A Tale of Two Parks

We drove back into Florida (dealing with some gusty winds along the way and happy we had the new stabilizer to help with that wind), where we were scheduled to be in Dade City, Florida, for four nights.  We had tried to spend all four nights at the Sawmill Camping Resort;  however, we could only book the Sawmill for two evenings because they were all booked up for the next two evenings.  So, we moved to a different campground for our remaining two days in Dade City: the Withlacoochee River Park.  Since both campgrounds are in Dade City, Florida, we are reviewing them together.

Our first stop was the Sawmill Camping Resort.  This was our third gay campground (this one classifying itself gay & lesbian) since we began full time RV travel, and we finally had a little bit of luck at a LGBTQ+ campground.  While it was cold (lows below freezing and highs in the low-50’s), the campground was full of campers and the scheduled activities were on!  Although we arrived by 2:30 or so, we had to wait until 4:00 to begin set up as the previous campers at our RV site had rudely not checked out by 11:00 a.m. as required by this campground.  We quickly made friends with Mark, Scott, and Chris while we waited.  After we set up, we read up on all of the scheduled activities during our two-day stay.  

Like many LGBTQ+ campgrounds, Sawmill has themed weekends.  This weekend’s theme was leather, which means that many campers dressed up in leather for activities.  On our first evening at the campground, we participated in “leather bingo” (we didn’t wear any leather, but Tim won at bingo again; this time his prize was a free appetizer at the campground pool) and watched the “leather boy” contest, which turned out to be a very serious and intense (but also fun) contest for folks who are very serious about leather.  The contestants included a transgender man, which was unique but an especially compelling story.  The most serious part of this contest was the “question and answer” session.  The contestants’ answers were so profound, and the contestants were so vulnerable with their feelings and life experiences.  They really wanted to win this contest!  After the contest, we danced at the after-party  at their club, Woody’s Nightclub, where the DJ played some great 80’s and 90’s dance music.  

On our second day, we walked around the campground and took advantage of the free appetizer prize.  It was a sunny day, but the weather was cold, so we didn’t take advantage of the pool area (not many did and those that did had on coats as they laid out in the sun).

We prepared the RV for the freeze that was predicted for that evening by disconnecting our water and sewer and using the freshwater tank instead.  After sunset, we went to the “leather and lace” drag show and watched the “leather sir” contest, which was similarly intense to the “leather boy” contest from the previous evening.  After the contest, we headed back to our RV.

The next day, we headed to the Withlacoochee River Park campground.  We use an app called “CoPilot GPS” for mapping our route in the RV.  The app allows us to input information about our RV, like height and weight, and keeps us from roads that might have low bridges or power lines to prevent damage to the RV.  We are not completely happy with the app, but it has been the best of the ones for RVs that we have tried.  This time, however, the app took us down a dirt road beside the campground that was extremely bumpy.  This is never good for an RV.  We programmed the app to avoid this road on the way out but there should be a setting to avoid dirt roads!  

This was the third county-run park that we’ve stayed in.  The entrance to the park was odd because the registration office was located on a street with a sign that said that no RVs were allowed to drive down the street.  We had to park at a picnic area nearby and walk to the office.  Once we registered, we headed to our RV site down a street called “Big Ma’s Way,” (we were given instructions to turn at Smokey the Bear on the corner).

On our arrival at the park, we set up about two hours before sunset and decided to walk part of one of the nature trails called the “Perimeter Trail,” a 3.5-mile trail that encircles the park.  We walked approximately two miles of the trail.  It was again forecasted to be below freezing, so we once again used our freshwater tank.

On our second day at the park, we went back to the “Perimeter Trail” and walked two other trails across a boardwalk and to an observation tower that allowed us a view of a lot of the park.  We walked over 3 miles on the trails that day.  We then walked down to the Withlacoochee River, where the park has a canoe and fishing dock.  We headed back to the RV for the evening, as we were headed to the place where we bought our RV early the next morning to hopefully get a replacement part we have been waiting for since we got the RV (more on our trip to La Mesa RV in the next blog entry).

Review of Sawmill Camping Resort

It was an easy trip to the Sawmill Camping Resort, with well-paved roads leading to the entrance.  We were annoyed that the resort had not kicked out the previous campers who were in our spot way past their checkout time but loved our campsite once we got there because it was next to the pool and not far from the main activities area.  In fact, the entire campground is very compact, and you are never too far from any of the bars, cafes, or other facilities.  There were bathrooms with showers in the pool area, which were heated and well maintained.  There was also a store located in the office area that had many of the grocery items you might need.  Although there was no propane at the campground, there was a nearby company that visited the campground to provide propane to campers and we were able to take advantage of that perk (which we really needed since the temperature was dropping below freezing). 

Although we are not serious about leather, we love a good theme party; so, we were very pleased that the Sawmill has good theme weekends.  Sawmill had four bars and a café at the pool with a good variety of food.  They have daily activities, comedy shows, drag shows, and game shows.  We love a full activity schedule!  We have already scheduled another visit to Sawmill Camping Resort during our Florida winter itinerary and look forward to our next stay.

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Review of Withlacoochee River Park

The Withlacoochee River Park is a county-run park that has 15 RV sites.  It also has cabins and tent camping.  The RV sites are located in one section of the park and have electrical and water hookups, but no sewer hookups (there is a sewer dumping station as you exit).  In the RV camping area, there is a replica of a 19th-century church, which serves as a book exchange and game playing and puzzle making area.  There is an observation tower that allows for a view of the entire park.  

The park has several hiking trails, picnic areas, and playgrounds.  There is a canoe/kayak dock on the river, where you can launch your own canoe or kayak, and a pier for fishing.  There was a nice restroom with a shower located in the RV camping area, but no laundry.  It was very quiet at Withlacoochee River Park; we enjoyed the peacefulness of the park but probably won’t return to the park since we have already experienced this park’s trails/sights and there are so many RV parks in this area to explore.

We💚State Parks

We were headed back to Florida but made a three-night reservation along the way at Reed Bingham State Park in Adel, Georgia, near the Florida state line.  Prior to coming to Reed Bingham, we had been having issues with leveling the RV when we parked it at our campsites.  Many times, we have had to manually level the RV at campsites that aren’t made of cement, because the automatic leveling system was leaving us slightly unlevel and sometimes almost resulted in the tires coming off the ground.  We watched a YouTube video on how to “recalibrate” your jack leveling system and “recalibrated” prior to our arrival at Reed Bingham (while we were on a level cement surface).  It seemed to work well, as our automatic leveling system got us level on the first try on this gravel site (in addition to our automatic leveling system telling us that we are level, we also use our own level in the RV, and our “beer can roll leveling test”).  

On our way to Reed Bingham, we stopped to run some errands.  Tim got a haircut, which he was not completely happy with (Tim says he misses his $65/haircut stylist in Brooklyn but he did get this most recent haircut for $25).  Pat did some shopping for a new pair of jeans; he had PLANNED to always wear shorts for setup and breakdown but the early January weather is not cooperating (even in the south).

Finally, we arrived at Reed Bingham State Park.  The park is laid out so well that we weren’t very close to any other RVs.  Our passenger-side window over the dining area looked out at part of the park that encompasses the Gopher Tortoise Trail and Habitat.

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Our campsite was under a canopy of oak trees with Spanish moss hanging from the branches; so much so that we couldn’t find anywhere to put the Starlink on our entire site to get through the tree limb obstructions!  That was a first.  There were many squirrels around our campsite.  A few of them thought it would be fun to drop down from the branches of the oak trees above and onto the top of our RV to run around, so they had to be promptly chased off with a broom.  There is also an abundance of lady bugs here, many of which got into the RV and had to be humanely captured and set free on the outside.

We took advantage of the hiking trails on the second day of our stay.  We hiked the Gopher Tortoise Trail, the Little River Trail, and the Birdwalk Trail; a total of 2.8 miles.  Gopher tortoises are long-lived reptiles that occupy upland habitat throughout Florida and southern Georgia, including forests, pastures, and yards. They dig deep burrows for shelter and forage on low-growing plants. In Georgia, the gopher tortoise is listed as Threatened; both the tortoise and its burrow are protected under state law. As we hiked the Gopher Tortoise Trail, we saw several burrows that the tortoises had dug for shelter; we did not actually see any of the gopher tortoises though.  The Little River Trail took us into a swampy area, where there were two overlooks with a view of the Little River.  We did not see many birds on the Birdwalk Trail (probably because it is winter), but we did hear some “in the bird family of raptors" and a woodpecker’s pecking.

 

 

  

On the third day of our stay, we took a walk around the lake that forms at the bottom of the Little River, where folks can fish or launch boats.  We also decided to play putt-putt golf on the grounds of the park; we ended up with a tie after 18 holes (Tim made 2 holes-in-one, but it wasn’t enough for him to clench the win).  We also saw two bald eagles flying overhead (cue joke about putt-putt golf and eagles) but couldn’t get a decent photo.

We then headed back to the RV to do some laundry before the approaching storm, which ultimately wreaked havoc in Alabama before getting to us in southern Georgia.  It rained so hard that we could barely hear the television, which we had on to distract us from the storm.  Luckily, we made it through the storm unscathed and left the next morning to head back to Florida. 

Review of Reed Bingham State Park

This was the second state park that we have visited since we started full time RV travel.  We loved our campsite at Reed Bingham under a canopy of oak trees, overlooking the Gopher Tortoise habitat, and a nice distance from the other RV sites that allowed some privacy.  

The park has a lake that is popular with boaters and skiers.  Visitors can also fish or rent canoes or kayaks for a pleasant ride on the lake.  In addition, the park offers guided pontoon boat tours on some evenings.  

There are many covered picnic areas; a fitness pavilion with exercise equipment outdoors; the aforementioned putt-putt golf area; and two playgrounds for children.  You can also rent bikes.  There was a catfish restaurant, Company 5 Catfish House, close by that is only open Thursday to Sunday, so we didn’t have an opportunity to check it out since it rained on our last night there (which was a Thursday).  The laundry room and restrooms were located close to our RV site and although the price was right ($1 for each) the laundry room only had one washer and one dryer.  

We enjoyed our stay at this beautiful campground, but unless we want to return at a time when we can rent bikes, canoes, or kayaks, we have pretty much seen all there is to see at this park.

Georgia Detour to "Stabilization"

One of the problems RV owners deal with when driving on the highway is the push and pull of 18-wheelers and other large vehicles as they pass you or as you pass them.  Plus, as we discussed in our blog entry on December 21, 2022, called “A True Resort,” when there are windy conditions on the road, RV drivers experience a lot of push from the wind.  Luckily, our friends John and Jade, who have been RVing for many years, told us about a stabilizer mechanism that you could add to your RV to help with this instability.  John recommended a company called Safe T Plus, that sells a stabilizer for RVs and will install it for free if you take your RV to their factory in Tallapoosa, Georgia.  So, we made our appointment, changed around our Florida schedule, made some RV park reservations in Georgia and drove to Tallapoosa.  

The Safe T Plus stabilizer is made to stabilize the RV when dealing with the push and pull from 18-wheelers and side winds, and even helps if you encounter a bad road or have a front tire blowout.  The installation time was about an hour.  Then we took a test drive with the mechanic, he made some adjustments while we were on the road, and we were on our way.  The owners keep this place perfectly organized and immaculate.  It was the best decorated waiting room we have ever been to for auto/RV service!  It was also well stocked with snacks and drinks.

The stabilizer works well; there is a lot less push and pull (more like how a car feels when an 18-wheeler passes).  We are happy with our purchase thus far.  If you are interested in purchasing a Safe T Plus stabilizer, please let us know because we would get a referral fee and you would get a discount.

We don’t know if it’s just wanting to get use out of the free truckers gimme hat from Safe T Plus or if the rural life is bringing out his inner-redneck but this is what Pat looks like around the campground now.

After having the stabilizer installed, we stayed at the nearby Little Tallapoosa Park, a county park in Carrollton, Georgia.  The park has over 9 miles of hiking trails, a pond for fishing, “splash park,” and laundry and restroom facilities; however, we took advantage of none of these amenities (except doing some laundry) as this was just a one-night, layover camping site.  We arrived at the campground about an hour before sunset and left the next day about an hour after sunrise.  We didn’t even hook up to water or sewer while we were there (only electricity and used our freshwater tank for water).  So, we can’t do a review of the park really.  We can’t even say if we would come back, but I guess we could say that there isn’t a reason not to come back.

Strike Two

Well, our bad luck at arriving at Gay RV Campgrounds on the wrong weekend continued (see our previous post at a gay campground).  The weekend before our arrival at the Oz Campground in Unadilla, Georgia, there was a COVID outbreak during the New Year’s Eve party at the campground.  The manager called us the day before we arrived to inform us that, due to the outbreak, the bars would be closed (all three of their bartenders were sick) and there would be no group activities.  The manager said he was offering people an opportunity to cancel their reservations because of the closures and inactivity.  We chose to keep our reservations anyway; however, the closures seem to have chased most of the potential campers away. 

We enjoyed ourselves anyway and we were happy to have a bit of privacy at our campsite.  There were a couple of crazy squirrels to keep us company at our site and the usual campground ducks were spotted but we got one quick glance at a pretty green and yellow bird.  Let us know in the comments if you know what he is.

We grilled on the second and third days we were there (steaks on Friday night and burgers the next afternoon); and we had the pool basically to ourselves on Saturday (two other people ventured out to the pool).  On Sunday, we watched football for most of the day and attempted to do some laundry (see more details in campground review below).  There was a big fire ring at our site where we built a blazing campfire!

   

Leaving Oz on Monday morning, we were headed to Tallapoosa, Georgia, to install a stabilizer on our RV (more on that in the next blog entry).  We had our first big scare with our slide-out when it wouldn’t budge when we tried to retract it to leave the campground.  We tried many things to troubleshoot the problem.  First, we had to locate the slide-out mechanism.  Then, we finally realized that one of the wires had been pulled out the mechanism; probably because of something we had put into or pulled out of the bin underneath the RV where the mechanism is located.  Once we plugged the wire back into the mechanism, the slide-out worked perfectly.

Review of Oz Campground

We will need to come back to Oz Campground when it is actually in operation.  The campground includes a pool, two bars, café, hiking trails, and themed weekends.  While we got to enjoy the pool one day, the bars and café were closed, and activities canceled.  We really liked our campsite, which was located next to a forested area and was fairly private.  It was also located close to the laundry facility; however, the laundry facility is one aspect of the campground to which we would give a negative rating.  First, there was only one laundry facility at this fairly large campground.  Second, only one washer and dryer were operational on the first day we did some laundry; and the one working dryer was broken by the second day that we tried to do more laundry.  Nevertheless, we would probably return for another long weekend at some point to enjoy the other aspects of the campground (and do our laundry before or after our visit to the campground). 

Unbelievable Views at a Couples’ Retreat and Tiki Bar

We drove “way down” upon the Suwannee River to a resort in Cedar Key, Florida, named Low-Key Hideaway.  The place is advertised as “A Couples’ Retreat” as it is for adults only.  There are only 10 RV sites and the remainder of the Low-Key Hideaway is a one-floor boutique hotel, with each room looking into a courtyard.  The RV sites are waterfront sites, backing up to the Suwannee Sound.  We had some difficulty getting the RV level on the gravel site, as it wanted to favor the driver’s side; but we completed setup in time to watch the sunset from the bar.

Low-Key Hideaway is famous for its Tiki Bar, where we spent a few hours each evening at sunset.  The bar was literally less than a minute walk from our RV site.  The views of the sunset from the Tiki Bar were spectacular.  We met so many different people in the Tiki Bar and everyone was very friendly.  We seemed to meet different people each of the four nights that we were there. 

Our first night, we met a Lesbian couple and hung around with them and another couple while we were at the bar, but that was the only night we saw them there.  The next night we met a guitar player and his wife and had some shots with them.  The third and fourth nights we met an older gentleman whose wife had passed away in the last year; he was there with his son.  

There was a food truck, Lenny's Tiki Taste Tour, regularly parked a few feet from our door at our resort, where one evening Tim had a delicious shrimp po’boy and Pat had a Cuban sandwich.  

The town was located a 24-minute walk down the road, so we walked into town one day.  A Tiki Bar friend  recommended a restaurant named Tony's, which bills itself as having award-winning clam chowder.  We went for lunch and it did not disappoint; we even bought two cans to have on future cold evenings! After lunch, we walked around the town, which has a lot of restaurants, bars, and shops.  We took pictures at various bridges along our trip to (and in) town.

On another day, we walked to the nearby Cedar Key Railroad Trestle Nature Trail and walked the .3-mile trail down an old railroad path.  Pat saw a snake along the way, but we avoided it and DID NOT get a picture.  We had one rainy day, so stayed inside catching up on emails and such until… it was time to go to the Tiki Bar!

Review of Low-Key Hideaway

We loved that Low-Key was only for adults 21+, particularly after our previous stay at Spirit of Suwannee Music Park and Campground (read that blog entry about the rowdy teens).  We also loved that the fun Tiki Bar was located so close to the RV sites.  As mentioned previously, the views of the Suwannee Sound directly from the back of our RV were amazing.  It was convenient to have the town within walking distance, where we could have eaten at a different restaurant and drunk at a different bar each night.  The food truck at the Low-Key was a great addition and delicious.  We didn’t like how much time it took us to level the RV when we first arrived; the Low-Key needs to work on leveling their newly graveled RV sites.  Also, there are no amenities like laundry.  There was a sign saying the Low-Key would rent electric bikes to guests, but we tried to call on two different days and no one returned our phone calls.  Despite these negatives, we would definitely return to the Low-Key for the views and the Tiki Bar!

New Year’s Celebration

We made it to Florida!  We arrived at the Spirit of Suwannee Music Park and Campground with about an hour to set up before sunset.  Yes, it is of that Suwannee River music fame (“Way down upon the Suwannee River, Far, far away”).  The campground is the largest we have been to thus far, with 900 sites; and it was packed with campers ready for a New Year’s Eve celebration.

The campground is famous for its Christmas lights display; a 3-mile ride through some extraordinary Christmas decorations.  It also has a smaller walk-through Christmas lights display, which we took advantage of on the Friday night we arrived.  We walked around some of the other areas of the campground on the first night, including an outdoor arcade and activity area with entertainment; and we visited the Country Store that is located on the premises.

The second day we were at the campground was New Year’s Eve.  We completed our “re-engineering” of our new gas grill to connect it directly to the RV and used our new grill for the first time to grill steaks (our New Year’s Eve tradition).  We also sat outside and watched football on our outdoor TV for the first time!

But the New Year’s Eve celebration at the campground was the reason we had chosen this place.  There are various musical venues located throughout the campground, with lots of live performances.  On New Year’s Eve, the live performance was in the Music Hall by a band called Big Engine.  The $75 per couple ticket included the music, as well as a buffet.  The band was very good, playing a variety of musical genres.  The lead singer also got his two children involved by having them play the trumpet and saxophone for a few songs.  We sat at a table with two other couples, who got more animated as the evening went on; partially because we ended up buying shots for all six of us, they eventually bought a round of shots for the table, and a good time was had by all!  There was dancing and singing, groups of interestingly dressed women nearby, and some really drunk folks (it was New Year’s Eve after all).

*** OOOOH, we have to give you a link to THIS SONG that they played before the band started.  I guess they are very self-aware😕. 

We had our midnight countdown in the Music Hall, then proceeded outdoors for the fireworks display, which did not disappoint.  It was a huge and long-lasting fireworks display; and the crowd really enjoyed it.  

We spent our third and final day at the campground doing some laundry, eating leftovers, and looking forward to our next adventure.

Review of Spirit of Suwannee Music Park and Campground

With 900 sites, this campground is humongous!  The downside to that is the campground squeezes the RVs very close to each other; we did not have much privacy.  Because of the size, the campground also rents golf carts to campers to get around and lots of people own their own.  With many of the campsites being families, unfortunately there were teens riding around on golf carts at crazy speeds.  Whether it was crazy golf carts or New Year revelers, the campground stayed pretty rowdy throughout the days and late into the evenings. 

In addition to the Country Store (which was large and carried most of the items you might need to get), the campground has a museum, bird sanctuary, bat house, arcade game room, hiking, horse trails, café (which was closed during our stay), and pool (which was also closed).  In addition to renting golf carts, you can rent bicycles, canoes, and fishing gear.  We also took advantage of the laundry room while we were there.

We have two small recycle containers, one for cans and one for plastic.  We have never seen a SINGLE recycling receptacle in ANY of the campgrounds that we have stayed at in “all of our extensive” RV park travels.  We were really surprised that this is the one to treat us!!

We enjoyed our stay and would have taken advantage of some of these other amenities if we were here for a longer stay.  We loved that the campground had so many music venues, and it seems to have bands booked to perform many weekends.  

We would definitely come again for New Year’s Eve and maybe even just to visit in quieter times.