Our Visit to Florida... State 4 of 49

Eric & Lora Benz
Mar 23, 2018
5 min read

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Lora and Erics RV Adventure Blog. You can read about us at http://www.LoraandEricsRVAdventure.com. We started our Full time adventure with the purchase of our 2018 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS.

Florida is the 4th state of our goal of 49 on this adventure.

We left Yemassee, South Carolina headed south to Old Town, Florida. The trip was 287 miles from The Oaks at Point South RV Park near Savannah, GA and tool approximately 4 hrs 45 min.

We have been to Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, and Cape Canaveral. We never have been to the bend or pan handle of Florida we chose this location to visit.

Old Town is in the big bend of Florida. When we watched local news they used "big bend" when referring to the region. We selected Old Town Campground N Retreat in Old Town, Florida. We used our Escapees discount for 50% off. The campground is about 1/2 full time residents and some snowbirds. Wifi and Verizon Signal was very poor.

The first day we visited Manatee Springs State Park – Chiefland, FL $6.00 per car load. The park is very nice and has a couple of campgrounds on the grounds. Manatee Spring is a first magnitude spring that flows directly into the Suwannee River. The water is a constant 72 degrees at the spring. We met a man and son that were planning to scuba dive the caves under the spring. There are trails and a snack and kayak rental shop. The boardwalk takes you out to the opening of the Suwannee River. Along the path we seen an alligator, fish, and birds. To our surprise we were able to see a large number of manatee in the opening to the spring. It was so cool to see how docile they are and how they just glide through the water. A volunteer for the park was on site to answer questions and keep boaters and kayaks away from the manatee. We also seen a mother and baby manatee.

We returned to the campground to pick up Bella B. We visited Fanning Springs State Park – Fanning Springs, FL which was another $6.00 per car load. This park allowed dogs. It is a very small park and is basically another swimming hole in the spring. We did not know pets cannot be taken down the walkways heading to the spring. We walked on a trail for a little bit, before we headed back to the camper.

Day 3 we headed to Gainesville, Florida. We had scheduled grooming for Bella B at Pet Smart. As you will see throughout our adventure we seek out Botanical Gardens, parks, and museums about the regions history. The drive was just under 1 hr from Old Town Campground N Retreat. Our first attraction stop, after dropping off Bella B, was Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville, FL. Cost was $16.00 for 2 people. The garden was very nice. They have one of the largest bamboo forest in Florida. The walk is about 1 1/2 miles in length.

After the gardens we scheduled our own haircuts at Great Clips. Lora does not like using Great Clips, but for me it is an easy in and out when scheduling through the Great Clips App. With in the same strip mall was a McAlisters Deli. It was a quick meal and satisfying.

We next headed to the Samuel P Harn Museum of Art on the campus of Florida State University-Gainesville, FL. The museum is free and has a number of nice galleries. The Tiffany collection was large and beautiful to see. Another gallery had modern art; shapes, lines, etc on canvas. The Asia gallery has many artifacts and a small outside Japanese garden.

The Florida Natural History Museum is right next to the art museum. Admission is Free, except for the Butterfly Rain forest and special exhibits. It has one of the biggest butterfly exhibits we have ever seen. I would guess it may be one of the largest archives of butterfly's around the world. They also have nice exhibits of fossils and Indian history.

Our day ended picking up Bella B from PetSmart and heading back home. During our trip back to the camper we contact our long time Shirley. She had moved to Orlando the in 2017. We agreed to split the distance and meet half way. Orlando is about 3 1/2 hrs from Old Town, FL.

The next day we headed to Silver Springs to meet up with Shirley and her fiancee Ewald. We have not seen Shirley in the past few years. We have known each other for over 20 years. We met Shirley and Ewald at Silver Springs State Park in Silver Springs, Florida. Cost is $4.00 for 2 people.

The park is very nice. At the entrance there is a warning against monkeys. This was a nice surprise. The spring is larger than the previous springs we visited. The park is famous for their glass bottom boat ride along the spring. Manatee frequent the spring. Once again is was very clear and the day was perfect. We walked along the spring but seen no manatee. We then walked the forest boardwalk and got to see a number of monkeys. It was so cool. We all later went to the restaurant on site an had crappy food. They did not have the stove working so all we had was fried chicken or pre made sandwiches. It was great to spend some time with old friends. We hope to do more family and friend visits along our journey.

The next two day was heavy rain so we hunkered down in the camper and watched TV.

On March 21 we packed up and headed west. Our next destination in Florida was Pine Lake RV Park in Fountain, Florida. We used our Coast to Coast membership which gave us a site for $16.05/night for full hookup. The distance from Old Town, Florida to Pine Lake RV Park is about 190 miles and 3 hrs 45 min.

We were here for only 2 nights so we needed to make the best of it. The next day we headed to Panama City Beach to see the Gulf Coast. We stopped for Breakfast at Coconuts in Panama City Beach. We both ordered Crab Cake Omelets. We were not impressed. The crab meat was shredded and had no spices. There was no cheese or nearly none.

After breakfast we headed to Conservation Park. If you like to bike ride, bring your bikes there are trails from 2 miles to 18 miles. We walked the 2 mile trail. I was uneventful at first, but when you got into the board walk over the wetland it got nicer. We did not see any critters.

The drove to the beach to get some pictures. The beach has white sand and the water was so clear. It reminded us of St. Lucia and Jamaica.

Our last stop was St. Andrews State Park. The cost was $8.00 per car. The park has 2 big campgrounds and nice undisturbed dunes like it looked before people came in. We went to Alligator Lake and got to see a couple. The drive around the park was nice and relaxing.