After having a wonderful holiday in New York with my family, we returned to Georgia for the new year. Then when we couldn’t take the cold weather anymore, we headed down to Florida. Surprisingly, Marietta can get cold. We made our annual trek to Fort Desoto Park on the west coast for waterside camping. While we were in the Sunshine State, we saw friends and family. Though we were able to visit many, there are plenty more people we would have liked to see. Sorry if we missed you. Maybe next year?
To break up the drive, we spent one night right over the Georgia border in Florida at the Spirit of the Suwannee, a large campground and music venue. We had a fun few days there in January 2022 but hadn’t been back since. I had a déjà vu while watching karaoke in the music hall that night as we ate burgers at the bar. This is clearly still the local hangout on Thursday nights. Among the 30 tables, many with “reserved” signs, we were one of the few people in that room under 75 years old. It made for a memorable evening. Unfortunately, their disc golf course had been damaged by a hurricane in the preceding months, so it was closed for repairs.
After our one-night stay, we made tracks to Lakeland, FL, to visit old friends. We ate well, and our taste buds enjoyed the Cuban food. One night, we went out and had a delicious Cuban meal at Nineteen61 in downtown Lakeland. Another night, we stayed at the house, and our friend Mario made his famous flan and shrimp dish. On a beautiful afternoon, we took a walk at a local park in the Circle B Bar Reserve. In the past, a HUGE gator was spotted here. We didn’t see that gator, but the possibility made for an exciting hike.
We also made our annual stop in Plant City to sample the tasty strawberries while they were in season. We went to the famous Parkesdale Farms for a bite of their strawberry specialties. The line was long but moved quickly. They can serve you fast because you have to order by number. The big question is, “Should I have a strawberry milkshake with my strawberry shortcake?” and the answer is an unequivocal YES!
At Fort Desoto, we were lucky to re-experience camping along the water with wildlife everywhere. We saw dolphins, turtles, manatees and lots of birds. On calm days, our inflatable kayak provided a great viewpoint. On windy days, we watched kitesurfers do their thing. One day, we biked around the park. We even had visitors to our campsite. Two friends from Baltimore hung out with us for a few days. They stayed in a nearby hotel and came to our campsite each day. What fun!
This park is made up of five islands, two beaches, and two piers. The largest island contains all the park facilities. The surrounding smaller islands are not inhabited, but you can take local “ferries” to visit them. During our guests’ visit, we ventured over to Shell Key for the day. As you might imagine, there are many seashells and sand dollars to be found on this island, and you are allowed to collect them. It’s a beautiful place to spend a few hours.
Another day, Jason and I went to nearby Egmont Key State Park, an island you must pass as you enter Tampa Bay. We took the local transportation by water. There is only one ferry each day, each way. It leaves at 10 am and picks you back up at 3:30 pm. On the way to the island, we took a detour to watch a pod of dolphins playing in the water. Once we landed, we had a fun day of exploring the island. We walked over the areas that are not protected for birds, strolling along old pathways, collecting shells along the beach, eating a picnic, and laying on the beach. It was a wonderful day when we encountered turtles and dolphins. We walked around the lighthouse and climbed on the tops of artillery battle stations. Spending the day in Egmont Key was very memorable. You felt like you were on a deserted island, but there were still fragments of life in the ruins.
This location has quite an interesting history. Because of the shallow water surrounding it and the plethora of shipwrecks, the US Congress authorized funds to create a lighthouse on Egmont Key in 1848. In 1898, Fort Dade was established for military strategic purposes. At that time, it had 300 residents, a movie theater, a jail, a hospital, and a bowling alley. Some of the vessels that passed by held Spanish conquistadors and Germans in U-boats. As you might imagine, this land mass witnessed many wars over the years, including the Seminole Wars, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the American Revolution, and World War II. In the 1850’s the US Army used the island as a prison camp, holding Seminole Indians captive after their forced removal as they began their journey on The Trail of Tears. The Florida Seminole Tourism site shares a dark side of this island. During WWI, it was used as a base. In the twenties, it was used to store moonshine. However, a fire was set to the buildings to punish those defying Prohibition.
Jason and I will forever remember Egmont Key, not for the beach or history but for the emotions we felt that day. I think it’s safe to say that it was the most shameful day of our lives. Before your mind goes wild, let me explain. We always knew the time limit for staying at Ft. DeSoto Park was 14 days, but this year, we inaccurately assumed that meant 14 nights. It doesn’t. The last day of our time there was the day we decided to go to Egmont Key. It was the first nice day after a bunch of stormy weather. While we were having our wonderful day, we received a call at 2 pm saying that we should have vacated the campsite that day at 1 pm. Needless to say, we were panicked. We were stuck on the island until the return ferry came at 3:30 pm.
We tried to enjoy the rest of the time on the beach since there was nothing that we could do but wait. It was a challenge but a good lesson in not worrying about something that you can’t control or change. As we boarded the return voyage, the Captain asked us how our day was, and we explained. We shared that it was great but that we were now on a mission to get back and why. We were a little less enthused about the dolphin distraction on the way back.
When we got back to the campsite, we packed up like a tornado. Even being spread out on the site, we did it in a record 30 minutes. We had the kayak out, the picnic table covered, a clothesline set up, candles, lamps, etc. We did not run into the folks who had booked the site for that night to apologize, but we felt very bad about accidentally squatting on the campsite.
And if that situation wasn’t painful enough, let me share a second reason for the feelings of shame. The loop for the campground is mostly sand with some shell crumbles. It washes away easily, and the previous rainy weather had created some huge divots and potholes. As we were leaving the campground to go dump our black water (aka sewage from our stay), a pothole bumped the bottom of our RV in the wrong place and created a leak. So now our RV was essentially “peeing” as we exited the loop. And then when we got to the dump stations, both were already occupied, which meant we had to wait while we leaked until they became available.
It was a tough day! And we still had to figure out where we were going to sleep that night. As we learned in previous years, RV sites in Florida in Feb must be booked many months in advance. Our next stop was three hours away in Ft. Lauderdale. While our hosts were happy to receive us a day early, we didn’t have the energy to make that drive. Fortunately, we found a motel room on the way in Arcadia, FL. Unfortunately, and ironically, the room smelled like sewage. We were too tired to complain. Thankfully, when we got to Ft. Lauderdale, the weather was nice, and it didn’t smell like sewage. We stayed in our friend’s home and had a great time.
As an endnote, the area where we camped has recently been hit hard by Hurricanes Helene and Milton. As you can imagine, these storms have severely damaged the area, and it will be recovering for a while.
