We camped on base in the Naval Air Station's FamCamp the last time we were in Pensacola. That meant we had to pull Rosie, our Airstream trailer, through the barricades at the gate and past base security. This time we camped in the Blue Angel Naval Recreation Area, the other Pensacola Navy FamCamp. This is the military campground located off the base, meaning we didn’t see Marines with loaded M-16 rifles at the gate.
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| Entrance to Blue Angel Naval Recreation Area |
There are two camping loops at the Blue Angels Naval FamCamp. One was called Battleship Row and those sites had concrete pads and full hookups. They also had grassy areas between sites, paved roads through this loop and up-to-date facilities. The bad news for this loop was that the water views were across approximately 100 feet of concrete that was used during World War II to train Navy pilots about carrier landings.
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| Turn left for Battleship Row and right for Anchor Cove |
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| The start of the Anchor Cove loop |
The other loop was called Anchor Cove. Those sites were similar to what you would see in some state parks in that the sites were dirt with only water and electric connections. On second thought, make that similar to neglected state parks. There was mostly dirt between sites and dirt roads around this loop. Well, it was dirt until it rained and turned into mud. It’s best to not talk about the facilities in that loop. The good news was that a few sites in Anchor Cove had good views of the bay and shade.
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| Sunset over Anchor Cove |
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| Rosie in Anchor Cove |
We were surprised at check-in to find out that sites in this campground were not pre assigned. Instead, we were given a yellow site reservation card for Anchor Cove and were told that all sites without yellow cards were up-for-grabs. We made a beeline to the sites along the bay and were surprised to find a great one open with shade and water views. I am sure by the number of newly arriving campers searching for sites as we were setting up that we would not have been able to get on the waterfront if we had arrived five minutes later.
We took a little road-trip our first morning in Anchor Cove. We left the park before sunrise and headed toward Mobile, Alabama. We arrived in time to watch our five year old grandson's Tee-Ball game. He batted twice and hit a single and a double. He also was batted in to score a run. It was fun watching our grandson and his team play a game and to share the excitement with the other parents and grandparents.
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| Batting practice before the Tee-Ball game |
We made it back to Rosie mid-afternoon. That gave us time to walk our dog around the park and to enjoy the sunset across the bay.
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| Sunset from Anchor Cove |
The speed limits around the campground were interesting. They yo-yo'ed up and down from 5 mph to 35 mph with patches of 10, 15 and 25 mph sprinkled in to keep things interesting. The roads were bad and bumpy enough that it was difficult to go faster than a slow crawl, making speed limits moot. To make things worse, there were random speed bumps that made sure everything in your trailer and tow vehicle were rattled while passing through the park.
We enjoyed riding our bikes around this campground. We found some interesting trails to explore.
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| Another sunset photo |
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| View from Anchor Cove |
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| The marina and outpost store |
The online reviews of the Blue Angel Recreation Area Campgrounds were confusing to us at first. Some were glowing while others left readers with the impression that the campground was similar to camping in a third-world country. After staying here, we understood the disparity in those comments.
Reviews from people camping in Battleship Row tended to be very positive while reviews from people stuck in Anchor Cove were anything but positive. Since we were in Anchor Cove, we were in the grumpy group who dealt with its outdated facilities, the dirt and mud.
Not everyone in Anchor Cove was disappointed with their site. Our neighbors in the site next to Rosie said they loved the "beachy" feeling of that loop and preferred it over Battleship Row.
Here are some specifics about this campground:
- There were two main loops in the campground. They were Battleship Row and Anchor Cove
- Our site was a back in
- Our site had shade
- Most sites had some space on both sides
- Our site was dirt
- Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service
- Our site had a water connection
- Our site did not have a sewer connection
- There was a dump station in this park
- The trash dumpsters were near the middle of our loop
- There was a bathhouse in our loop. It appeared to be a manufactured trailer and needed to be maintained. People who served in the Army and “went to the field” will recognize Anchor Cove's restrooms as being very similar to field latrines with running water
- The park did not provide WiFi service
- AT&T provided 3 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite
- We were able to watch ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were AntennaTV, Bounce, Charge, Circle, Comet, CourtTV, Cozi, Dabl, Escape, Get, Grit, ION, Justice, LAFF, ME-TV, Rewind, Stadium and TBD
- There were restaurants and shopping nearby
- The Navy Exchange and Commissary were about 20 minutes away from this campground
- This was a pet friendly park
Would we camp in Anchor Cove again? We would not rule it out, but every other option would have to fall through before we would return.
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| A selfie |
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