Ho Hum.....What a Fabulous RV Park.

Dec. 15th - Dec. 21st 2013

As we were getting ready to leave Mobile, with our final destination Bradenton Florida, we needed a place to stay somewhere in between. We decided on Ho Hum RV Park in Carribelle Florida.

This might be a good time to tell you how we decide where we are going to stay during this second phase of our life. There are two factors that we look at. Direction of travel and distance. We try not to travel more then 4 to 5 hours on any given trip and we want to find a place for at least a week if not longer.  Islands, coastal, and rivers edge parks seem to be our favorites so far. So we lean towards those if we have that option. After deciding on an area, (4 to 5 hrs out), we use several apps to look at the parks that can handle our size RV. We use Allstays camp and RV app and the Passport America app. Look at the various RV parks in the area of interest and then look at the reviews for that park online. So far we have been really lucky with the parks we have picked. I'm sure that can not continue, but we shall see.

And now back to our story.

We got a late start leaving Mobile and ending up taking the coast road thinking the views would be nice. Well for Lynn they might of been but not for me. I was too busy dodging traffic in every small coastal town along the way. Basically stop and go for 5 1/2 hours. I also scared the crap out of Lynn when we were about 50 miles from the park. It was starting to get dark and in the distance I saw this black shape on the side of the road. As we got closer, my first thought was, nah couldn't be, this is Florida, but then it started crossing the road so I hit the breaks. Lynn had her heard buried in her phone playing words with friends with Mike so she screamed, looked up, said what the..... and then sat with her mouth open as the Black Bear finished crossing the road. (fun times on our travels) By the time we got to the park it was dark so we didn't really see all that much. But they did tell us not to go to the dumpster at night or leave our trash outside the RV. Here is why.

In the morning this is the view from our window that we woke up to.

Our beach walk when the tide was out

Moon rise

Tide out

Tide in

 Yep, this ones a keeper. The hosts were great and the people that we met were outstanding. I won't mention names but you know who you are. Also this is the first park that we met someone who also owns a Grand Design RV. They had a different model but it was like meeting family. The RV lifestyle is like that.

If there is anything negative to say about Ho Hum is that you are far away from any major city. Don't get me wrong. There is plenty to do. But it is laid back and easy going. The park is just on the outskirts of Carrabelle. Which they advertise as being on the forgotten coast. It's a nice small town with a library, several nice restaurants, grocery store and of course a Dollar Store. Just west along the coast is St. George Island. It reminded us of Dauphin Island. Several unique shops, beaches, lighthouse and some very nice restaurants. (yes our travels seem to focus on food)

Further west is Apalachicola. A fun name to say and a fun town to visit. Bigger then St George with more of everything. It is here we decided to buy a plant for our home and also some decor a cute gecko sun-catcher. We found this great shop which is actually between two shops. Note is the picture below there is no roof. Not only did she have plants but also a great collection of chachkies, knick knacks, pots and yard stuff. Roehls you would love this store. Here are a couple of pictures.

While in Apalachicola, (love saying that word), we also stopped at the boat docks and bought some fresh shrimp and scallops. Grilled them up that night with some butter and garlic. OMG. ( see I'm hip)  Tallahassee was the nearest big city but we did not venture up there. Next time we will because next time we will stay longer then a week.

Next up Bradenton and Christmas with Tiffany. See you down the road.

Mobile AL. A short visit but an unforgettable time.

When you think of Mobile what comes to mind?  Well prior to our visit, not much for me. First impressions: A very busy sea port with cargo ships arriving nonstop;  A bay with numerous natural gas platforms and the occasional oil platform; One of the most impressive war memorials I've ever seen; One good symphony orchestra; A beautiful Cathedral; Very friendly people; and not far away a Christmas light display that is one of the best in the country. Not bad for a 4 day visit. Also here is a quiz for the younger generation. What is this.

It's not a long trip to Shady Acres RV park in Mobile. The only reason I booked it was to be closer to the SaengerTheatre for our concert on Saturday night. I didn't know what the ride would be like late at night on unfamiliar roads. Knowing what I know now, we would of stayed at Dauphin Island. But that's ok. One of the side benefits of going to different RV Parks is that you meet new people, and we met a couple who we will be getting together with somewhere down the road.

Our first day wasn't typical. We set up, got the lay of the land etc. But since it was such a short trip we were done early so we drove into Mobile to pick up our tickets for the Pentatonix concert, which is why were were there in the first place. After we got our tickets we walked around downtown. Found a great local restaurant for lunch, and came across the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

The next day we went to Mobile's Battleship Memorial Park. For anyone who is a war history nut like we are, this is a must visit once in your lifetime. What's there you ask? Well we have the star of the show The Battleship USS Alabama, the Submarine USS Drum, over 25 aircraft from the A-12 Blackbird Spy Plane to a B-52 Bomber.

Now I have been in 4 WWII submarines. One of which was German, and the USS Yorktown Aircraft carrier. All of which were impressive. But this is downright awe inspiring. Don't worry I'm not going to go into all the tons of info about the ship. Nor am I going to post hundreds of pictures. If you want more either email me or go visit it yourself. For now here is a selection of photos to enjoy.

B-52

Battle Flag

Shells for the big guns

Lynn in the turret of  one of the big Guns

Seems like Lynn likes all of the guns

And another gun

Smaller spaces not made for 6'4" people

A good idea of how big the ship is.

And another gun

Blackbird spy plane

The other major attraction that we went to was Bellingrath Gardens which is about a 20 minute ride south. This 65 acre estate is know for its beautiful gardens and house, which are on the National Register of Historic Places. During the Christmas season it puts on a light show that is considered one of the best in the country. As we were walking the grounds it was like a never empty glass. The lights keep going and going. Every corner you turned was a different theme. From "Under the Sea" to Japan to the Christmas train. It was absolutely breathtaking. Here is a small collections of pictures that we took.

We got there early to avoid the crowd and are we glad we did. When we left there was a line of cars stretching 2 blocks waiting to get into the parking field. 

Even in twilight the lights were still beautiful. 

We hope you all had a great Holiday Season. 

To wrap up our stay in Mobile we went to see Pentatonix who sang with the Mobile Symphony Orchestra. This was a first for PTX. The show was tremendous and so was the MSO. After the concert we got a meet and greet with PTX and an autographed CD. It was a great way to end our visit and we will try to see them live again sometime. But that will be hard this tour as most dates are sold out.

Hope you enjoyed the blog and we'll see you down the road.