Seconds

Our next stop was in Dade City, Florida, for our second stay at the Sawmill Camping Resort.  Our friend, Marvin, also made the trip out to Dade City to stay with us for a second time in our RV.  Thus, making this a trip of "seconds!"  (See our blog post on January 17, 2023, entitled, A Tale of Two Parks for details of our first stay at Sawmill; and our blog post on December 4, 2022, entitled, First Overnight Guest for details on Marvin’s first stay with us in the RV.)

Before arriving at Sawmill, we once again made a trip out to La Mesa RV to get the seat lever replaced to allow us to move the driver’s seat back and forth so that Pat could finally drive.  This was our fourth trip to La Mesa with a promise to replace the seat lever (see our blog post on January 20, 2023, entitled, Tampa RV Supershow (a.k.a. Friends>Frustrations) for more details of our experiences trying to get this fixed).  This time, La Mesa finally ordered the correct part and actually replaced the entire mechanism under the driver’s seat that allows for adjustments.  Pat will have his turn driving soon enough!

The last time we went to Sawmill, we tried to stay for a longer period of time; however, the campground wasn’t able to accommodate us.  This time, we were staying for 4 nights.  The last time we went to Sawmill, it was cold (lows below freezing).  This time, it was hot and sunny (highs in the mid-80’s), and we took advantage of the pool on the three full days that we were there.

One of the things we loved about Sawmill was the themed weekends and the daily activities.  This time, the theme was "Bear Weekend" (if you are unfamiliar with the term "bear" in gay lingo, please google it now).  On Friday night, the activity was "Bear Karaoke" and even though Tim does not consider himself a bear, he did participate in karaoke by singing "Friends in Low Places."  Tim says he is a little rusty since he isn’t singing weekly now.  

On Saturday evening, the activity was "Hefty Heffers" drag show (even though most of the drag queens were not "hefty") and the "Sexy Bear" contest (two bears, one with all the characteristics that you just googled and another who played to the audience applause meter, tied for the prize).  Each night, we also had dancing in "Woody’s" lounge, with 80s music on Thursday evening and more current and nostalgic pop on the other nights.  The music was great and all three of us had fun dancing the night away.

One of the other things we loved about Sawmill was the café.  Tim and his breakfast buddy, Marvin, had a full breakfast in the "Splash Café" each morning; Saturday and Sunday featured a breakfast buffet that included scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, grits, biscuits, hash browns, yogurt, orange juice, and other breakfast items.  On Friday evening there was a fish fry at the café and on Saturday evening there was a steak and chicken barbeque.  We indulged in each of these and now need to go on diets!  

Marvin was sweet enough to bring some snacks with him for us to share during the weekend; and he also brought the fixins for s'mores, which we made on Sunday night.  Earlier on Sunday evening, Tim grilled some bourbon chicken and Pat made a rice dressing and green beans for a campsite feast. 

On each day, we also tried to walk a lot and we made some new friends like PJ, Jeff, and Larry.  We met some RVers who were more long-term residents at Sawmill who have a Gimlet party every Tuesday night for any resident who wants to socialize; unfortunately, we were leaving on a Monday.

Some days we had to catchup on laundry (some of our pool clothes mysteriously turned orange, we think by a mixture of our sunscreen and the iron rich water at the campground).  We truly enjoyed our stay at Sawmill for the second time, and would absolutely return again for a longer stay.

[For our previous review of Sawmill Camping Resort, please follow this link from January 17, 2023:  A Tale of Two Parks ]

Wastin’ Away Again

We headed north toward Auburndale, Florida, for our next destination: Camp Margaritaville RV Resort.  Owned by Jimmy Buffett through Margaritaville Holdings, LLC (a subsidiary of Cheeseburger Holding Company, LLC), Camp Margaritaville RV Resort in Auburndale, Florida, is one of four current Margaritaville RV Resorts, with two more opening soon (including one in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana).  As the sign says at the resort, it is always 5:00 somewhere; so, we wasted no time after setting up at our campsite before heading to the Tiki Bar for a drink.  We even bought special cups for the occasion.  Then we walked around the campground scoping out all of the facilities. 

Our camping site was a cement site with full hookups.  It also had a picnic table and charcoal grill.  It was very large and spacious, with enough distance from our neighbors to feel like we had some privacy.  We were located not too far from the Tiki Bar, pool, laundry, and café.

We had two full days at Camp Margaritaville and made a visit to the Tiki Bar each day.  It was hot and sunny on both days, so we took advantage of one of the pools on one day (there are three pools).  On our other full day at the resort, we sadly had to take time out to do A LOT of laundry since we had not washed clothes since before the cruise and were running out of things to wear. 

The hot weather really warmed up the RV in the afternoons since we didn’t have any shade on our site.  It’s difficult to keep the RV below about 83 degrees or so when the sun is hot and there is no shade, but we made the best of it by going to the pool or Tiki Bar during that time.

We also ate at the resort’s café (Pat on two different days and Tim on one) and took our daily walks around the resort to get our steps in!  On one of our walks, we saw the phenomenon that many people posted about on social media: Jupiter clearly visible next to the moon, with Venus aligned under Jupiter further down. 

Review of Camp Margaritaville RV Resort in Auburndale, Florida

Camp Margaritaville is a true resort, offering most of what you need onsite so you don’t ever have to leave.  Margaritaville RV Resorts are well known among RVers as a very upscale and fun place to stay.  Camp Margaritaville in Auburndale, Florida, has approximately 275 RV sites, some with private tiki bars.  The campground also has approximately 80 cabin sites available.  The campground is approximately an hour drive from Orlando. 

Camp Margaritaville has three pools (one is an advertised as a kid’s pool, but the kids seemed to be more with their parents in the main pool that has a waterslide); restrooms/showers; two laundry rooms; mini golf; fitness room; two bars; two basketball courts; a café (where you can get a cheeseburger, in paradise); and a store.  You can also rent golf carts to get around the campground.  The campground has some street noise since it is located near Florida Highway 570.  The campground is advertised as being family and dog friendly (there is a dog park) and there were certainly a lot of children and dogs around the campground.  The clientele was not as friendly as we have become accustomed to at campgrounds where we have stayed thus far.  Usually, everyone waves and says hello as you pass by them or as they pass by you; however, at this campground many people did not (sometimes not even when you said hello first).  The RV across from our site also had a “Let’s Go Brandon” flag and political flags are usually frowned upon at RV campgrounds.  Nonetheless, we did chat with a few people at the Tiki Bar, and we generally had a great time on our own.  We would definitely stay at Camp Margaritaville again and recommend it as a nice place to stay, although a bit pricier than most RV campgrounds.

Another First… a COE Campground

After our cruise, our next destination was in Auburndale, Florida which was a little too long of trip so we made a one-night stop on the way at our FIRST U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Campground called Ortona South Lock Campground in Moore Haven, Florida.

It was great to see old friends (Kevin, Chuck, Bob, Bob, Paul, Shawn, Greg, Jimmy, David, Darryl, Chipper, James, John, Don, Patrick & Darian) and make a few new ones (Robbie, Greg & T.) on our 8-day cruise with Vacaya.  We took an Uber from the cruise port to Yacht Haven to get our RV out of storage and ready for our next adventure.  After taking the RV out of storage, we made a stop at Walmart to start restocking the refrigerator and freezer and then drove on to our destination.

The Ortona South Lock Campground is set along the Caloosahatchie River section of the Okeechobee Waterway. The COE has dammed the river to prevent flooding and operates the locks on the river.  Visitors can watch boats going through locks as they travel the Okeechobee Waterway.  This is exactly what we got to do after we checked in and completed our set up at the campground.  The name of the campground didn’t prepare us that the locks were so accessible to visit!

We didn’t have an opportunity to do much else at Ortona South since we were only there for one night, but we did roam the wooded area around the locks before returning to our RV before sunset.  There were lots of wildlife in the area.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil works.  Army civil works consists of three congressionally authorized business lines: navigation, flood and storm damage protection, and aquatic ecosystem restoration; and these army civil works usually occur in some incredibly beautiful areas.  Accordingly, COE operates over 2,400 COE campgrounds located throughout the United States.  COE campgrounds often border picturesque lakes and reservoirs that offer campers fishing, boating, water skiing and even scuba diving experiences. COE campsites are a very popular vacation destination for RVers and tent campers around the country. Most will offer roomy, scenic campsites, with somewhat simple amenities. Some have full hookups, but many offer electric or water/electric campsites only. You’ll usually find a dump station onsite, as well as basic–but clean–restrooms/shower facilities.  COE campgrounds charge affordable nightly rates based on the individual campsite. Rates vary depending on location, amenities offered, and season, with some sites offering basic tent camping for just $10 per night. Most COE campsites will be in the range of $30-$50.

Review of Ortona South Lock Campground

Ortona South Lock Campground offers 51 campsites.  All campsites have concrete pads, electric and water hookups, a fire ring and grill, and a covered picnic table. There are no sewer hookups at the sites, but the campground has a sanitary dump station.  Ortona also has restrooms with showers; however, these were not in working condition on the night we were there.  Ortona has a picnic pavilion for campers only, but day use visitors are allowed on site for fishing. The Ortona North Day Use Area also has a boat launch.   Ortona is a 25-minute drive from the Town of LaBelle, where you can find stores and restaurants.  Laundry Facilities are not currently available on site.   We really enjoyed getting to watch the locks in action at Ortona.  We probably wouldn’t return to Ortona unless we needed a stop for one evening again, but it is great to have these cheaper COE sites for such a purpose.

Deep Pocket Neighbors and Wonderful Friends

We drove from Everglades National Park to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in anticipation of our cruise, which left from the port at Fort Lauderdale on February 12, 2023.  We were excited to stay in the Yacht Haven Park & Marina for the week before our cruise.  Yacht Haven is a higher priced RV Park (the highest rates we have booked for this year) and difficult to reserve unless you do it far in advance.  Since it is pricier, the clientele is a little more…hoity-toity.  We saw a lot of high-priced RVs parked here, along with beautiful yachts that were docked at the marina.

In rained all day on our first full day at Yacht Haven, but we had hot and sunny days afterward.  We enjoyed the pool on many of these days and took long walks looking at the RVs and yachts. 

On our fourth full day, we had lunch with one of Tim’s childhood friends and his wife (Billy and Shelia) who live in Fort Lauderdale.  Tim and Billy went to high school together and were both actively involved in student council not only at their high school, but on the state and national level.  Tim had briefly met Shelia on one occasion, and we were both really glad to spend some significant lunch time with her and Billy, who both came to the Yacht Haven to pick us up for lunch.  After touring the RV, they took us to lunch at a restaurant called Shuck-n-Dive Cajun Café, and to our surprise, the restaurant had boiled crawfish!  It was a special treat to spend time with those two and to eat boiled crawfish!  In the evening of the same day, Yacht Haven had "Wine Down Wednesday" at their Tiki Hut located close to our RV site, where we chatted with some of the staff and a camper who is developing his own RV park in Tennessee. 

On our fifth full day, we picked up a rental car at the Fort Lauderdale airport and drove into the nearby town of Wilton Manors for Pat to pick up some prescriptions and for both of us to get haircuts before the cruise.  Our friends from Salem, Massachusetts, both named Bob (the Bobs), had suggested a salon named Carved.  Tim explained to his barber, Brees, about how terrible his most recent haircut had been, and Brees did a great job of fixing it.  Pat’s barber, Gustavo, also took great interest in ensuring that Pat had a special haircut experience.  One of the Bobs met us at the barber shop at the end of our appointments and took us to their condo, which was located in the same complex.  We spent the afternoon with the Bobs getting the tour of the complex and their beautiful and spacious condo; and, talking about our upcoming cruise (the Bobs went on the same cruise as us).  We really enjoyed having this one-on-one time with the Bobs. 

On our sixth full day, we went to lunch with great friends of ours from New York City, Kevin and Chuck.  Tim and Kevin sang together in the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus, and Chuck and Kevin have become some of our best friends.  When we lived in New York City, Kevin and Chuck invited us out to their place in Southampton many weekends, and we have been on several cruises together.  Kevin and Chuck had arrived in Fort Lauderdale the day before and also were going on our upcoming cruise.  We ate an early lunch at Rosie’s, which is the restaurant requiring a gay pilgrimage when in Wilton Manors.  After lunch, Kevin and Chuck came to Yacht Haven to tour our RV.  

We spent the remainder of the afternoon getting the RV ready for storage, since it would be in storage without any hook ups for a week while we were on the cruise.  Since we would not be connected to electricity in storage, we had to turn off, defrost, and empty the refrigerator and freezer.  We had tried to eat as much of the food we had in the refrigerator and freezer as possible, but still had a lot of food left.  Luckily, Billy and Sheila graciously took much of the food from the freezer we had offered; otherwise, Tim would have been very upset throwing out all of that food (he hates to waste food).  We finished packing for the cruise that evening.  

On Saturday, we put the RV in storage and headed to a hotel for the evening; stopping on the way to get manicures and pedicures to look our best on the cruise.  We won’t blog about the cruise, so the next blog entry for our readers will be after we have returned from the cruise and are back in the RV.

Review of Yacht Haven Park & Marina in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Yacht Haven Park & Marina has 222 RV sites, with some sites backed up to the canal connecting to the South Fork of the New River.  We were not on the canal, but our RV site had a "garden view" (meaning there were tropical plants all around), with a brick pavement to park on; a spacious tiled patio; and lush green artificial grass surrounding the site.  We had no neighbors on the passenger side of the RV, which was lucky because our water faucet was being replaced by the resort and we had to connect to the neighbor’s site for our water for the first few days.

Our site was not far from the pool or restroom/shower facilities (so fancy that Pat insisted on including a photo🙄).  Yacht Haven is located near I-95 and the Fort Lauderdale airport, so we had a lot of traffic noises from both, particularly early in the morning.

Yacht Haven also accommodates yachts and other boats on their canals that connect to the New River; the yacht sites also have full hookups.  Yacht Haven has a new heated pool, fitness center, and laundry facilities.  It has new bathroom/shower facilities that are some of the nicest we’ve seen.  You can also rent paddleboats, kayaks, and boats.  Next to the pool is a Tiki Hut for gathering or playing games, including ping pong.  Yacht Haven is in the process of renovating and plans to add an onsite clubhouse with a lounge; pickleball courts; and private cabanas.  Yacht Haven is about a 25-minute car ride to Fort Lauderdale beaches and 50 minutes from Miami beaches.  It is a quick car ride to many restaurants and clubs; and has a restaurant within walking distance called the Rendezvous.  We would definitely consider returning to Yacht Haven for an extended stay and would probably rent a car again to take advantage of the beaches and restaurants.

First National Park!

We left the Hollywood KOA early in the morning with a goal to get to our next destination by 10:00 a.m.: Everglades National Park.  We have visited many National Parks together and apart, but Everglades National Park is our first National Park visit together while full-time RVing (hence the more than 50 photos below🤷).  Pat is old enough to have purchased the senior pass, which costs $80 and allows for free entrance to all National Parks for you and one guest for your lifetime!

We arrived at our first stop in the Everglades National Park at about 10:15 a.m., Shark Valley, which is located at the northern part of the National Park.  Shark Valley has a sawgrass prairie that floods during the rainy season and becomes a marsh but dries out during the dry season.  Thus, it is home to various species of wildlife, including alligators; ibis; white-tailed deer; black bears; great egrets; great white heron; anhinga; and many others.  

Our plan was to take the Shark Valley Tram Tour, which has a tram leaving every hour on the hour from the Visitor’s Center.  When we arrived, all of the oversized vehicle parking at Shark Valley was taken and we were told to try again in the afternoon.  We left and began to drive down the highway adjacent to the park entrance when we noticed a Native American Gift Shop, run by the Miccosukee Tribe, with a huge and empty parking lot.  We parked in the lot and ventured into the gift shop, where we made a few purchases and asked if it was okay to leave our RV parked in the lot for a few hours while we walked the quarter mile back to the Shark Valley entrance to the Everglades National Park to take the tram tour.  They graciously said it was okay to leave the RV parked there for a while, but thought we were crazy for walking to the Shark Valley entrance from their gift shop.  The walk was only a quarter of a mile along a highway that had bike lanes, but at one point, there was a narrow bridge with no shoulder.  We literally had to run across the bridge for a few minutes, from one side to the other; so, we waited until we did not see any vehicles coming from either direction and ran!  Pat had never run so fast in his life!  Luckily, we made it safely to the Shark Valley Visitor Center and bought our tickets for the two-hour tram tour.

The tram tour did not disappoint.  Our driver-spotter and naturalist guide, Woody and Rick, were truly knowledgeable about the Shark Valley and the wildlife within.  Rick’s witty banter added to the fun.  We saw many alligators, and even two crocodiles, which are not native to Shark Valley since it is mostly composed of fresh water and not saltwater; however, Rick explained that saltwater seeps into the marshes of Shark Valley at some points, making the water brackish.  We also saw egrets, white heron, anhinga and of course the white ibis.  Halfway through the tram tour, we stopped at a 45-foot-high observation deck, where we could see 20 miles in all directions.

At the end of the tram tour, we walked (and ran) back to our RV and drove to the entrance to the park where we would be camping: the Flamingo Campground.  The Flamingo entrance to the Everglades National Park is located on the southern-most side of Florida, between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, which is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Shark Valley.  We arrived about an hour before sunset.  The campsite only has electrical hookups, no water or sewer hookups, but we had prepared for this by ensuring that our freshwater tank was full.  

On the second day of our visit to Everglades National Park, we walked the one-mile Guy Bradley trail from our camping area to the Flamingo Visitors Center.  The trail runs along the Florida Bay.  At the Visitor Center, we bought tickets for the Backcountry Boat Tour; a 90-minute tour that ventures up the Buttonwood Canal through Coot Bay and Tarpon Creek into the mouth of the Whitewater Bay.  Our ship captain and naturalist, Nick and Mitchell, pointed out unique plant and animal life found in the waters.  We saw more alligators (including some baby alligators) and various bird species.  Mitchell was very knowledgeable about the plant life in the waters, including cypress; buttonwood trees; white, black, and red mangrove; and, bromeliads.  We enjoyed the boat ride itself, as the weather was pleasant.  After the boat tour, we headed back to the Visitor’s Center, where we bought the first of what we hope will be many souvenirs from National Parks (we are trying to limit our souvenir purchases to National Parks and Presidential Libraries) and got our first stamps for our National Park Passport Books.  Then we took the one-mile Guy Bradley Trail back to our RV site before sunset.

 

Review of Flamingo Campground in Everglades National Park

The Flamingo Campground is located inside the Flamingo entrance to Everglades National Park.  The Flamingo Visitor’s Center (currently being renovated and temporarily located in a trailer), located a one mile walk from the RV campground, offers educational displays and informational brochures.  The marina, located near the Visitor’s Center, has a boat ramp for public use, a general store, and a food truck.  You can also rent canoes, kayaks, and bicycles at the marina; and buy tickets for the boat tours.  The Flamingo area of the Everglades also allows boating and fishing (but no fishing in the Flamingo marina).

There are 61 RV sites at the Flamingo Campground, with only electrical hookups.  There is also tent camping available and “wilderness” camping (most “wilderness” camping sites are only accessible by water).  Although there are no sewer hookups in the RV campground area, there is a dump station located within the area.  About half of the RV sites offer shade; the remainder of the sites (including ours) had no shade, which meant that the RV really heated up in the direct sunlight during the day.  The RV Campground was beautiful and quiet; and the RV sites were very large, with extra space for spreading out if you wanted to put out a tent or picnic area.  We enjoyed our stay at the Flamingo Campground and would definitely consider returning to the Everglades to explore more of the park.