Abbeville RV Park - Abbeville, Louisiana (March 2023)

For the third time on this trip, our assigned site in a campground wasn’t meant for Rosie, our Airstream trailer. As we were trying to park Rosie, several members of our WBCCI Cajun Caravan came over to help and the consensus was that Rosie was too big to fit that site. That was confirmed by the camp host. 

Sign at the entrance to the campground

Rosie was too big?  How can a 26 foot trailer be too big? Easy! You cannot fit a 26 foot trailer in a site that a 20 footer would struggle to fit into. 

Rosie was quickly reassigned to an appropriate site. What we lost at our new site was 50 amp power. More about that later. 

Rosie in this campground

We camped in this park seven years ago in our first Airstream trailer, a 30 amp unit. People with 30 amp trailers quickly learn how to track their power usage. For example, we could not run the air conditioner and the microwave at the same time without blowing a fuse. 

Things are different with our current 50 amp Airstream trailer. Fifty ampers normally don’t have to keep track of how many electrical devices are on. Our new site with only 30 amps meant we had to get back into the mindset of keeping track of our amperage usage. 

The first thing turned off was the electric element in the hot water heater. If hot water was needed, we had to use the propane gas side of that heater. 

We also had to make sure the air conditioner was off before using the microwave oven. We were amazed at how much planning we needed to keep our electrical usage below 30 amps and thankful that most RV parks we visit have 50 amp utilities. 

Some of the things we did in Abbeville were crawfish harvesting, eating a crawfish boil and listening to live Cajun music on the city square. 

On the Crawfish boat

The crawfish boil came with instructions on how to eat them

Becky makes friends with a baby alligator 

Back to our 30 amp power dilemma. I was working outside Rosie the day before we left this campground and noticed a small box next to the utilities pole. This is typically a connection for cable TV or a telephone jack in older parks and this qualified as a campground that has been around a while. I was surprised to see a 50 amp power connector when I looked inside that box. I plugged in our surge protector and it found no problems with that power connector. A few minutes later, I switched Rosie over to the 50 amp feed and we stopped keeping track of our amperage usage. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground
• Our site was a back in
• Our site had shade
• Our site had some space on both sides. A few sites in this campground were very close to each other 
• Our site was paved with dirt and gravel. 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 at the back of the campground. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There wasn’t a bathhouse in the campground 
• The park provided minimal WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 2 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-Bounce, Buzzr, Court-TV, Cozy, Grit, H&I and ME-TV
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Outside city hall and yes, it includes a mural of an accordion 

Suzy meets a caterpillar 

Inside a local church

Enjoying lunch

Live music on the town square

Dancing to the live music on the square

Abbeville RV Park - Abbeville, Louisiana

There was a night and day difference between the Abbeville RV Park and the previous park that Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer, camped in. It was a pleasant and welcome change.
The Abbeville RV Park is owned by the city and you drive about one mile through the woods after turning off the highway to get to the campground. The ride through the woods was calming and gave the park the look and feel of a state park.

Rosie at Abbeville RV Park

One of the first features we noticed about this park was the shade. Most sites were large and there were many trees throughout this park.
Another feature was that the park was quiet. Being a mile off the main road, we didn't hear the sounds of the city nor did we hear traffic noises. The peace and quiet was very much appreciated.

Lots of Airstream RVs at Abbeville RV Park

A family of owls added some excitement to our stay in this park. It was easy to spot the parents watching over their baby owls in the nest.

Owls at Abbeville RV Park (Photo by Tim Bush, used by permission.)

There were a few things missing at this park. The lack of showers and restrooms will keep some campers out of this park. That is probably why the park does not accept tent campers.
Here are some specifics about the Abbeville RV Park:

• The park offered 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service.
• Each site also had water and sewer service.
• The park does not have showers nor does it have restrooms. You have to use the facilities in your RV or be willing to find a restaurant that is open at your moment of need.
• What I thought was a TV cable connection turned out to be a telepone box. That was OK because there were several TV signals available over the air.
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, Fox and PBS from Rosie's antenna. We also saw digital signals from Antenna, CW, ME-TV and THiS.
• WiFi was available in the park. The service tended to be slow when people were active and checking things online.
• AT&T provided solid phone and moderate 4G service over the park.
• Lots of shopping can be found outside the park.

People around Abbeville like to say that their community is the most cajun in Lousiana. While it would be hard to prove that claim, it is just as hard to dispute it. There are many places with deep Cajun heritages in and around Abbeville worth visiting.