The visitor's center at the park has a huge aquarium and several smaller aquarium that display some of the underwater life located in the nearby coral reef. No matter how many zoos and aquariums we visit, our guys always get super excited when we go to a new one and this aquarium was no exception. The unique and colorful fish really brought out the excited voices in our kids.

During our stay at the park I did a night-time run to a local eatery called The Fish House where we got some Conch Soup and Conch Fritters. Patsy and I enjoyed tasting some of the new-to-us foods! We are truly getting a taste our this huge country of ours.

Our review of John Pannekamp State Park.

Staff - 8 - Nice rangers and campground hosts.

Nearby attractions - 10 - Close to Miami and Key Largo.

Natural surroundings - 10 - Bushes and trees separate sites from each other. Ocean quite close.

Value - 9 - We paid $43 a night for a back-in gravel site with full hook-ups. Very cheap for the Florida Keys in winter.

Bathrooms - 8 - Modern and clean and plenty of them.

Roominess - 8 - Plenty of room for our rig, tow dolly and van.

Facility fun - 10 - Canoe and kayak rentals, nature trails, glass boat bottom tours, beaches, snorkeling, playground, aquarium, visitors center.

Cleanliness - 9 - Very clean and nice park.

Facility usefulness - 7 -  Dump, gated park, camp store, book exchange.

Overall - 10 - We loved this park!!