David Sipher's World: 2019 Spring Southern Trip: Starke, Florida and Gulf Shores, Alabama

Friday April 12: 190 miles and parked at Starke KOA, Starke, FL

Site 70, Starke KOA

It was warm and muggy when we left James Island. We were on the road about 10:30 and arrived at Starke at 3:00. We decided to drive the more leisurely Route 301. Much more relaxing than Interstate 95 traffic!! It was a nice change of pace. However, it was 90 degrees when we arrived. UGH. We came south to get escape the north cold, but this warm? After some wine and snacks, we grilled some cod for dinner. We stayed outside after dinner and enjoyed the warm and pleasant evening. The Starke KOA is an immaculate and beautiful KOA with spacious sites. There is quite a community of snow birds that winter here. Everyone was polite and friendly. This KOA is a very nice park.

Saturday April 13:

This morning was warm and sunny, and the temperature eventually got to 90 again. We did laundry since we weren't busy, and the laundry was nearby and spacious. We met another retired teacher colleague of mine who had retired and moved south. Charmaine and husband Mark are fun to be with. I wish we could visit them more often. We had decided to meet for an early dinner at Whitey's Fish Camp. The restaurant was busy and crowded, but the food and service was excellent! Judy and I had stuffed flounder, and we were stuffed. In fact, had enough leftovers to take home for another meal. And of course, the reunion conversation was even better. For some reason, I never got a group photo. Oops!! Must be we were having too much fun to be interrupted. :-)

Back at the campground, we sat outside for after dinner drinks and enjoyed the warm weather. Tomorrow, we pack up and head west to Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Sunday April 14: 382 miles and parked at Gulf State Park, Gulf Shores, AL

Site 466, Gulf State Park

Site 466, Gulf State Park

We left Stark at 8:30, and it was a long drive today. Mostly good weather, but we did hit a line of strong thunderstorms near Tallahassee. Also, the GPS gave us a wrong turn that added 10 miles or so, but because of entering the Central Time Zone we still arrived by 3:00 to a sunny 73, but windy afternoon. The sites here are large and beautiful, and because we had a pull thru, very private. This is our third time here, and has become one of our all time favorite parks. The downside is that lots of other campers feel the same way, and it is increasingly hard to reserve spots. Dinner was grilled steaks at Sue and Al's. It finally got too windy to be comfortable outside, so we headed back to our camper and crashed after the long day.

Sunday April 14 - Friday April 19:

We had a really enjoyable week at Gulf SP. With warm weather and over 20 miles of paved walking and biking trails, there was always something to do. We dined out several times and had great food. There was a windy thunderstorm one night, but other than that, the weather cooperated. We broke down one morning and did laundry in the huge laundromat at the campground, and we went beach walking one afternoon.