Florida’s Forgotten Coast

While staying at Ho-Hum RV Park, we did a few drives along the Forgotten Coast, in the panhandle of Florida. Amongst other things, we saw all four of the lighthouses on the coast.

A pamphlet for the lighthouse driving tour, with information about each lighthouse:

Lighthouse driving tour pamphlet

Lighthouse driving tour pamphlet

The first drive was west of the RV park, with lunch at the Blue Parrot Ocean Front Cafe (they have a live cam you can view, too), then St George Island Lighthouse.

Here’s the route on an interactive map:

Bridge to St George Island:

Bridge to St George Island

Blue Parrot for lunch:

Blue Parrot

Blue Parrot

Blue Parrot

Blue Parrot

Blue Parrot

Blue Parrot

Blue Parrot

St George Island Lighthouse; unfortunately the museum was closed when we visited:

St George Island Lighthouse

St George Island Lighthouse

St George Island beach:

St George Island beach

Further west, the Cape San Blas Lighthouse in Port St Joe:

Cape San Blas Lighthouse


The second drive was east of the RV park, to St Marks National Wildlife Refuge, St Mark’s Lighthouse, and Publix groceries on the way back.

Here’s the route on an interactive map:

St Marks National Wildlife Refuge:

St Marks National Wildlife Refuge

The refuge visitor center, with info about the lighthouse too:

St Marks National Wildlife Refuge visitor center

St Marks National Wildlife Refuge visitor center

St Marks National Wildlife Refuge visitor center

The wildlife refuge:

St Marks National Wildlife Refuge

St Marks National Wildlife Refuge

St Marks National Wildlife Refuge

St Marks National Wildlife Refuge

St Marks Lighthouse:

St Marks Lighthouse

St Marks Lighthouse

St Marks Lighthouse

St Marks Lighthouse

St Marks Lighthouse

St Marks Lighthouse


The third drive was to have lunch at The Fisherman’s Wife restaurant in Carrabelle, then visit the nearby Crooked River Lighthouse.

Here’s the route on an interactive map:

The Fisherman’s Wife; we wanted to eat here last year, but they were closed for the holidays. They were closed again most of the time we were at Ho-Hum this time too, but opened a few days before our departure:

The Fisherman's Wife

The Fisherman's Wife

The Fisherman's Wife

The Fisherman's Wife

The Fisherman's Wife

Crooked River Lighthouse, the tallest of the four:

Crooked River Lighthouse

The old lighthouse keeper’s house, now a small free museum:

Crooked River Lighthouse

Crooked River Lighthouse museum

Crooked River Lighthouse museum

Crooked River Lighthouse museum

Crooked River Lighthouse museum

Crooked River Lighthouse museum

Crooked River Lighthouse museum

Crooked River Lighthouse museum

Crooked River Lighthouse museum

Fascinating stuff. We really enjoy this area of Florida; much more laid-back than the more touristy and populated parts.

Ho-Hum RV Park

We stayed at Ho-Hum RV Park in Carrabelle, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our second stay here, again over the holidays. Still one of our favorite RV parks.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-12-22
  • Check out: 2025-01-12
  • 21 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly sunny, some drizzle
  • High temps 50-69°F, lows 33-62°F
  • Some windy days, gusts to 39 MPH

Noise:

  • Some highway noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Some neighbor noise: dogs, and some kids (this is really not a place for kids, but weekenders will be weekenders)

Site:

  • #45A, pull-in, gravel
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked beside coach
  • Somewhat level site; high in front and passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Gravel driveway about 55 feet long by 22 feet wide
  • Just gravel between sites
  • Picnic table
  • One tree
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 10 feet, front facing SE

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 30 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, conveniently located (less than 1 10-foot pipe needed)
  • Dangerously fluctuating power for a day due to a corroded connection; used generator until fixed

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 27-55 Mbps down, 11 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi: 7-11 Mbps down, 0.5-3 Mbps up, 30 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
  • AT&T: 6-28 Mbps down, 0.05-0.12 Mbps up, 90 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Waterfront (gulf)
  • Package delivery to office

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Hidden Gem on the Forgotten Coast

This was our second stay here, and I would happily come back again and again. There’s no better view than watching the water and gulls from the front of our coach. The atmosphere is laid-back and inviting, and the staff is helpful and friendly. There was a power issue part of the way through our stay, but they kept us updated on the status of repairs and understood when we needed to run our generator during the outage. This is not the beachfront place for partying and carrying on; it is the beachfront place for quiet contemplation and chilling. We camped at Ho-Hum RV Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

With RVs on either side, as it was most of the time (often a trailer on the driver side, which is preferred over a motorhome, since their living area is away from us; fortunately we didn’t have a trailer on the passenger side, which would have been facing us):

Our site

View from our site:

Our site

View out our windshield:

View out our windshield

We enjoyed watching the various birds, including sandpipers, pelicans, cranes, ducks, and others:

Birds

Birds

Birds

Birds

Paddling:

Paddling

Gentle waves:

Waves

Waves

Foggy:

Foggy

Sunset:

Sunset

Sunset

Night

Night

Partway through our stay (on New Year’s Eve) our Power Watchdog reported electrical issues, saying the voltage was dangerously low or high (actually both), and neutral reversed:

Electrical issue Electrical issue

I wasn’t sure if it was just us or a wider issue, but talked with some neighbors who also had the issue. So after further diagnostics and talking with the RV park owners, I unplugged the power, and we used the generator. The next evening (New Year’s Day), the electrical company came out and repaired a corroded pigtail; hazards of a waterfront RV park!

Electrical repair

The seawall and sandy strip in front of our site:

Beach

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Dog park and beach area:

Dog park and beach area

Entrance:

Entrance

Bathrooms and such:

Bathrooms and such

Laundry room:

Laundry room

Activity center, where packages are delivered:

Activity center, where packages are delivered

Fishing pier:

Fishing pier

Fishing pier

Fishing pier

You can see our coach near the center:

Fishing pier

We’d be happy to stay here again in the future.

Travel from Ozark, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida

We drove our coach 155 miles, about three hours of driving, from Ozark, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida. Our last travel day of 2024.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Route map

An interactive map:

US-231 South:

US-231 South

Lots of routes:

Lots of routes

National Peanut Festival:

National Peanut Festival

Big peanut:

Big peanut

“Welcome to the Free State of Florida”, and “Photo Opportunity at Welcome Center”:

Welcome to the Free State of Florida

“Campbellton, Gateway to Florida”:

Campbellton, Gateway to Florida

Entering I-10 East:

Entering I-10 East

Rest area, our only stop for this trip:

Rest area

Blountstown mural:

Blountstown mural

Crossing Apalachicola River, where we entered Eastern Time Zone:

Crossing Apalachicola River

CR-67, a little narrow, but fine:

CR-67

Lake Morality Road, also narrow, but only a couple of miles:

Lake Morality Road

Arriving at our destination for the rest of 2024, Ho-Hum RV Park:

Arriving at Ho-Hum RV Park

Following the coach to our site:

Following coach to our site

Arriving in our site:

Arriving in our site

Ozark / Fort Rucker KOA Journey

We stayed at Ozark / Fort Rucker KOA Journey in Ozark, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A one-night stop on the way south. KOA Journeys are usually an easy choice when we don’t want to untoad.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-12-21
  • Check out: 2024-12-22
  • 1 night

Weather:

  • Sunny
  • High temp 51°F, low 30°F
  • A little wind, gusts to 15 MPH

Noise:

  • Some highway noise
  • Occasional nearby train horn noise
  • Negligible neighbor noise

Site:

  • #19, pull-through, concrete
  • Didn’t need to disconnect toad, and didn’t, since only one night
  • Somewhat level site; high on driver side and back; used hydraulic leveling, since on concrete
  • Concrete driveway about 60 feet long by 10 feet wide
  • 16 feet to neighbors on both sides
  • Picnic table on concrete patio
  • Some tall trees
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 330 feet, front facing West

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 65 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Didn’t use the sewer connection, but it was conveniently located, with two ports

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 363-421 Mbps down, 12 Mbps up, 40 ms ping
  • AT&T: 55 Mbps down, 1-2 Mbps up, 55 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 5 Mbps up, 25 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Convenient stop

We stayed one night on our way from Red Bay to Florida. This was a very convenient in-and-out place to stay. The friendly and helpful staff guided us to our spot and made sure we were good to go. There was a bit of road and train noise, but not too bad. Our site was a long enough pull-through that we didn’t need to disconnect our tow vehicle or fuss with positioning. The only downside is if you’re headed south when you leave, you have to wait a while for a decent break in the traffic as there isn’t a merge lane across the divided highway. We camped at Ozark / Fort Rucker KOA Journey in a Motorhome. 

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

A nice little pond area:

Pond

Pond

Pond

Pond

A decent one-night stop.

Travel from Red Bay to Ozark, Alabama

We drove our coach 288 miles, about five hours of driving, from Red Bay to Ozark, Alabama. (With lots of Paladin pics.)

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Route map

An interactive map:

A video of Paladin getting pushed by the slide-out coming in while we were preparing the leave; he didn’t care:

Goodbye Red Bay Acres:

Goodbye Red Bay Acres

SR-19:

SR-19

I-22 East:

I-22 East

I-22 East

Lunch stop:

Lunch stop

Back on I-22 East, with Paladin on the dash:

Back on I-22 East, with Paladin on the dash

Paladin on the dash

“Break the drive if sleepy”:

Break the drive if sleepy

Rest area:

Rest area

Paladin on the dash again:

Paladin on the dash again

“End higher fines”… sounds like a protest sign:

End higher fines!

Fuel stop:

Fuel stop

Some women admiring Paladin at the fuel stop:

Some women admiring Paladin at a fuel stop

US-231 South:

US-231 South

KOA:

KOA

Guided to our site:

Guided to our site

Red Bay Acres RV Resort

We stayed at Red Bay Acres RV Resort in Red Bay, Alabama. (Campground Reviews listing.)

Our fourth stay here, and third in 2024.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-12-15
  • Check out: 2024-12-21
  • 6 nights

Weather:

  • Some cloudy days, and some rain and thunderstorms
  • High temps 51-65°F, lows 31-58°F
  • A bunch of wind, gusts to 21 MPH

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Hourly clock tower noise
  • Negligible neighbor and tech services noise, since the park was mostly empty

Site:

  • #32, back-in, concrete
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Level site; used hydraulic leveling
  • Concrete driveway about 60 feet long by 12 feet wide
  • Grass between sites, 15-25 feet wide on passenger side, 15 feet wide on driver side
  • Picnic table
  • No trees
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 660 feet, front facing NW

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located
  • 60 PSI water, conveniently located
  • Good sewer connection, fairly conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 370-400 Mbps down, 45-55 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
  • AT&T: 110-125 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 75-95 ms ping
  • Verizon: 5 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up, 125 ms ping
  • Campground Wi-Fi (in Yacht Club): 6-8 Mbps down, 4-6 Mbps up, 65 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used

Amenities:

  • Garbage pickup from site
  • Package delivery to office
  • Onsite restaurant
  • Pond
  • Hometown of Tiffin; local RV repairs

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Still the best place to stay in Red Bay

We’ve stayed here several times while getting our coach serviced in the Red Bay area, and it’s still the only place I would choose to stay. The lake in the middle is pleasant and we love having the on-site cafe. It is a little disappointing that they seem to be cutting back on the menu there (pretty much only sandwiches now, when you used to get wings and other hot items). I also wish the concrete pads were a bit wider, as it rained nearly every day, and the infamous Red Bay mud was inescapable when hooking/unhooking for our service appointments. December is a bit of a mixed bag as the town closes the week before Christmas through the New Year. Having the campground to ourselves was nice, but services were harder to schedule. We camped at Red Bay Acres RV Resort in a Motorhome.

Tip for Other Campers: After several trips to Red Bay the big question is, why did it take me so long to discover the majesty of Big Star’s bakery? I’m still dreaming of their chocolate chip cookies….

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

On a frosty morning, you can see the framing of the coach:

Frosty

Our site

A thunderstorm rolling through:

Thunderstorm

Red Bay Yacht Club:

Red Bay Yacht Club

Red Bay Yacht Club

Red Bay Yacht Club

Red Bay Yacht Club

Pond:

Pond

Pond

Other sites, mostly empty throughout our stay:

Other sites

Other sites

The week before Christmas was a good time to visit, other than being rather cold. We don’t have any current plans to go back to Red Bay, but it seems inevitable that we will in due course, and will stay here again when we do.

Travel from Lena, Mississippi to Red Bay, Alabama

We drove our coach 184 miles, about three hours of driving, from Lena, Mississippi to Red Bay, Alabama.

Here’s a map showing our route (kinda), heading north:

Route map

That wasn’t actually our route, as we decided to take the Natchez Trace Parkway, which the RV routing didn’t like, but I examined closely and determined it’d be fine for us. Here’s an interactive map of the actual route:

A branch and lots of leaves by our truck:

Branch by our truck

A narrow road from the campground:

Narrow road from campground

A sharp turn from the park road; not too hard for our coach:

Sharp turn

Another Allegro Bus passing us:

Another Allegro Bus

A drizzly drive:

Rainy

Entering Natchez Trace Parkway:

Entering Natchez Trace Parkway

Entering Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Lunch stop at the Jeff Busby area:

Lunch stop at Jeff Busby area

Lunch stop at Jeff Busby area

Loose dogs roaming around:

Loose dogs roaming around

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

Leaving Natchez Trace Parkway for I-22 East:

Entering I-22 East

I-22 East

MS-25:

MS-25

Turned into MS-76 (a newer and much nicer highway):

MS-76

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama:

Welcome to Sweet Home Alabama

Arriving at our destination, Red Bay Acres:

Arriving at Red Bay Acres

Mostly empty RV park:

Mostly empty RV park

Oooh, a Zephyr (top of the line Tiffin motorhome):

Mostly empty RV park

Our site:

Our site

Leake County Water Park

We stayed at Leake County Water Park in Lena, Mississippi. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice county park.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-12-13
  • Check out: 2024-12-15
  • 2 nights

Weather:

  • Mostly cloudy
  • High temps 59-65°F, lows 42-55°F
  • A little wind, gusts to 25 MPH, but sheltered amongst trees

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Some neighbor noise (kids and dogs)

Site:

  • #15, back-in, concrete
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Somewhat unlevel site; high on passenger side and front; used hydraulic leveling
  • Concrete driveway about 50 feet long by 10 feet wide
  • 50 feet to neighbor on driver side
  • About 180 feet to neighbor on passenger side, though a path about 30 feet away
  • Grass and occasional trees between sites
  • Picnic table
  • Fire pit
  • Tall trees
  • Mostly clean site
  • Elevation 310 feet, front facing SW

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, very conveniently located
  • 65 PSI water, very conveniently located
  • Unthreaded sewer connection, conveniently located (1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • T-Mobile: 65 Mbps down, 3-8 Mbps up, 45 ms ping
  • AT&T: 10-22 Mbps down, 0.05-0.3 Mbps up, 125-780 ms ping
  • Verizon: 2.5 Mbps down, 0.1-7 Mbps up, 35 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Pool

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Quiet park under the trees

This was a great stop for a couple of nights on our way through Mississippi. The road to get to it is a bit sketchy (it’s more pothole than road), but once you get in, it’s peaceful and the sites are nicely spaced out. There is a short walk to the day use area, which wasn’t very busy in December, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves. We camped at Leake County Water Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our site:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Patio area

Day use area near our site:

Day use area near our site

Bridge to primitive camping area:

Bridge to primitive camping area

Primitive camping area

Floating dock:

Floating dock

Trees and other vegetation in a little bay off the river:

Trees

Trees

Floating vegetation

Boat ramp to Pearl River:

Boat ramp to Pearl River

Fish of Pearl River:

Fish of Pearl River

Pearl River

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Playground:

Playground

Swimming pool:

Swimming pool

Swimming pool

We’d be happy to stay here again, and for longer.

Travel from Springfield, Louisiana to Lena, Mississippi

We drove our coach 186 miles, about three hours of driving, from Springfield, Louisiana to Lena, Mississippi.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:

Route map

An interactive map:

Convertible Beetle:

Convertible Beetle

Flooded road in front of our first site:

Flooded road

Our first site was a little damp:

Our first site

An interesting sign near the entrance of the park:

Sign near the entrance of the park

A closer look:

Sign near the entrance of the park

Narrow road from the park:

Narrow road from the park

Petro fuel stop:

Petro fuel stop

We had lunch while driving, with me feeding crackers with salami and cheese to Jenn:

Lunch

Welcome to Mississippi:

Welcome to Mississippi

A sign for the Lynyrd Skynyrd Monument… so of course we had to play Free Bird and songs seeded from that:

Lynyrd Skynyrd Monument

Roadworks on I-55 North:

Roadworks on I-55 North

Watching a Sinclair Trails timelapse travel video while traveling is always a little disconcerting:

Watching Sinclair Trails travel video while traveling

Paladin asleep, touching my foot:

Paladin asleep, touching my foot

Rest area:

Rest area

Exit from I-55 to route 25:

Exit from I-55 to route 25

Paladin asleep:

Paladin asleep

Late foliage:

Late foliage

A narrow road to our destination:

Narrow road to park

Leake County Water Park:

Leake County Water Park

Our site:

Our site

Tickfaw State Park

We stayed at Tickfaw State Park in Springfield, Louisiana. (Campground Reviews listing.)

A nice state park, at least until our site flooded; we moved to a different site for the last night.

Dates:

  • Check in: 2024-12-08
  • Check out: 2024-12-13
  • 5 nights

Weather:

  • Rainy at first then sunny
  • High temps 56-74°F, lows 35-64°F
  • A little wind, gusts to 26 MPH, but sheltered by trees

Noise:

  • No road noise
  • No train horn noise
  • Little neighbor noise

First Site:

  • #27, back-in, asphalt
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Mostly level site; high on passenger side; used hydraulic leveling
  • Asphalt driveway about 65 feet long by 10 feet wide
  • No neighbors on either side (over 100 feet through trees)
  • Lots of tall trees between sites
  • Scraping branches
  • Picnic table on 24 by 10 feet wooden deck
  • Charcoal grill and fire pit
  • Lantern hook
  • Mostly clean site
  • Elevation zero feet, front facing South

Second Site:

  • #6, back-in, asphalt
  • Needed to disconnect toad, parked in front of coach
  • Level site; used air leveling, since only one night
  • Asphalt driveway about 70 feet long by 10 feet wide
  • 75 feet to neighbor on driver side
  • 120 feet to neighbor on passenger side
  • Some tall trees, but only grass between sites
  • Picnic table on small concrete pad
  • Charcoal grill and fire pit
  • Lantern hook
  • Clean site
  • Elevation 10 feet, front facing SSW

Utilities:

  • 50 amp power, conveniently located behind site
  • 42 PSI water, fairly conveniently located behind site
  • Loose sewer connection, very conveniently located (less than 1 10-foot pipe needed)

Internet (in usage priority order):

  • Verizon: 3-5 Mbps down, 4 Mbps up, 25-45 ms ping
  • T-Mobile: 5 Mbps down, 14 Mbps up, 24 ms ping, unreliable
  • AT&T: 2-9 Mbps down, 1 Mbps up, 85-1300 ms ping
  • Starlink: not used
  • Campground Wi-Fi: none

Amenities:

  • Garbage dumpsters
  • Boardwalks

Our review on Campground Reviews:

Surrounded by the bayou, sometimes in it

This is a beautiful state park amidst the bayou, but it became a problem because it had rained heavily before we got there, and the river started to rise. We woke up one morning to see that our deck area was surrounded by water and our power pedestal was partially submerged. A very nice ranger came by, ensured we were okay, and offered to help us disconnect the power when we were supposed to depart the following day. However, the water continued to rise throughout the day, and we weren’t comfortable with how high it was getting, so we opted to move to a dryer site for one night. Two other helpful staff put on their waders and disconnected us so we could move. While the rising water was problematic, and the access road is a bit narrow, we would happily stay here again. We camped at Tickfaw State Park in a Motorhome.

Campground map:

Map

An interactive map:

Our first site was delightfully private, surrounded by trees:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Utilities:

Utilities

Utilities

Deck, in the rain… hey, what’s a little rain when staying in a bayou?

Deck

Oh, that’s what… we woke up to a flooded site on our last full day:

Flooded site

Flooded site

Flooded site

Flooded site

We kept an eye on it, but the water level kept rising, submerging the power cord from our Watchdog… not great, Bob:

Flooded site

So we made the call to ask to be moved to another site for our last night.

Our second site was more open, not quite as nice, but also not underwater, so that’s a plus:

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Our site

Other sites:

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

Other sites

If we stay here again, this might be a slightly better site, #29:

Other sites

Glamping tent:

Glamping tent

Cabins:

Cabins

Group camp, cabin style:

Group camp

Another group camp, tent style (used by scouts):

Group camp

Dump station:

Dump station

We were very glad we made the call to change sites; our first site was completely submerged the following day, on the day we departed:

Our first site on the day we departed

Our first site on the day we departed

Yowza!

Despite the flooding, we’d be happy to stay here again. If we do, our first site (#27) would still be a reasonable choice (if no recent or expected rain!), though site #29 might be an even better site.