Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi - Gulfport, Mississippi (October 2025)

Rosie, the name we call our Airstream trailer, sat idle for 15 long months while I recovered from a mountain of medical woes. As expected, we compiled a list of "maintenance problems" during our first camping trips. We were pleasantly surprised that our "problem list" was short. 

We could not ignore one of the problems. A small amount of water was leaking in through the front window. It appeared we didn’t have a major problem with this leak because we had more than an inch of rain while camping near Mobile and Rosie was dry inside, but we knew the leak would only get worse over time. 

Foley RV / Airstream of Mississippi

We decided to close our second Rosie adventure of the year by visiting Foley RV/Airstream of Mississippi for some service from the dealer who sold us our Airstream.

We knew we had to leave the Mobile area early on our service appointment day. Complicating the travel time was the tunnel under Mobile Bay. That tunnel has a reputation of being very slow weekday mornings. 

We completely hooked-up Rosie to our truck the night before and had to take down only the electric just before pulling out. Our planning paid off as we made it through the tunnel before the traffic slowed down to a crawl during the normal morning drive time. 

We were able to travel the 75 miles and arrived at Foley RV just as they were opening for the day. After giving the service technician our problem list, we headed to the fast food restaurant next door for our breakfast. 

Breakfast time!

When we walked back to Foley RV's Service Department, the technician had a list of the problems he found with Rosie. There were three areas around the front window that caused a "slow leak." All of the repairs could be completed by noon, but we needed to stay overnight to make sure the fresh window seals set properly.

While the technician worked on Rosie, we looked at the new Airstream trailers and the Basecamps. Fortunately, we didn't find a new trailer that we liked more than Rosie. 

The technician working on Rosie's AC units

Then it was closing time at Foley RV. There are three full hook-ups spots behind the service bays that customers can use while their Airstreams are being serviced. All three camping sites have a pronounced left-to-right lean, which would be unacceptable at a campground. We would have to live with the lean for a night while Foley RV repaired Rosie.

We were locked in their lot and given emergency contact numbers, which we did not need. The traffic and train noises died down around 9 p.m. Suzy, our Yorkie, didn't seemed confused by all of the other Airstream trailers. She always returned to Rosie's door when we took her out for a walk. 

Rosie in the service area's complimentary overnight parking

It was surprisingly cool the next morning. We turned on the heat pumps to make sure they worked. The technician was there by 8 a.m. and tested the new seals. A new problem was discovered and quickly fixed. We were ready to leave for home by midmorning. 

Meaher State Park - Mobile, Alabama (October 2025)

We were surprised when we arrived at Meaher State Park. Three years ago, we noticed the gate was too close to the road. That meant your trailer was still on the road while opening the park's gate.

This time the gate was moved farther inside the park. The result was that even "big rigs" could safely enter. 

That wasn't the only thing that was different this time. The number of campsites appeared to have doubled since we were there last time. 

Rosie among friends at Meaher State Park

The new camping loop looked like a parking lot. Any trees in that area were cut down to make the campsites. On the positive side, the paved sites in the new section were generously wide. Also, the bathhouse in the new area was very nice. 

New section of the campground

One of the disadvantages of the new section was road noise. Perhaps the noise will be less when the trees grow back. The park has plans to plant 150 trees in that area.

Meaher's is a relatively small state park and does not appear to be a destination type park unless your goal is to spend the day fishing. We noticed there were a handful of people constantly fishing from the pier or boardwalk areas. 

Fishing pier at sunset

The primary reason we wanted to camp in Meaher State Park was to watch our grandson play baseball on his “kid-pitch travel ball" team. Needless to say, we were very proud watching him bat, pitch and pick-off a base runner on second base trying to steal third.

Our grandson about to hit a double 

 

Our daily visitor on the boardwalk trail 

Look carefully and see the horned owl in this tree 

We saw several alligators in the water while on our walks. They ranged in size from three feet to probably eight feet or larger.

We saw several rabbits while on our walks. They seemed to be used to people because they did not run away as we continued our walks and came very close to them. 

We were surprised to see a horned owl in a tree. Of course, we saw the normal birds found along the water.

We may have set a record for the number of Airstream trailers in the park during our visit.  We saw seven Airstreams including an Atlas and two Interstates. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a back in
• Our site had some shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt and 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 dumpster was in the middle of the campground. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There was a bathhouse in the campground 
• The park provided WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 3 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Comet, Charge!, ION, Grit, ME-TV, Rewind, Roar and Story
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Rosie at Meaher State Park

Selfie with our son and his family

Rosie at sunset

Eating out at a Cajun restaurant

Sign at the start of the fishing pier. 

Destin Army Infantry Recreation Campground (U.S. Military FamCamp) - Destin, Florida (September 2025)

Our first camping trip since the "bike accident" was a success. We decided we needed to go out again in Rosie, our Airstream trailer.

Becky wanted to see if we could get reservations in a campground along the Florida or Alabama Gulf Coast. Experienced campers know it is always difficult getting reservations in a prime park in that location. Starting the search less than two weeks before wanting to arrive is just about impossible to end successfully.

I had low expectations when I called Destin's Army Infantry Recreation Center. I was surprised when they said they had a "premium" site available for two weeks. Of course, I quickly grabbed that site. More than likely someone cancelled his or her reservations just before I called.

Welcome to Destin

We classify Destin as a top-tier military FamCamp. It is along the Bay in Destin and has the campground along with a hotel and cottages for guests. They also have a great swimming pool and splash pad setup for the children. The fishing pier in this park is well maintained and we enjoy walking out on it. This is a great park and it has some spectacular views of sunsets.

Entrance to the Destin Army Infantry Recreation Campground

We had a unique experience with our truck while we pulled Rosie to Destin. Our truck is equipped with the technology allowing it to drive itself. It is better at catching speed limit signs than me. Often times, I'm just another passenger in the truck. 

As we were approaching Fort Walton, I noticed that we were going very fast. We were at 75 mph and accelerating. 

It was easy to figure out what went wrong. The truck misread the sign for Florida Highway 85 as the speed limit and was dutifully trying to reach 85 mph while pulling Rosie when I took over the driving responsibilities from the truck. That was the first time the truck misread a highway sign for a speed limit.

Sites are assigned when you arrive at this FamCamp. By the luck of the draw, we were assigned a site on one of the campground’s curves. That made it easy for us to park Rosie.

Walking around the hotel section of the campground

Walking Suzy in a park near Watercolor, Florida

There was a new gadget in the office area. It was a coffee machine. We enjoyed getting a cup of coffee every morning.

A pirate ship sails past the campground 

Plants in the park 

We were not the only ones enjoying the sunset

We celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary while at this FamCamp. We went out for an authentic Gulf seafood dinner.

Enjoying lunch on our anniversary

A couple we talked to one evening during sunset recommended the Gulfarium, a marine life aquarium and show in Destin. We both enjoyed the exhibits and shows.

Enjoying the show at the Gulf Aquarium

There was a bumper crop of sandspurs in the campground area this time. We had to carefully check Suzy every time we took her out for a walk.

We always enjoyed riding our bikes at this campground on previous visits there. Since the bike accident, our bikes are staying at home. We discovered that we also enjoyed taking walks. Our watches told us we walked more than five miles a couple of days.

We constantly looked for dolphins in the bay or at the beach while at this FamCamp. We saw dolphins on our last day in the bay near the pier.

Rosie in the Destin Army FamCamp

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• We found one loop in this campground
• Our site was a back in
• Our site did not have any shade
• Typical of most FamCamps, most sites had very little space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt and concrete
• Our site was level and we didn’t need use any leveling tools
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• The trash dumpster was at the entrance of the campground. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There was a bathhouse in the campground. It was very clean 
• There was a laundry room in this campground 
• The park provide WiFi service. 
• AT&T provided 2 bars of 5G voice and data service over our campsite 
• We were able to watch PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna
• The FamCamp provided a cable TV connection with more than 80 channels we didn’t want to watch
• The park has a swimming pool and a splash pad for children. The splash pad was closed for repairs 
• This was a military FamCamp. You must have a military ID or a VA Health ID that states you have a service-connected disability to camp in this park
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Enjoying the beach

Another sunset at Destin

Solo pelican flyby