Throughout our adventures, Betty & I have tried to drive a fine balance between planning our itinerary, and being spontaneous. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages. With rigid, detailed planning of days and stays, we can miss out on unexpected surprises that call us to sidetrack, learn about and experience new, previously unknown destinations. But by leaving everything to chance we find many of the nicest campsites and campgrounds on our preferred route were booked many months in advance and not available to us. It’s not easy to maintain that balance, but this week we got lucky!
Heading slowly northward from the Florida Keys, up the eastern seaboard of the U.S.A., we made few advance bookings. Before leaving Winnipeg in December, Betty & I had snagged a few nights at Manatee Hammock campground in Titusville, in order to facilitate our visit to the Kennedy Space Center. Otherwise, we were open to exploring the Atlantic coast, with fingers crossed that we would find decent accommodations. The three campgrounds where we stayed in the Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beach area were great choices, and we would have enjoyed more time in each.
The Bennett Field Campground in Tiger Bay State Forest provided an excellent base camp for us as we explored the Daytona Beach area. Betty & I had been to Daytona Beach when we were much younger – on spring break – and again with our kids when they were still in their teens. We had driven our class C motorhome onto the wide, flat beach and enjoyed the opportunity to play in the sun, sand, and warm waves. But on our first foray into Daytona Beach last week – on one of our few cloudy days – the town seemed very dowdy and run-
down, and all beach access points were closed, with water lapping up the seawall. It was a big disappointment! However, a couple of days later, the sun was back and so was the beach. We enjoyed a fabulous day driving for miles down the wide, flat beach, and taking time to park and work on our tans with so many others. This post was going to be called “The Rise & Fall & Rise Again of Daytona Beach”, until our experience today…
While we were in the State Forest last week, Betty & I decided to take a look at what options lay ahead. We considered possible Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Host sites, and investigated National and State Parks along our coastal route. Gamble Rogers State Park at Flagler Beach appeared to be in an ideal location, but I guess everyone else agrees. It is a small Florida park with sections on either side of A1A highway. The “riverside campground” backs onto the Intracoastal Waterway, while the “beach campground” backs onto the Atlantic Ocean! It books up months in
advance, but Betty & I got lucky with site 64 for last night in the riverside campground, and had a great day visiting the beach from there. We had nothing booked for tonight, and hoped to find a spot somewhere in Ocala National Forest, about an hour away.
Prior to leaving, I drove over to the ranger station and asked: “By the way, do you happen to have any cancellations for today?” Well, it turned out that someone in the beach campground had to leave early,
and their site would be available. “Would we like it?” Well, the pictures attached to this post don’t do justice to how beautiful this spot is! The sand in each site is carefully raked by campground hosts, and the sites are complete with 50 amp electrical service and water. Of course, the big pond is also within sight of our site.
So this week Betty & I got lucky. Saying more than that would be tmi for our kids and grandkids, so we’ll just leave it there!
Cheers!
