November 2019 - Honeymoon adventure begins!

Our first month on the road!

November was our first month on the road for our honeymoon adventure. We made it to 6 states, 9 different campsites, and drove almost two thousand miles. We got to see a jaw-dropping rocket launch from Playalinda beach, had an amazing visit with family near Orlando, and even saw our first manatees at Blue Springs!

November road stats

Miles Traveled: over 1,900

States visited: 6 - Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida.

Campsites: 9 different sites, Paid for camping 4 nights out of the month ($104 total). All other nights were boondocking (Free camping, no hookups).

Campsites this month

Cracker Barrel in Irmo, SC - 1 night. Free(ish). 

We stopped in for dinner and spent the night. Since then, Cracker Barrel has been one of our favorite one-night stops. They've got great food at fair prices, offer free parking for the night, and we get fresh hot coffee and breakfast before we take off the next morning.

Francis Marion National Forest, Honey Hill Recreation Area, Jamestown, SC - 2 nights. Free! 
Honey Hill is a free campground about an hour from Charleston, South Carolina. The small campground had quite a few people there, but everyone kept to themselves and it was still pretty peaceful. We spent our time here relaxing, kayaking, and exploring the surrounding area. 

Our spot was close to the entrance of a hiking trail, which the dogs loved. In the middle of the campground, there's an old fire tower. It looked pretty neat, but was blocked off so we couldn't climb it. 

While camping here, we drove to Charleston and saw a few local favorites like The Battery and White Point Garden. We also made it to the first beach of our trip - Isle of Palms Beach! On the way out of town, we picked up flounder and shrimp at the Carolina Seafoods Inc. which were fresh and absolutely delicious!

Barrington Park Campground in Hortense, GA - 3 nights, free! 

Barrington Park Campground is free, secluded, & right on the water. It even has a boat ramp. The road there is long and unpaved, but no problem with 4WD. It was really quiet, with only a few other campers. This was one of my favorite spots yet, and we enjoyed some down-time out here too since it's so far from anything else. During a kayak trip around camp, we saw a bald eagle, two river otters playing, and found Khaleesi her own private island. We did a little fishing too, and Kyle caught a bowfin and two nice bass. 

We left Barrington Park heading south to Florida, in search of a spot near Cape Canaveral for the evening of the 10th. We planned to see the SpaceX rocket launch the next morning, but camping anywhere near there is either expensive or had no availability. First, we drove out to the beach where we'd be viewing the launch from. We wanted to make sure that there'd be plenty of parking if we arrived early. Playalinda beach, about as close as you can get to the launch for free, is a long beautiful beach with soft white sand and (luckily for us) plenty of parking.

Parking lot of Home Depot/McDonald's, Titusville, FL- 1 night. free, but wouldn't recommend it.

We tried to find somewhere to sleep for the evening that wasn't too far from the launch. We checked the local Cracker Barrel first, but RV parking was full and they were really busy. Wal-mart was our next option, but their lot had signs saying "NO overnight parking". Finally, I called Home Depot after seeing a review on a camping site saying they've let people camp overnight in their lot before. When I called, they told me that truckers park between their lot and the McDonald's next door, and nobody has a problem with it. We were lucky to find anywhere last minute, but random parking lot camping with people driving by all night is no fun. We got a few hours of sleep and left at 4am to go see the rocket launch.

We drove to Playalinda beach, arriving before sunrise. We were fifth in line at the gate and waited about an hour for an attendant to open the park. We found a beautiful spot at the end of the second lot and parked our home-on-wheels right there near the beach. It is always so neat to have our home wherever we go. We made coffee in our little kitchen, checked launch updates, and headed down the beach as far as we were able. They'd blocked it off at some point for safety purposes. A lot of people came out to the beach to watch the launch. 

We didn't have phone service and weren't able to track exactly when it was going to take off. We watched the horizon for what seemed like forever. Finally, we saw the giant rocket rising above the beach. There were shouts and laughter from onlookers and then, the sound from the launch hit us like a wall. It was LOUD and awe-inspiring. Watching something as big as a skyscraper push it's way up through the atmosphere was an experience I'll never forget. 

(Click HERE to watch the full Starlink Mission launch video from SpaceX)

Jetty park campground, Cape Canaveral, FL. - 2 nights ($40 ea) 

Jetty Park was our most expensive site this month, but worth it for the views. It's right by Port Canaveral, and we enjoyed watching the huge boats coming and going. We even took a spontaneous 5-hour cruise at night! We spent hours at the fishing pier where we saw dolphins and sea turtles swim by. There's also a nice beach within walking distance of the campground.

Visiting Family - 7 nights 

We got to spend a week near Orlando with Uncle Algis & Aunt Claudia! It was such a wonderful visit. They showed us around the area, took us to see manatees at Blue Springs, and we ate like kings.

One of my favorite restaurants we went to is Hollerbachs Willow Tree Cafe. It's a German Restaurant/Deli with delicious, authentic food. Boca in Winter Park was also impressive. Their menu is modern and fairly priced. They even have a wall of hydroponically grown veggies inside. Everything we tried there was delicious. 

We had a great time at the Orlando Science Center and also enjoyed the The Wine Room on Park Ave. There is so much going on in that area. One night, sitting on the back porch, we heard live music playing. As it turned out, there was a free Blues concert going on just a few blocks over, and we had to go check it out.

Visiting Friends - 4 nights

While in the Orlando area, we also got to catch up with the Thompsons! Pirates Cove Adventure Golf was a blast. Liz showed us around Disney Springs, where I saw my first Lego store. We also had a great time walking their sweet little girl to the bus stop each day and playing VR together.

Dupuis family campground - 5 nights - free with a permit!

Camping at Dupuis is free, but does require an easily attainable permit which you can apply for online. We got a reply immediately with the gate code and camping info. I like to find free spots like this where a gate code is required because it feels just a bit safer. This was a great location to explore from, and very peaceful. 

There's a small lake in the middle of the campground that's super clear! While kayaking in it we saw two turtles, a small gator, and an albino catfish. There were raccoons in the area who visited our site each night looking for snacks and teasing the dogs. 

While staying at Dupuis, we visited Loggerhead Marinelife Center which was AMAZING. LMC is a rescue and rehabilitation center for sea turtles. They had big pools for their current patients with windows so we could see how they were doing. 

They had turtles of all sizes and types there. Some had been hurt by boats or sharks, and to see how much the staff cared about helping them was inspiring! The center has so much great information about them and volunteer events to join in on. They release the turtles on the nearby beach when they're healthy enough, and people come from miles to cheer as the turtles make their way home to the ocean. 

After LMC, we took the pups on a nearby nature trail, then to Jupiter Off-Leash Dog Beach. That evening, we caught a gorgeous sunset at Lake Okeechobee Port Mayaca Lock and Dam.

The next morning, Kyle and I were up at sunrise for a 4.5-hour kayak trip through Winding Waters Natural Area. It was beautifully wild, and quiet, other than the birds chirping. We saw turtles, gar, small alligators, and caught a bass. 

That evening, we drove through Dupuis Wildlife Management Area. At the end of a gravel road, we found a fishing pier on a small lake with a HUGE gator basking on the bank. We ended up coming back to this spot a few times, but my favorite was at night. The stars out there were really bright, and it was neat to shine a flashlight over the water and find eyes shining back at us.

Nearby Phil Foster Park in Riviera Beach is known for its awesome snorkel trail. Limestone boulders swarmed with tropical fish. The two-acre trail is in a pretty busy area with boats nearby but blocked off from boat traffic. The water is between six and 10 feet deep and was pretty chilly when we got in. We warmed up quickly though, once we started swimming. While snorkeling there we saw starfish, needlefish, barracuda, sergeant major, mullet, a ray, and a friendly loon. 

Big Cypress National Preserve, Mitchell Landing - 2 nights ($12 ea)

Big Cypress is a HUGE nature preserve with many different ecosystems to explore! We chose Mitchell Landing Campground in BCNP for our last spot of November. It's a primitive campground, which means no water/electricity, but there's so much to do in the area that it was worth paying for. Big Cypress showed us our first glimpse into the Everglades and is absolutely abundant with wildlife. We saw many interesting birds, plenty of alligators, adorable air plants, & really cool fish. It was also pretty quiet, other than people using the boat ramp to launch their airboats (which was pretty neat to watch). 

November was a whirlwind of traveling and new adventures. We've been settling into life on the road in our tiny home, and have had very few issues so far. Florida is such a great place to spend our winter. There is so much here to explore, and the weather has been amazing.

Next post with December stats coming soon!