We arrived at the Destin Army Infantry Recreation Campground a little after noon. The person at the check-in desk told us that their arrival time was 2 p.m. and we would have to exit the park if our site was not open yet. This was because the campground did not have an overflow area.
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| Sign at the campground at night |
Our anxieties were relieved as we drove around the campground and saw that our site was empty and waiting for us.
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| Rosie in the campground |
We knew from camping here last year that camping sites are narrow and it takes a higher level of parking skills to successfully park in our site. Becky expertly maneuvered Rosie, our Airstream trailer, into our site.
It didn’t take long to set up Rosie and we were off on our first of many bicycle rides around the area. The campground was not on a busy highway and was surrounded by private homes which helped make bike riding enjoyable.
There were two sections in this recreational area. The area closest to the Bay was cottages and something similar to motel rooms. The campground was located behind these rooms. There was a swimming pool and a children's splash pad next to the bay. There was a marina in the park where you could rent jet skis and boats to explore the Bay.
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| Swimming pool area |
The only reminders of Spring Break were when we went to the Gulf beach area. It was very crowded over the weekend, but tolerable during the week. We also noticed that the people at the beach tended to be families and not the college age crowd.
One of the more popular events in the campground was watching sunsets along the bay. The adirondack chairs along the Bay were full of people enjoying the spectacular views.
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| Sunset in the park |
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| The pier at sunset |
A tradition we noticed last year in this park was the 3 p.m. gatherings. A group of men gathered outside one R.V. for what they called the Commander’s Call. That is military jargon for a meeting called for the top leaders on a base with the purpose of solving problems.
The women met at another RV. They said their job was to identify the problems the men needed to solve.
The problem the men haven’t solved yet is getting reservations in this campground. As with most popular campgrounds, it takes persistence and patience to successfully reserve a site.
We had a first while camping here. The park held a fire drill! That was mostly for the cottages and motel rooms on this property. Still, it was interesting to see all the signs about the drill posted throughout the area.
Here are some specifics about this campground:
- There was only one loop in this campground
- Our site was a back in
- Most sites could be classified as "full sun" as trees were few and far apart
- Sites were best described as “tight.” We found it a challenge to squeeze our truck next to Rosie at our site
- Our site was paved with concrete. We needed to use leveling tools to correct a side-to-side lean in Rosie
- Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service
- Our site had a water connection
- Our site had a sewer connection
- The trash dumpsters were at the entrance of the campground. It was easy to walk there with your trash
- There was a bathhouse in the campground. It was clean and maintained while we were there
- The park provided WiFi service. We measured download speeds of 4 mb.
- AT&T provided 2 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite
- We were able to watch CBS, CW, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Circle, Comet, Get, Grit, ME-TV and Stadium
- There were restaurants and shopping nearby
- This was a pet friendly park
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| Selfie at night along the Bay |
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