A LOT of effort goes into locating and scheduling campgrounds for us to visit so, typically, John and I sit down together and plan our travel destinations months in advance. First of all, we have to find a campground near someplace that we want to be. Once we find a place, we have to check pricing (we are pretty cheap) and see what hookups they offer (we MUST have water and electric – sewer is preferred but not a deal breaker). Then, we have to read through all of the rules and restrictions to make sure that they allow pit bulls. Finally, we have to call or email and make sure that our tiny house will be welcomed there. Some parks are very strict about what types of campers or RVs they will let in (sometimes its just aesthetics and sometimes it’s for insurance purposes) and the last thing we want is to show up for check-in and be turned away. Once all of this is done, we reserve our spot and don’t have to worry too much about things. Every once in a while, though, plans change at the last minute and we have to scramble to come up with other arrangements.
We were just getting ready to leave Sebring, Florida and head to Inverness when we got a phone call letting us know that the park we had scheduled after Holder Mine (about 2 1/2 weeks in the future) had closed their campground due to hurricane damage sustained over the summer and would not be able to accommodate us. Florida had been tricky enough as it is (parks fill up fast, lots of areas had pit bull legislation, many parks did not allow tiny houses, and several parks were for ages 55 and over only) to find lodging 6+ months in advance and now we needed a campground for just a few weeks out. To make matters worse, a lot of campgrounds in the same area had suffered similar damage and were either closed or had limited availability. We had to alter our course and pick a new area to visit. After several internet searches and phone calls, John was able to get us in at a County Campground just about 45 minutes south of Tallahassee. We were able to book for the entire two weeks – December 9th through December 23rd.
Newport campground was fairly cheap and had full hookups so that was a plus. They had individual trash cans on each with with trash pickup every day. The spots were very close together but there was some greenspace in the center of the park to walk Harley and they also had a few boardwalk trails leading over to the nearby river and boat ramp.
As per tradition, we opted to dine out on our first evening in town. We drove into Tallahassee to check things out and grabbed a bite to eat at Midtown Caboose. John had the Liberty Bell and I had the French Onion Burger. We had The Orient Express appetizer as well (coconut shrimp with strawberry jalapeño cream cheese for dipping).
One thing that we miss on the road is decorating for Christmas. We put up a few things inside and we have an inflatable snowman for the yard but it just isn’t an option to go all out with lights and decorations and a tree. Because of this, we try to find large light displays to check out to help us get in the Christmas spirit. In Tallahassee, we found ourselves at Dorothy B. Oven Park. It’s a little strange celebrating without snow but we chose to visit on a night when temperatures were in the low 60’s so we could at least wear long pants and a jacket instead of shorts and flipflops so that helped, too. We walked through a magical wonderland and had a great time.
We were also delighted to discover that we were just across the road from St. Mark’s National Wildlife Reserve. We loaded Harley into the car and drove over one evening. John had been doing much better with his foot but this was a nice park to visit because we could mostly drive through and just make stops when we wanted to pop out of the car and see wildlife.
The road ended at the location of a gorgeous beach and lighthouse. We got out and walked Harley around the lighthouse grounds and up and down the beach.
We didn’t really plan this little adventure but we somehow ended up there right at that golden hour of sunset. It was breathtaking.
We also made a day trip to nearby Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park. While these springs are no longer the classic clear blue waters of some of the other locations we had visited, it had once looked like a tropical paradise. Several movies including Tarzan’s New York Adventure starring Johnny Weissmuller and Creature from the Black Lagoon used the area for filming. The park was also the site where a mastodon skeleton was recovered along with at least nine other prehistoric animals.
In addition to boat tours and walking trails, Wakulla Springs also has a lodge which is on the list of Historic Hotels of America and has a restaurant overlooking the swimming beach. We enjoyed a nice lunch (John had the Fried Shrimp and I had a Shrimp Po’Boy) before exploring the park.
The boat ride was probably one of my favorites. Our guide was really funny AND incredibly knowledgeable and we saw such a variety of wildlife. In addition to manatees we spotted ducks, herons and several other birds.
We also saw several alligators including one of the largest ones I have ever seen! We weren’t able to get a clear photo of the big guy but many of the others were easily easily seen and were the perfect models.
On December 22nd, John’s boss let him off early to get a jump on the holiday weekend so we decided to make the most of the unexpected free time. For our final adventure, we drove to the small town of Apalachicola- an adorable fishing town right along the coast. We walked along the water and saw a ton of pelicans!
We also enjoyed lunch at Hole in the Wall -the oysters and fried clam strips were amazing. Then we drove around piers and shopped at a few small shops in town to pick up some wine and snacks for the holiday weekend before moving to our last spot of the year the following day.
