stacktester
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2007
Last week we traveled down to the Keys for a little sightseeing and other activities. Friday morning we head south and stopped in Hollywood to visit my twin cousins Lisa and Linda. I forgot to mention we had to stop in Cocoa to get MrsGus06's dd Hailey who went with us. Never drive a 31' 5'er in the RonJon parking lot. It was very tight and they have some dead landscaping thanks to me. Anyway on to Hollywood. There's a nice city park that has campsites on it so we had planned to stay there and then get on the road early Saturday. The park is Topeekeegee Yugnee known to the locals as T.Y. Park. Anybody wondering why they call it that for short? Well we get hooked up and then over to the cousins for dinner which is like 4 blocks away. They have a pool so Annie and Hailey swam with my cousins son while we got to visit. Afterwards they took us back to the camper and said they'd bring donuts in the morning.
I almost wanted to cancel the Keys after seeing this cg. There wasn't much atmosphere because the sites are new and there aren't many trees around but the park itself is really nice. All the sites except 4 are pull thru. I'd say about 75' long each with a 20'x20' pad next to it with a picnic table and grill. The park itself is 150 acres with a water park that was huge. I'll post pics later. The older part of the park had a lot of mature oaks with playgrounds and other things to do. The cost was around $45 a night.
On Saturday we head to the Keys. My cousin took us to Publix the night before to buy a Sunpass for the turnpike tolls. If you're ever going to the Keys via the turnpike you want this. Last trip we took in 05 we had to stop every 7 miles to pay. By the time you get the truck back up to speed it's stop time again. They have a credit card size one now that sticks to the windshield for 5 bucks. You put credits on it with a credit card. I recommend getting it activated early the morning before you need it because it takes a few hours to get in the system. When we got on the turnpike we were able to get in the Sunpass lane and never had to slow down. Awesome!!!
Anyway, we got to Marathon around 1:30. I had never stayed at the campground we booked so it was going to be a surprise what we got. Turned out Jolly Roger CG wasn't bad but not great either. It was rustic and had ok facilities. We booked a waterfront site which btw this cg is on the gulf side. Once we got set up the girls went snorkeling in an area that was much nicer on the net than in person lol. The view was beautiful, especially the sunsets. I almost forgot to mention our neighbors from home were meeting us to stay 2 nights. They have 4 kids, one being about 9 months. We cooked burgers and dogs Saturday night and planned a trip to Key West the next morning.
Anybody who has ever visited the Keys knows 2 things. US1 is a long ride that is usually very slow due to it being 2 laned in most places and that it's hot. We get to KW about 11 and did the tourist walk down Duval Street and had lunch at a place called 2 friends. Great food and service. Guess that's why they been around 42 years lol. After seeing what we wanted we headed back to the camper. BTW, if you ever go to KW I recommend going late in the day so you can see the sunset from Mallory Square. It's a place where they have a festival so to speak nightly. They have vendors there who sell things they make themselves in Key West. The items HAVE to be made in front of a panel so they know it's not something shipped in. They also have performers that do all sorts of side shows.
Once we got back to the camper I broke out the fajita ingredients. The wind had picked up badly and the grill had a hard time staying lit. Needless to say I had to move the grill behind the camper to block the wind.
About the only problem we had the whole trip was cinammon rolls lol. Rebecca brought cin rolls that had to be baked. I was out of propane so after going to many places on the way back from KW to find fuel I finally got it. I don't really like using the oven so this is why I rarely have propane. I cook outside with a small tank for my grill. Everybody we went to wanted to swap tanks. Mine is too tall and I wouldn't have done it anyway had it been the right size, but a little bait shop finally had a tank to fill us. So Monday morning she realizes the pan she had was too big. I said just use foil which we of course couldn't find the new roll I had just bought. Once again I'm on the road. It's 10 miles to the nearest store so off I go. When I get back she said I found the foil. By now I'm wondering if it will be a double murder if I choke her to death lol. She has Cinco in her oven lol. Anyway we finally got the rolls cooked and NO, I did not eat one. I figure I had enough bad luck getting them cooked, no need to eat one. I think having 8 people in a 5th wheel and that being the worst that happened we did ok.
We decided to see if we could snorkel Monday after the cinammon roll disaster but the winds were too high and the water was choppy therefore making the bottom churned up so you couldn't see much. Another friend of mine who was there the same time called to say he had been at Bahia Honda State Park the day before and kayaked to a nice island that offered snorkeling where you could see some beautiful fish. I had heard of this park but didn't realize it has much more than your normal SP. They had a restaurant, campsites, kayak rental and a store to get aluminum foil lol. All this just a few short miles from us. I wish I had found this before. There were enough activities to do there that woulda kept us busy all day. Oh well, another reason to go back. If anybody is planning a trip, especially with kids I suggest Bahia Honda or the Sugarloaf KOA. Both seem to be the premium places to stay at.
I almost wanted to cancel the Keys after seeing this cg. There wasn't much atmosphere because the sites are new and there aren't many trees around but the park itself is really nice. All the sites except 4 are pull thru. I'd say about 75' long each with a 20'x20' pad next to it with a picnic table and grill. The park itself is 150 acres with a water park that was huge. I'll post pics later. The older part of the park had a lot of mature oaks with playgrounds and other things to do. The cost was around $45 a night.
On Saturday we head to the Keys. My cousin took us to Publix the night before to buy a Sunpass for the turnpike tolls. If you're ever going to the Keys via the turnpike you want this. Last trip we took in 05 we had to stop every 7 miles to pay. By the time you get the truck back up to speed it's stop time again. They have a credit card size one now that sticks to the windshield for 5 bucks. You put credits on it with a credit card. I recommend getting it activated early the morning before you need it because it takes a few hours to get in the system. When we got on the turnpike we were able to get in the Sunpass lane and never had to slow down. Awesome!!!
Anyway, we got to Marathon around 1:30. I had never stayed at the campground we booked so it was going to be a surprise what we got. Turned out Jolly Roger CG wasn't bad but not great either. It was rustic and had ok facilities. We booked a waterfront site which btw this cg is on the gulf side. Once we got set up the girls went snorkeling in an area that was much nicer on the net than in person lol. The view was beautiful, especially the sunsets. I almost forgot to mention our neighbors from home were meeting us to stay 2 nights. They have 4 kids, one being about 9 months. We cooked burgers and dogs Saturday night and planned a trip to Key West the next morning.
Anybody who has ever visited the Keys knows 2 things. US1 is a long ride that is usually very slow due to it being 2 laned in most places and that it's hot. We get to KW about 11 and did the tourist walk down Duval Street and had lunch at a place called 2 friends. Great food and service. Guess that's why they been around 42 years lol. After seeing what we wanted we headed back to the camper. BTW, if you ever go to KW I recommend going late in the day so you can see the sunset from Mallory Square. It's a place where they have a festival so to speak nightly. They have vendors there who sell things they make themselves in Key West. The items HAVE to be made in front of a panel so they know it's not something shipped in. They also have performers that do all sorts of side shows.
Once we got back to the camper I broke out the fajita ingredients. The wind had picked up badly and the grill had a hard time staying lit. Needless to say I had to move the grill behind the camper to block the wind.
About the only problem we had the whole trip was cinammon rolls lol. Rebecca brought cin rolls that had to be baked. I was out of propane so after going to many places on the way back from KW to find fuel I finally got it. I don't really like using the oven so this is why I rarely have propane. I cook outside with a small tank for my grill. Everybody we went to wanted to swap tanks. Mine is too tall and I wouldn't have done it anyway had it been the right size, but a little bait shop finally had a tank to fill us. So Monday morning she realizes the pan she had was too big. I said just use foil which we of course couldn't find the new roll I had just bought. Once again I'm on the road. It's 10 miles to the nearest store so off I go. When I get back she said I found the foil. By now I'm wondering if it will be a double murder if I choke her to death lol. She has Cinco in her oven lol. Anyway we finally got the rolls cooked and NO, I did not eat one. I figure I had enough bad luck getting them cooked, no need to eat one. I think having 8 people in a 5th wheel and that being the worst that happened we did ok.
We decided to see if we could snorkel Monday after the cinammon roll disaster but the winds were too high and the water was choppy therefore making the bottom churned up so you couldn't see much. Another friend of mine who was there the same time called to say he had been at Bahia Honda State Park the day before and kayaked to a nice island that offered snorkeling where you could see some beautiful fish. I had heard of this park but didn't realize it has much more than your normal SP. They had a restaurant, campsites, kayak rental and a store to get aluminum foil lol. All this just a few short miles from us. I wish I had found this before. There were enough activities to do there that woulda kept us busy all day. Oh well, another reason to go back. If anybody is planning a trip, especially with kids I suggest Bahia Honda or the Sugarloaf KOA. Both seem to be the premium places to stay at.
Giving your daughter some great memories Donnie!
Appreciate the information about the keys. Very informative.
