We scheduled only one full day at this state park outside of Sarasota, Florida, which turns out to be way too little time to watch all the water birds, to hike and bike the trails through the palms and live oaks, to watch the enormous alligators in the river. But the two nights we have […]
Tag: Florida
All That and We Coulda Just Unplugged and Plugged in Again?!?
This whole first year of travel plans has been loosely based around appointments: in Ohio at the Airstream factory for minor warrantee work, in Texas for doctors, vehicle registration, and voting, and next up: Airstream of Tampa to get the awning fixed, which we haven’t been able to open since the U.P. of Michigan. After […]
A Beer Garden Worth Bending the Rules For
I know we seem like an odd pair of ducks during this pandemic, traveling while so many of our smart friends are still at home, still following safe protocol despite pandemic fatigue. The beauty of our situation is that we travel with our home behind us, so we don’t need hotels, restaurants, or rest-stop bathrooms. […]
What’s a HipCamp?
When we started out, we bought memberships to several camping discount groups. Passport America gives us 50% off at certain campgrounds, but, it turns out, with stipulations at many (like no discount all of Thanksgiving week at the place we need it at a certain place that week). Harvest Hosts gives us free access to […]
Jackpot with the Birdwatching
Sweetwater Wetlands Park Tracy’s very wonderful sister took us to an unusual water filtration area that’s also a bird preserve. It’s a 125-acre man-made wetland that filters run-off water and pollution from Gainesville through a series reservoirs. They were built and opened to the public as a bird sanctuary gradually so the ecosystem could settle. […]
The Beauty and Strangeness of the Deep South
We’re only an hour outside of the college town of Gainesville, Florida, but it feels like we’re on the moon. This is the Deep South, baby. We’ve moved away from the pine forests and small, scrubby palmettos of the panhandle into forests of huge live oaks entirely covered in swaying Spanish moss. The ground here […]
Fun on Wheels
That’s what a local called us as he strolled through the campground this morning. He said he always wanted to do something like this, but he’s not “brave” enough. I heard the same thing yesterday while on the phone with an accountant (turns out I have to re-file my mom’s taxes): by his description of […]
Traveling during a Coronavirus Spike
We routinely check the New York Times virus statistics for each spot we plan to move to (although the best indicator seems to be ICU beds). Still, per-capital cases give us an idea of how rampant the virus is in the county where we’re headed and how careful we need to be. I’ve read (like […]
Tracy and Shelly Go to a Boiled Peanuts Stand
Except, we haven’t gotten there yet! You guys know the classic stoner movie where Karl Penn and John Cho (Sulu!) get amazingly high and decide they want “something different” for their munchie food, which sets them on an epic journey to a White Castle restaurant. They end up going to jail, riding a cheetah, and […]
Waiting It Out at Coe Landing
After Tate’s Hell, we moved only an hour or so north to a Florida county campground near Tallahassee on the Ochlocknee River: the same water that feeds into Womack Creek. We’re kind of biding our time between past appointments in Texas and future ones in Tampa and Naples, exploring Florida’s panhandle in the process. This […]
