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Virginia to Florida Keys trip
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Summers420us
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:23 am    Post subject: Virginia to Florida Keys trip Reply with quote

Howdy!

Family and I are taking the Westy to the keys in a couple weeks and we are putting our plans together now. We tend to drift a bit and we really have no formal plans currently.

We are looking for advice on good boondocking spots and good campgrounds between Virgina and the Keys. We really like to stay water front, and privacy is always fantastic. We don't mind paying for a place if it is worth it, but boondocking means having a few extra dollars for something else.

Especially looking for good places to overnight or visit while in the Keys. Would like to make reservations now and work our route around those reservations and destinations.

Would love to hear from you!

Cheers!
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danfromsyr
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't help with the boondocking, but a few places we really enjoyed on our trip. you'll still be in prime snowbird time and possibly spring breaks so options & availability may be very limited. especially in the keys, they really don't like transients

James Island county campground near Charleston, SC
Edisto Beach S.P in South Carolina
Fernandina beach S.P in Florida (atlantic)
Fort Desoto county park in St Petersburgh (gulf)
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dobryan
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 9:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't help with boondocking but we have been going down for 10 years and these are two of our favorite places to camp.

http://floridastateparks.org/bahiahonda/
http://www.boydscampground.com/

Bahia Honda is beautiful and impossible to get reservations at. You'll need to grab a site by waiting in line for one that was unclaimed.

Boyds is expensive but is clean, right at Key West, and has been our go to place. (Did I say that it was expensive?)

Have fun! Very Happy
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Wolfram
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fort De Soto Park on the Gulf at Tampa/St Pete is one of the best campgrounds we have found in FL. A wee bit off the trail, but worth going to.

Geoff
McLean VA
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pigryder
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

the wife and I want to do the same trip but just a bit further north as a starter, I will be watching the thread.... thanks Very Happy
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Summers420us
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, keep the suggestions coming! This is great!

PigRyder (got a few pigs myself) where will you be starting out from?
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SteveVanB
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 12:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Contact user "Rubbachicken" He can give you some pointers/stealh spots. Make reservations at Big Pine fishing lodge. We've been there a bunch of times. If you wander through Ormond Beach, give a call and bring a 6er Wink

http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&cp=10&...2957625782
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Bcoe
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here ya go. http://freecampsites.net/attribute/states/fl/
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ebatles
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:56 pm    Post subject: Camping Reply with quote

Lots of great places to camp along the Florida coast! Fort clinch and little talbot island are gems near Jacksonville, Anastasia state park is right near me here in st Augustine. Gamble Rogers is right on the beach near Daytona. Sebastian inlt is supposed to be great as well. Good luck finding anything in the keys...this is the busy time of year!
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Summers420us
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 5:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well wish me luck. Really hoping to get some snorkeling in... hope the water is not too cold.
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MarkWard
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 8:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you can't get into Bahia Honda, or John Pennekamp, we like Long Key State park the most. http://www.floridastateparks.org/longkey Years ago, you could camp at the bridges, but they put a stop to that years ago. You can fish overnight though, so bring a couple of cheap rods and set them against the side of the Van. Van camping is low profile anyhow and if someone asks, you are fishing. For a last stop before your head down through Miami, this is a nice park as well. It is near Jupiter Florida. http://www.floridastateparks.org/jonathandickinson/default.cfm mark
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pigryder
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 8:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Summers420us wrote:
Thanks, keep the suggestions coming! This is great!

PigRyder (got a few pigs myself) where will you be starting out from?


we live close to harrisburg pa
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miketv
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you run into any vehicle trouble as you are working your way through south florida, I'm in Homestead-
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pinetreeporsche
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 9:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bcoe wrote:
Here ya go. http://freecampsites.net/attribute/states/fl/


jI couldn't find a state-by-state, or a zip code /closest listing on the freecampsites list-- even after I registered. Am I missing something?
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rubbachicken
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pinetreeporsche wrote:


I couldn't find a state-by-state, or a zip code /closest listing on the freecampsites list-- even after I registered. Am I missing something?



i don't know about the website you were looking on, where are you looking on traveling through, and what kind of van do you have, how many people are you traveling with.

if you are in a tip top, you are golden, find quiet streets, you don't have to drive to far to find a VW in florida Wink
that's what we used to do, find a street with a VW in it, and park near it, no one would think twice about the possibility of you sleeping in the van, it's like you are visiting VW folk Smile
if you have a westy and need the top up, that's a whole different kettle of fish.
you will have a very hard time finding somewhere you can pop the top without attracting the federalizes, camping in walmart, is 99% a no go, because to the daytona race track, bike week etc, and people with HUGE rv's it's not allowed
we were told that some places the parking lots were so full of RV's customers couldn't find where to park.
it could be worth parking in bar parking lots, go inside the bar, have a few beers, then it's oops i can't drive someplace else now officer, you might get away with that, i would keep it as a last resort though
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 6:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

rsxsr wrote:
If you can't get into Bahia Honda, or John Pennekamp, we like Long Key State park the most. http://www.floridastateparks.org/longkey Years ago, you could camp at the bridges, but they put a stop to that years ago. You can fish overnight though, so bring a couple of cheap rods and set them against the side of the Van. Van camping is low profile anyhow and if someone asks, you are fishing. For a last stop before your head down through Miami, this is a nice park as well. It is near Jupiter Florida. http://www.floridastateparks.org/jonathandickinson/default.cfm mark


A little off-topic, but if you get south of Miami, en route to the Keys, DON'T fail to stop off at the Coral Castle, at 286th sty S Miami, right on old Rt 1-- and hardly a half mile west of the newer Fl Turnpike extension. (http://coralcastle.com/).
A must see: citing one guide website, Roadside America:"it was built by one man, Ed Leedskalnin, a Latvian immigrant who single-handedly and mysteriously excavated, carved, and erected over 2.2 million pounds of coral rock to build this place, even though he stood only five feet tall and weighed a mere 100 pounds. - Maybe it could be called the east coast cousin of the Watts Towers, also colossal and built by a single diminutive immigrant.
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campism
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

pinetreeporsche wrote:
rsxsr wrote:
If you can't get into Bahia Honda, or John Pennekamp, we like Long Key State park the most. http://www.floridastateparks.org/longkey Years ago, you could camp at the bridges, but they put a stop to that years ago. You can fish overnight though, so bring a couple of cheap rods and set them against the side of the Van. Van camping is low profile anyhow and if someone asks, you are fishing. For a last stop before your head down through Miami, this is a nice park as well. It is near Jupiter Florida. http://www.floridastateparks.org/jonathandickinson/default.cfm mark


A little off-topic, but if you get south of Miami, en route to the Keys, DON'T fail to stop off at the Coral Castle, at 286th sty S Miami, right on old Rt 1-- and hardly a half mile west of the newer Fl Turnpike extension. (http://coralcastle.com/).
A must see: citing one guide website, Roadside America:"it was built by one man, Ed Leedskalnin, a Latvian immigrant who single-handedly and mysteriously excavated, carved, and erected over 2.2 million pounds of coral rock to build this place, even though he stood only five feet tall and weighed a mere 100 pounds. - Maybe it could be called the east coast cousin of the Watts Towers, also colossal and built by a single diminutive immigrant.

Yep, it's tourist kitsch but an impressive display of one man's vision. Somewhere I have actual photographs of myself on one of the coral beds, taken on a spring break trip years ago. Interestingly, that was the same trip on which I saw in Everglades National Park the Swiss-tagged first-gen 4WD Mitsubishi Delica (with aftermarket highroof) van that inspired me to settle for a 2WD Vanagon Westy.
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