A timelapse of the sun rising and tides going in and out from our waterfront site at Ho-Hum RV Park in Carrabelle, Florida.
Carrabelle
We didn’t really do anything during the three weeks we stayed at Ho-Hum RV Park over the holidays. That seems to be fairly typical for us, just taking some downtime to relax. Especially with some very busy times coming up after this (stay tuned!).
Ho-Hum is in a kinda out-of-the-way area, but near a town called Carrabelle (population 2,778). We did go to one restaurant, the post office, and the local grocery store; that was pretty much the limit of our exploring here. There are definitely a few more things to do and see, e.g. we considered going to check out a couple of nearby lighthouses, but we’ll save that for our next visit.
Here’s an interactive map:
We had lunch at Marine Street Grill:
Next to the post office is the world’s smallest police station:
The Gulfside IGA Plus grocery store is a little small, but had almost everything we wanted:
(There is a Walmart 45 minutes away, for people who use that as a marker of civilization.)
Clock and memorial:
We do enjoy cute little towns, and this is definitely one. We’ll have to make a point of exploring it more when we’re here again.
Ho-Hum RV Park
We stayed at Ho-Hum RV Park in Carrabelle, Florida. (Campground Reviews listing.)
A nice casual RV park, with the gulf literally feet from our front door.
Dates:
- Check in: 2023-12-17
- Check out: 2024-01-07
- 21 nights
Weather:
- Mostly sunny, some cloud and rain
- High temps ranging between 52-67°F, lows around 33-60°F
- A little wind, gusts to 42 MPH
Noise:
- Highway noise
- No train noise
- Some neighbor noise, dogs, but few kids
Site:
- #48A, pull in, gravel
- Needed to disconnect toad, parked behind coach
- Rather unlevel, high on left and front; used hydraulic leveling
- Gravel site about 50 feet long by about 30 feet wide
- Picnic table on gravel
- No fire pit
- Clean site
- Waterfront, facing the water
Utilities:
- 50 amp power, conveniently located
- 32 PSI water, conveniently located
- Good sewer connection, conveniently located (less than 1 10-foot pipe needed)
Internet (in usage priority order):
- T-Mobile: 50 Mbps down, 8 Mbps up, 48 ms ping
- AT&T: 57 Mbps down, 2 Mbps up, 60 ms ping
- Verizon: 26-42 Mbps down, 26 Mbps up, 160 ms ping
- Starlink: not used
- Campground Wi-Fi: not used
Amenities:
- Garbage dumpster
- Waterfront (gulf)
- Package delivery to office
Our review on Campground Reviews:
Nothing ho-hum here
We spent three weeks here over the holidays and loved the laid-back vibe and beachfront views. Watching the birds along the shore right from the window of our motorhome was wonderfully relaxing. There is some road noise from the highway, but it is pretty nonexistent at night. Some of the waterfront sites are a bit sloped and could be problematic for larger rigs, but ours was fine enough that our leveling system could cope. The staff were all friendly and helpful and the amenities were well-kept. We loved our stay so much that we booked our stay for the end of 2024 before we left. We camped at Ho-Hum RV Park in a Motorhome.
Campground map:
An interactive map:
Our waterfront site:
It’s been ages since I flew my drone, but this seemed a perfect place to get some aerial photos:
Now that we’d made it to Florida, it was time to add its sticker to our coach:
We stayed here over the holidays, so of course we did our 20th annual The Lord of the Rings movie marathon, watching the extended editions of all three movies (though like last year, we split it over two days; not quite as much a marathon, but more relaxed):
One of the other guests dropped off a little Christmas gift:
We really enjoyed having the beach right in front of our site:
A fishing pier:
As you can see, there was quite a difference between low and high tides; I liked to watch the tide charts; fascinating how the two tides (from the moon and sun) merge and split to create single bigger tides or two smaller tides:
Our neighbor moved from a oceanfront site to one further back:
Most of the RVs on the oceanfront were motorhomes, fronted in, but there were a few trailers, backed in:
I’m glad we didn’t have a trailer next to us, with their door facing ours:
Other sites:
We’re planning to stay here again for the next holidays; this is the site we’ve already reserved for next time:
Beach area:
Dog park:
Rec room:
Entrance and office:
We enjoyed our stay here, and are looking forwarding to returning at the end of the year!
Video: Spanish Fort, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida motorhome travel timelapse
A timelapse of driving our RV, a Tiffin Allegro Bus motorhome, 257 miles from Spanish Fort, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida, including a picture-in-picture from the 360 camera on the truck being towed behind the coach.
Travel from Spanish Fort, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida
We drove our coach 257 miles, about 5 hours of driving, from Spanish Fort, Alabama to Carrabelle, Florida. Our last travel day of 2023. (Yes, the blog posts are a bit delayed; we do things faster than I can post about them!)
Here’s a map showing our route, heading east:
An interactive map, with potential stops marked:
Leaving the state park:
I-10:
Entering Florida:
“No stopping; photo opp in welcome center”:
We did stop at the Welcome Center rest stop for a quick break, though didn’t go into the Welcome Center:
Home of the Blue Angels:
Our coach at the rest stop on a traffic cam:
I had fun spotting our coach via other traffic cams too:
Bridge over Escambia Bay:
More traffic cams:
Another rest area stop, this time for lunch:
Sleepy Paladin enjoying the stacked dining chairs:
An interesting feature of the rest areas was a truck windshield washer:
We also appreciated signs that displayed the rest area truck parking availability (which was also available via the traffic website):
Speaking of, a couple more:
Then we exited I-10, for some highway travel:
Starting with a fuel stop:
While Jenn fueled up, I went in and got some Cokes (to help us stay alert) and snacks:
$284.62 for 77.787 gallons of diesel; we saved $22.17 off that with our discount card:
Paladin watching us from the dash:
Cotton field:
Blountstown mural:
The bridge where we entered Eastern Time Zone:
An uncomfortably narrow road:
A portion was also a little under water; not ideal:
Roadworks to alleviate the flooding; a tight squeeze:
Our destination for the end of the year:
A long drive, but then we were stationary for three weeks.
Tweaks at Davidson RV
We got Davidson RV to help us with a few other issues.
One was to replace our water pump, as the old one wasn’t performing well:
Another issue with fortunate timing was the entry step didn’t fully retract; they lubricated it, and it’s been fine since (I have been lubricating it with silicone lube, but have since purchased some better lube):
Finally, the USB ports on my side of the bed had stopped working, so they replaced them:
I could have done all three of those things myself, but easier to get them to do so while we were there.
USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park
We explored the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama.
It includes exhibits of various military planes, plus a submarine and the eponymous battleship.
Aircraft exhibits:
The USS Drum is a WWII-era submarine, the oldest American sub on public display:
The WWII-era USS Alabama battleship:
Fascinating.
Fort Morgan State Historic Site
We explored the Fort Morgan State Historic Site in Alabama, at the end of a peninsula between Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Here’s an interactive map:
Museum:
This fort had quite an interesting history:
Battery Schenck:
Battery Thomas:
The famous phrase “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” was (perhaps) uttered near here, something we previously encountered in Idaho at the Farragut Museum at the Brig:
The fort:
Tunnel into the fort:
Another battery:
A fascinating historic site.
Lambert’s Cafe
I usually don’t do a blog post about a restaurant, unless it is particularly remarkable. Lambert’s Cafe fits that criterion.
We went there for lunch, and it was quite the experience. Their claim to fame is “throwed rolls” — they have a guy roaming around, throwing freshly baked rolls to patrons. Which sounds like a bad idea, but is actually rather fun. (And this from a guy who doesn’t do “fun”.)
They also have people circulating with bowls of “pass arounds”, side dishes that they ladle onto a paper towel as soon as you sit down and your plate throughout the meal, including Southern staples like fried okra, black-eyed peas, fried potatoes and onions (my favorite), and several more.
There was a line to get a table, which usually makes us bail, but we opted to wait; it wasn’t a long delay:
A sign indicates they don’t do doggie bags, which appears to be out-of-date, as we were offered a box for our leftovers:
Pretty much as soon as we sat down, they provided some fried okra; our first time tasting it (not bad, less great once cooled down):
Menu:
We were also tossed some rolls, as advertised. They were super tasty, nice and soft:
We ordered sodas, which arrived in huge mugs (hard to tell the scale, but these were substantially larger than normal, even by American standards; the menu says they are 34 oz, which is about three cans of soda):
Jenn ordered chicken and dumplings and a couple of sides (included):
I ordered meatloaf and sides:
As mentioned, throughout the meal staff would come by offering additional sides; we tried several of them. It is possible to just order an empty plate and make a meal of the “pass arounds”, which would be plenty of food.
Throwing rolls:
When we were done (stuffed!), they provided a doggie bag and box, and even to-go cups for the leftover sodas, which we hadn’t encountered before; nice that they’re not wasting all that:
Quite a unique experience. And taking typical American over-consumption to the next level. Highly recommended, if you’re not on a diet!
Video: Meaher State Park
A brief video of birds and a sunset at Meaher State Park in Alabama.