Gulf State Park - Gulf Shores, Alabama

We've been in Gulf Shores State Park for almost a month now, and have really enjoyed our stay here.  This park is absolutely one of the best state parks that we've ever stayed in.  It has everything - a swimming pool, lakes that we can take the canoe on, miles of great biking trails, a golf course - even tennis courts for those that play, and of course miles of beautiful beaches along the Gulf coast.

We got great campsites for the month that we were here.  You can stay on the same site for only two weeks,  and then after that you have to move to another site.  At least they don't make you leave the park overnight as many state parks do.  You just have to get another site.  You can't reserve any particular site, so if you want a waterfront site you have to request it when you check in.  There are lakefront sites and sites on a canal connecting Middle Lake to Shelby Lake.  The canal sites are perfect for us to launch our canoe, so we took one of these for the first two weeks.  We managed to get out on the boat three times during our stay on the canal, and were really pleased with this site.

Our Canal Site at Gulf State Park

The canal site was perfect for our canoe

Bob and Mirra enjoying our campsite

We spent the second two weeks on a lakefront site, and really enjoyed it as well, although I think we prefer the canal sites, since they seem to be more protected from the wind (and we've had lots of that, almost every day).

Our lakefront campsite at Gulf State Park

The beaches are beautiful here - it's a lot like Topsail Beach.  The water was pretty cold, in the upper 60's when we first got here, but warmed up over the past four weeks.  We only had a couple of really good beach days, and both of them were this week.  We got in the water yesterday and today, and the water temperature was about 72.  The air temperature was around 75, but the breeze off of the Gulf made it feel cooler.

Beach at Gulf State Park

What a great park if you like to bike!  The campground connects to the Backcountry Trail, which is comprised of five different adjoining bike paths.  We took a couple of rides, and each totaled about 10 miles round trip.

Bike trail from the campground that connects to the Backcountry Trail

Taking a break along the Backcountry Trail

We never got to play the Golf Course.  It's very long - 7100 yards from the back tees, with no senior tees, so it's difficult for seniors.  We considered playing one of the other nearby courses, but never got around to it.  Maybe we'll get to play in Chattanooga.

Although the swimming pool was cold, we braved it and went in four times during our stay.  April is Spring Break month, so there were plenty of kids in the pool.

We did a bit of sight seeing while we were here.  Bob wanted to see the USS Alabama, so we drove into Mobile and took the tour.  What a great old ship.

USS Alabama

Another day we went to Fort Morgan, which was built in 1834, and was active during the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II.  It's most famous for the battle of Mobile Bay, where Admiral David Farragut won the battle, and made the famous quote "Damn the torpedoes full speed ahead".

Inside Fort Morgan

We loved Gulf State Park, and I've already made a reservation for two weeks next year.  We look forward to returning.  It's a great place.

Tomorrow we move on to Vicksburg for more history.  We're staying at Ameristar Casino RV Park, which of course has shuttles to the casino. Maybe we'll get lucky, and win a little money.

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park - Gregory E. Moore RV Resort

After a terrific visit with my son and his family in the Tampa area, Bob and I have been staying at the Gregory E. Moore RV Resort at Topsail Beach Preserve State Park.  This is an immaculately maintained state park that used to be a private park before the state took it over.  All of the 156 RV sites have concrete pads, electric and sewer hookups.  I think that we got one of the best sites in the park, since we are right on a small lake, and have a great view along with privacy.

View from our campsite at Gregory E. Moore RV Resort

Love this campsite!

The beach is beautiful.  There's 3.2 miles of secluded, white sand beaches to stroll on, and that gorgeous emerald green water that gave this area the name "the Emerald Coast".

A tram runs from the campsite to the beach hourly, so if you don't want to walk or ride the half mile to the beach, you can jump on the tram - very convenient!

The weather here has been unseasonably cold for this time of year.  A cold front has been hanging around for the best part of our two week stay.  It's gone down as low as 35 here at night, and has only warmed up to the 50's in the daytime.  It's finally starting to warm up now, so today we spent a great day on the beach.  It's certainly not warm enough for Bob and me to swim - the water's only about 62, and the air temperature is about 72.  That's not stopping all of the kids here on Spring break, though.

This park has a heated pool, which is unusual for a state park.  The pool temperature is a comfortable 75 degrees. We were in it at the beginning of the week, and plan on going in again over the weekend.

We've certainly enjoyed bike riding in this park.  There's a nice 3 mile ride to a beautiful lake, so we've biked there as well as to the beach.  There's also a number of nice hiking trails.

We've really been having fun during our stay here at Topsail Beach in spite of the chilly weather.  I've always heard good things about this place from other RVers, and now I know why. There's even a dog park in Santa Rosa Beach, so we've gotten Mirra out there twice, and will probably take her again over the weekend.

Speaking of Mirra and dog parks, she had a great time with my grand dog Sabine during our visit with my son.  We took the dogs to the dog park at Fort DeSoto Park, which is outside of Saint Petersburg.  The dogs had a blast!

Mirra at For Desoto Beach

Sabine - The adorable Grand Dog - at Fort Desoto Beach

Hope all of you have a happy Easter!  We'll be here for Easter, then leaving on Monday for Gulf State Park in Alabama.

Visit to the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing

Yesterday we took a trip to the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala.  Bob used to drag race a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner back in the day.  He loved that car, and had a blast racing it on the street and at Atco Race Track.  That street driven car ran in the 13.20's at 102 mph, with the best time being a 13.12. Today his son Rob races a 1971 Challenger RT at Atco, and has won lots of trophies and money for years now.  The Challenger RT below is running times around 11.5 - it's a great car, and Rob is a terrific driver.

Rob Perrottet's 1971 Challenger RT

Naturally, with all this drag racing history, Bob has been wanting to go to the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in nearby Ocala.  Whether or not you're a drag racing enthusiast, this is a great place to visit.  There are two sections to the museum - an antique car museum, and a drag racing museum.

Take a look at some of the beautiful cars that we saw in the antique car section.

1947 Studebaker Dump Truck

1934 Ford Station Wagon

1936 Ford Phaeton

This is a very rare car.  Only 555 of these Fords were produced.

1950 Mercury Lead Sled

The original "Happy Days" car driven by the Fonz on the famous TV show, this beauty was restored by Big Daddy in 1990.  The sign says that Big Daddy cruised this car in Ocala on Friday nights.

1970 Dodge Hemi Challenger RT

This car went 140 mph - one of the fastest factory cars ever built.

1958 Chrysler Convertible

Awesome!

1956 Chrysler

Mami Eisenhower bought this car for Ike's birthday.  She had it specially built.  It came with a custom 45 rpm record player installed so that Ike could listen to his favorite music.

Dodge Coronet 500

This car was donated by Naomi Tillet in honor of her husband Jack.  This was Jack's favorite race car, and he won many races in it.

1940 Willys 4 door Sedan

Bob thinks that this beautiful truck is a Willys, but since there was no sign on it, we're not sure.

And now for the Drag Racing part of the museum......

1981 Swamprat 27 Sidewinder

Wynnscharger

In 1975, this car set the N.H.R.A record at 250.69 mph with 5.63 E.T.  That record held for 7 years.

The parts of Don's car after his accident in 1970

Don's accident in 1970

That accident cost Don part of his foot.  He was lucky to get out alive.

Darrell Alderman's Champion Pro Stock 1991 Dodge Daytona

Bob saw this car race at Englishtown.

Shirley Muldowney's 1980 Attebury Car

Shirley Muldowney, probably the greatest woman driver of all times, raced this car.  Bob and I both saw Shirley race at Englishtown.

2005 Top Fuel Engine

This engine put out 8000 horsepower @ 7000 rpms!

2012 Dodge Challenger A Stock Automatic

You can actually purchase this car - as a body in white - from the factory.  Ready to race!!!

Dodge 1962 Factory Max Wedge

You used to be able to buy the Dodge Factory Max Wedge show above.

61 Plymouth Max Wedge

You could also buy this 1961 Plymouth from the factory.

Bruce Larson's 65 Chevelle Funny Car

This car ran for the first time at Atco NJ (our local drag strip).

Barbara Hamilton's 1937 Willys Coupe

Barbara Hamilton was the first woman to receive an N.H.R.A license for driving super-charged cars.

I've only shown but a few of this huge collection of wonderful cars.  If you get a chance when you're in the Ocala area, this museum is really worth seeing.

Lots of Manatees in Salt Springs!

Manatee in Salt Springs, FL

We went for a canoe ride a few days ago, and there were plenty of manatees right off of the dock.  There must have been at least a dozen of them.  We paddled over to them, and watched them for about an hour as they fed on the sea grass   They swam right under the canoe a few times.  They are so enormous that I'll bet they could easily tip the canoe over if they decided to surface.  Fortunately for us, that didn't happen.  There was a mother with a baby, which was really neat to see.  What wasn't good to see were the scars on a couple of the manatees where they had gotten clipped by boat propellers.  They're drawn towards the sound of the motor, and unfortunately many people don't cut their engines when there in these waters.

Manatee in Salt Springs feeding on sea grass

The manatees in Salt Springs are West Indian Manatees, whose average length is 10 feet and average weight between 800 and 1,200 pounds.  They're related to elephants, and I can see the genetic connection in their wrinkled grey skin.

The ones in Salt Springs seem huge!  They are such gentle giants, and seem to enjoy human contact.  The other day there were people swimming with them, and actually petting them.  Here's a picture of a manatee right by a boat that was next to us, with the girl almost touching it.  How neat is that!

The manatees will stay in Salt Springs while it's cool, and travel to Lake George once that water gets warmer.  They're drawn to the warm water in Salt Springs, because it's always 72 degrees.  They migrate away from cooler water as soon as it goes below 68 degrees.  I'm hoping to get out there to see them again before they leave us.  Maybe I'll even get to pet one.

Enjoying a beautiful Florida Winter in Salt Springs

Wow, are we getting some beautiful weather here in Salt Springs. While the temperatures in New Jersey have been in the 20's and low 30's, we've been getting highs in the 70's. In fact, this week it will be going up into the 80's for the second time in January. I'm loving it!

We've got our camp set up easily this year. We headed down to the local flea market and purchased a couple of nice hanging plants – a lipstick plant and a pitcher plant. Whenever we get down here, I feel the need to “nest”, and so this year we bought some solar lights and lined the driveway with them. We also got some new lights for the screen tent. It's funny, but these little things make me feel at home, wherever we happen to be. Looking around the campground, lots of other people must feel the same way, because they have all kinds of neat stuff set up on their sites.

Miracle enjoying the lazy camping life

I love our site.  As you can see, we have plenty of room. 

Our campsite at Salt Springs Recreational Area

 Below is the view from behind the trailer. 

One thing Bob and I are really enjoying are the Kindles that we bought for Christmas. Bob and I are both avid readers, and in the past we always seemed to have about 25 books in the trailer. With the Kindle, we can get new books easily, and save so much space. Right now I'm reading Ken Follett's recent books. I just got done Fall of Giants, and am now reading Winter of the World. Great books!

My only complaint with Salt Spring Recreation Area is that the cell phone service is extremely poor here. We bought a Wilson cell phone booster, but even with that, the reception is spotty.  Since I get Internet off of my cell phone, our Internet access is very intermittent, and often non-existent.  Maybe that's not such a bad thing.  Bob and I have spent much more time outside, and have been reading more.  Sometimes it's good to get unglued from the computer.

Today we're going to take a canoe ride. The manatees are hanging out near the Salt Springs, so if we're lucky we'll get some good pictures of them. Since the weather is so warm, we may go swimming tomorrow. The water in the springs is always 72 degrees, so it should be comfortable. Like I said, I'm loving this weather!