It didn't take long after returning home from our Airstream Owners Association (WBCCI) caravan of Michigan's Upper Peninsula before we started talking about taking Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer, out on another adventure. Once Rosie was replenished, our conversations started including how nice it would be to camp near the Gulf coast for a week or so.
A quick review of this blog will leave readers with the impression that we love the Gulf coast. The Florida State Parks near Port St. Joe and Grayton Beach are some of our favorite campgrounds along the Gulf. We also love camping in Fort Pickens, which is a federal park near Pensacola. We also have camped along the Gulf Coast in Alabama and Mississippi in the past. Yes, we love the Gulf coast!
While we have our favorites, we are always looking for new campgrounds to add to that growing list. One of the parks in the "Gulf Coast" vicinity is Big Lagoon State Park near Pensacola, Florida. This park is near Fort Pickens, a park we enjoy, and it is on the bay feeding into the Gulf. Plus, Big Lagoon was recommended to us by several fellow campers who shared their "favorites" with us. That all adds up to this being a park we needed to visit.
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| Big Lagoon State Park |
Our first impression of the park was that is was too small and we would probably regret making our reservations for ten days. We quickly found out we were mistaken and that this is a great park to camp in.
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| Rosie in the campground |
What changed our tune? We went for a kayak ride in the lagoon. As herons watched over us from the shore and trees, we enjoyed exploring the waterways with our kayak. We also enjoyed hiking, riding our bikes and the park's observation tower while camping in Big Lagoon State Park.
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| Along the shore |
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| Wading in the lagoon |
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| Walkway to the observation tower |
While the campground is rustic, it had paved roads running through the sites. That made it easy to walk or bike around. It also helped keep the dust down, which would have been a problem because the area was in a drought while we were there.
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| Becky and Suzy in the kayak |
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| Suzy enjoying her ride in the kayak |
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| Suzy's new hairdo |
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| One of the walkways |
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| Taken from the observation tower |
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| Blue Angels flying overhead |
There were several boardwalks running through the park's marshlands. We enjoyed riding our bikes along these paths.
Here are some specifics about this park:
- Our site had 50 and 20 amp electrical service. We had to use our 50-to-30 amp converter cable to connect Rosie to the power box.
- Our site had a water connection. We used to think this was normal until we camped in Michigan where water connections don't exist.
- There were three restrooms/showers in the camping areas. The one nearest us was clean and up-to-date.
- We were able to watch ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS TV stations using Rosie's antenna. We also received digital signals from GRIT, ME-TV and Comet.
This is a park we enjoyed and plan to camp in again.
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| Time for lunch! |
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| Sunset |
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| Entering Pensacola Naval Air Station |
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| The Blue Angels |
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| The lighthouse on the grounds of Pensacola NAS |
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| Becky at the top of the lighthouse |
