Southern Nights - The Journey Continues

Remember our price guide:         $ = $10 - $20 per night                     $$$ = $36 - $60 per night         
                                                         $$ = $21 - $35 per night                  $$$$ = $61 or higher per night

 Continuing south from Eufaula, Alabama earlier this spring, our next stop was Panama City, Florida, where we checked into…

 

Panama City, Florida             Campers’ Inn, Inc.            (A Good Sam commercial park)         $$$$

Full hook-ups       Pet friendly, but be careful – sand burrs are everywhere and quickly stuck to Sophie’s feet              Gravel pads, a few pull-through, most are back-in       Laundry on-site         Wi-fi and cable TV (extra charge for cable TV)     Extensive camp/food/beach supply store on-site       Walking distance to public beach, across the street

 

Location, location, location!  This was the most expensive of our stops and ironically our least favorite. The location was good since it was just across a (busy) street from a public beach, close to restaurants and tourist spots.  However since it was right on a major highway there was a lot of noise almost 24 hours a day and it was very close quarters – other RVs (some of whom were full-time residents), single- and double-wide mobile homes and tent campers all crowded into some of the most expensive real estate in north Florida…the more, the ”money-ier”.   Worst of all, to the chagrin of the third party of our household, Sophie, the little white dog; there was no place to walk without getting hundreds of sand burrs. L   If being close to the beach and the “action” is your thing, Campers’ Inn might be alright for you, but we think that we would rather try a different location.

Our site at Campers' Inn, Panama City

Even though it has full hook-ups, the park is still pretty much "no frills"

The beach at Panama City

Another view of the beach at Panama City

We stopped for a "refreshment break" at Pineapple Willy's,
a restaurant and bar right on the beach

 

ä  We ate dinner one evening at a restaurant about 3 miles from the campground called Runaway Bay.    We chose a table outside near the pool, with a great view of a marina in a small harbor off the Gulf.  The food was good, the view was spectacular, and the price was reasonable.  The entertainment?  One might expect calypso or Jimmy Buffett-style island music.  We’re not quite sure how to describe the guitar player and his vocalist that evening, but all of their song choices were "sad" songs, definitely not in keeping with the ambiance of the restaurant.

If we're back in the Panama City area in the future, I think we would like to camp
at St. Andrew's State Park, a former military installation located right on the Gulf

Standing on a pier that marks the boundary of the state park.  Looking in this
direction, into the park, the beach is undeveloped, and not real crowded...

....but turn around and look the other way, and all you see is commercial
development and lots of people

 

 

 Destin, Florida               Henderson Beach State Park               $$

Water and electric sites; dump station as you exit the campground        Pet friendly       Mostly gravel pads, about half pull-through, half back-in       Laundry facilities on site

Note:  A boardwalk leads directly from the campground across the dunes to the beach…about a quarter-mile walk, but you don’t have to leave the campground to go to the beach, and the beach is still within the boundaries of the state park.

Check out time is 1:00 p.m.  and since this is a popular spot you can’t count on getting into your spot much earlier.   When you check in at the front gate, the Ranger will call the camp host to see if your site is ready.  If not, he/she will direct you to a parking lot just inside the park that has RV parking places.  We spent about an hour there waiting for our site, but you do have access to the beach while you wait.

We were in "loop A" where the sites were secluded by blooming magnolias and pines.   We also happened to have had a handicapped space, where (as all of the handicapped spots are), the pad was concrete.  A paved path and then a boardwalk led to the beautiful soft, white, sandy beaches which were sparsely populated.

This was our favorite campground on the entire trip.  Beautiful and serene, definitely a spot to return to!


Our camp site at Henderson Beach State Park

Another view of the Henderson Beach State Park site

Beautiful magnolia trees surrounded the site, adding fragrance as well as privacy

The boardwalk over the sand dunes, leading to the beach

The beach was just 1/4 mile from our camp site, with a walkway all the way

The beach at Henderson Beach State Park was almost deserted when we were there in May

Gulf Shores, Alabama       Bay Breeze RV Park     (commercial, small & family-owned)   $$$

Full hook-ups       Gravel pads, all back-in     Only 25 sites in the entire park        Wi-fi (spotty) but no cable TV

Notes:  Cash only - no credit cards.   Prices vary slightly depending on proximity to the water.

This mid-century RV park does not offer the amenities of many larger parks, but what it lacks in “glitz” it makes up in a friendly atmosphere.  The owner personally comes out and assists everyone to get into their spot, walking beside your drivers’ window and directing you (exceedingly well, I might add) to back into your site.  He then assists in leveling your rig, even providing 2”X10” boards from storage bins located between the sites.  The park is located on Mobile Bay rather than on the more crowded Gulf side of the peninsula.  It has the feel of a 1950s-era lakeside resort, with a small sand swimming beach and a long wooden fishing pier.  We found it charming, and the sunsets, looking west toward the mouth of Mobile Bay, were spectacular.  As the ball of fire dipped into the bay, I almost expected to see (and certainly hoped for) the green flash that accompanies sunset in Key West.  Alas, it was not to be, but the sunset, nonetheless, was breathtaking.

Our camp site at Bay Breeze RV Park in Gulf Shores



Adirondack chairs on the shore, looking past the fishing pier, out into Mobile Bay

Standing on the fishing pier, looking back into the campground at Bay Breeze RV Park

Mike and Sophie hanging out on the fishing pier....

...watching a pelican sitting on a piling as the sun sets

Spectacular sunset over Mobile Bay, taken from Bay Breeze RV Park

We found this RV park on the internet but booked it in a phone conversation with the owners, a very friendly couple.  A number of campers were repeat visitors every year.  This campground appears to appeal to extended families camping together.  The location is a bit far from the actual town of Gulf Shores, and even farther from Foley and Fairhope, all of which we visited during our stay.  We also continued west on the peninsula and visited Fort Morgan.  During the Civil War, Fort Morgan was supposed to keep the Yankee fleet out of Mobile Bay, but in a fierce battle, Federal ships slipped past the fort and captured the bay.  We also took the ferry across the mouth of Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island on the west side of the bay.  The ferry is a bit "pricy" at $32 round trip for our truck and two adults.  There was also a fairly long wait on the island to board for the return trip to Gulf Shores, but is was, after all, a beautiful Saturday afternoon in May.  

Streetlamps in the town of Fairhope, Alabama were all decked out in preparation for Memorial Day

ä  We asked at the RV park for recommendations for good restaurants in the area.  The first one mentioned was DeSoto’s Seafood Kitchen in Gulf Shores.  It was described as “nothing special in atmosphere” and “you can’t even see the beach from the restaurant” but the clincher was “all the locals eat there.”  And we could see why.  The place was clean and simple, the prices were reasonable, and we had some of the best seafood that we experienced during our entire trip. 
 

ä  Also mentioned were Lucy B. Goode’s Costal Café, owned by Jimmy Buffett’s sister, Lucy.  We walked through the complex but did not eat there.  Sand volleyball courts, a huge T-shirt shop, and the feel of a Jimmy Buffet pre-concert tailgate party, but we can’t comment on the food or the service.

 

ä  And finally, in Foley, we ate at Lambert’s Café.  The third of the family-owned “Home of Throwed Rolls” restaurants (the original is in Sikeston, MO and the second is in Ozark, MO) dishes up large portions of good home-style food, but the real attraction is the “pass-arounds” (fried okra, mac ‘n cheese, and other dishes brought to your table by servers walking around the dining room) and, of course, the “throwed rolls” tossed across the room by a server with a rolling cart loaded with dozens of piping-hot-right-out-of-the-oven  rolls.  Mike has now eaten in all three of the restaurants; Yvonne only the original and the Foley location.  If you’ve been to one, they are all the same, but still fun, nonetheless.

 

 

Waveland, Mississippi               Buccaneer State Park               $$

Full hook-ups       Pet friendly      Asphalt pads, all back-in       Laundry and extensive food/supplies store on-site       Pool located within the campground, with a fee charged for use     Large water park owned by the State Park System is located adjacent to the park entrance and accessible from inside the park; a daily fee is charged
Note:  It is about a 5 minute drive from the campground to the beach

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall, devastating the entire Gulf Coast.  Every structure in Buccaneer State Park was either destroyed or damaged to the point that it had to be razed.  It has taken more than eight years to completely rebuild the park, but the State of Mississippi has done a magnificent job in restoring it.  All of the buildings are concrete with brick or stone facades, and, of course, everything is brand-new – so new, in fact, that when we visited over Memorial Day weekend in May 2014, the pool and the store and laundry facility located next to the pool had just opened several days earlier.

Buccaneer State Park...grilling brats on Memorial Day

 

The park was full, but you didn't feel terribly crowded.  Our neighbor was 60 or 70 feet away

Sophie loves to travel with us, and is pretty good about staying in the trailer
while we are out sightseeing, but we hear plenty from her when we return

About a 10 minute drive from the park is the pretty town of Bay St. Louis, a good town to explore on foot.  It boasts several antique shops, restaurants, bars and a great bakery.  Eight minutes in the opposite direction as you exit the park is the Silver Slipper Casino.  Gulfport and Biloxi, both sizeable cities with plenty to see and do, are about 20 and 30 minutes, respectively, to the east.

The beach across from Buccaneer State Park, Waveland, MS,
early in the morning on Memorial Day

We were boaters for more than 25 years, and still love boats, marinas and the water.
This marina was located in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

This is a very nice park and will be even better once some of the trees grow larger.  Many of the bigger, more mature trees were blown down in the hurricane.  The park was full for the holiday weekend and kids and bikes were everywhere.  For the most part, the sites are spacious enough that you don’t feel like your neighbor is right on top of you.  All in all, a good camping experience and worth a return visit if we are again in the area.  By the way, although we didn’t go into New Orleans, it apparently isn’t that far.  The park’s web site says the area was once known as Jackson’s Ridge because it was used as a base of operations by Major General Andrew Jackson during the Battle of New Orleans in January, 1815.

Did I mention that we love boats?  This marina was in Gulfport.  Towns all along
the Gulf Coast have rebuilt (or are still in the process of rebuilding) their city marinas

 Southhaven, Mississippi                  EZ Daze RV Park       (A Good Sam commercial park)         $$

Full hook-ups       Pet friendly, with a fenced-in off-leash area      Concrete pads, all pull-thru       Laundry on-site     Pool     Wi-fi and cable tv     If you need RV parts or service (or want to “trade up”) there is a very large RV dealer located just across the street from this park

 

We were just making a stopover for one night, but this would be a good location for visiting the region.  Memphis, Tennessee is only a short drive…in fact, Graceland is just 8.7 miles away.  Elvis is waiting for you!

EZ DAZE in Southhaven offers quick access to Memphis and is a beautiful park

 

 Lake Wappapello, Missouri         Redman Creek     (Corps of Engineers campground)     $$ 

Full hookups       Pet friendly       Asphalt pads, mostly back-in, with a few pull-thru     If you have a National Park Service Golden Age Pass (62+), camping rates are 50% off.

 

The St. Francis River feeds the 8,400 acre Lake Wappapello, which features great fishing and good recreational boating.  Like most Corps lakes, there is almost no commercial business right on the waterfront, and the few marinas on the lake are owned by the Corps and operated by private concessionaires.  Consequently, you don’t find many large boats on these lakes; primarily bass boats and a few jet skis.

 

Corps of Engineers (COE) campgrounds are among our favorite places to stay, and Lake Wappapello has four of them:  Redmond Creek Recreation Area, Greenville Recreation Area, Eagles Point Recreation Area, and Peoples Creek Recreation Area.   We were in Redmond Creek West; there is also a Redmond Creek East.  We drove through both, and preferred the West campground, where the sites were far more spacious.  Although we hadn’t planned to spend more than one night, we ended up staying longer to explore the lake area (the Visitor’s Center at the Dam is worth a stop) and clean and put the RV back in order while we had electric and water before returning home and putting the trailer back in storage.


Our site in Redmond Creek West at Lake Wappapello

The visitors center had a display of handmade quilts...no "machine quilting" here

ä  We ate dinner at one of the few restaurants near the campground, expecting to get the usual “fried catfish, breaded pork tenderloin” fare that seem to be the staples of lake-area dining.  Crab & Company was rather new, nicely-decorated, with a surprisingly extensive menu.  One of the entrees caught Mike’s eye, and maybe he didn’t read the entire description or just didn’t believe it.  The menu featured a two-pound pork steak (actually, a smoked pork shoulder) that was as delicious as it was large.  He ate his fill, and we brought the rest home; it made sandwiches for three more meals.  When the waitress brought the food to the table, Mike asked her “do you really think I can eat all that?” to which she responded “if you do, you’ll be the first that I’ve ever seen do it.”

Contemplating a two-pound "pork steak"

In case you can't appreciate how big a two-pound steak really is, here's a close-up.
You might expect a piece of meat this size to be tough, but it was delicious!

So, after 33 days on the road, covering 3,586 miles, we returned home.  We hope you find our reviews helpful and maybe even a little entertaining.  As we type this, we’re already planning our next trip, readying the RV to head out and collect more Road Stories.