Destin Army Infantry Recreation Campground (U.S. Military FamCamp) Destin, Florida (March 2026)

There is always a great deal of excitement surrounding the start of a new camping season. There was more anticipation this year as it started our 15th camping season with Rosie, our Airstream trailer. Of course, we had nine camping seasons in our original 2007 Airstream Safari and five in our 2020 Airstream Flying Cloud. Fortunately, both of our Airstream trailers answer to the name Rosie.

After a long and very cold winter, we looked forward to heading to the Florida Gulf Coast beaches during "Spring Break" season. "Spring Break" is a family tradition because we spent many years tent camping in Port St Joseph Peninsula State Park during March in the days before Rosie. One of goals was to avoid the college students and Port St Joe was far enough from Panama City Beach to accomplish that goal.

We continued to camp in Port St Joe State Park in Rosie during “Spring Break” until the park closed due to hurricane damage. When it reopened, it was virtually impossible to get a reservation there unless you were a Florida resident because the State changed the reservation rules.

That started us looking at other options. Of course, there are private campgrounds near where we wanted to be, but most of these parks were expensive and their sites tend to be too close to each other. 

Another option open to us was the half dozen military FamCamps in the Florida panhandle. We are grateful that we qualify to camp in them and this turned out to be a great alternative to state parks.

Our new tradition is to make reservations in the Destin Army Infantry Recreation Campground. While it is hard to get reservations there, it is not impossible.

It was exciting going to the storage area where we keep Rosie to start getting ready for our new camping season until we found a problem. 

We knew one of our propane tanks was probably very low on fuel. I inspected the tank and tried to use the regulator to switch tanks. The knob fell off in my hand and Becky started smelling gas. We had a problem!

We had used the service department at Alabama RV Service and Storage in Wetumpka, Alabama several times in the past for non-Airstream issues. We called and they said they would squeeze us in the following week. We must have sounded desperate as we told them we planned to leave before then and really needed someone to help us. The service person asked if we could have Rosie there in 90 minutes. We said we could.

Heading to the service center

We immediately raced home to put the hitch on our truck and returned to the storage area to quickly hitch-up and pulled out heading to Wetumpka. We arrived there with a few minutes to spare. We planned to be there for a few hours, but they finished about 30 minutes later.

It was a good thing that we took Rosie to the service center when we did because one of hoses from the regulator to the LP gas tank was also leaking. They replaced both hoses as a safety precaution and topped off the tanks. 

We took Rosie back to the storage facility after our brief and unplanned visit to the service center and continued to prepare for our upcoming trip. 

The weather changed on our travel day to cold, windy and rainy.  It didn’t take long to get on our way for our first camping trip of the year.

The last time we drove to Destin, our truck misread one of the signs for Florida Highway 85 and moved our cruise-control from a comfortable 55 to 85 mph. It happened again on this trip, but we were ready for it and quickly reset the speed.  

Water tower we pass heading to the Destin Army FamCamp

Check-in was quick and we were able to park without any problems. Most of the sites in this campground are "tight" and we were thankful that we didn't have to ask our neighbors to move their trucks. 

The Destin Army FamCamp

Rosie in the Destin Army FamCamp

We were the third Airstream trailer in the camping area when we arrived. A fourth Airstream trailer arrived a few days after us.

The weather cooperated during our visit. The first few days were on the cool side then it warmed up for the remainder of our time there. 

This is an excellent park to enjoy the colorful sunsets. It is normally hard to find an empty chair and benches along the bay during sunset. 

Sunset at Destin Army FamCamp

Sunset view from the Splash Pad for children

Sunset over the pier at Destin Army FamCamp

Another benefit we enjoy while at this campground is beach access. It takes less than 10 minutes to drive to a public beach along the Gulf of Mexico. The water in both the Gulf and the Bay was beautiful.

Dancing along the shore to Glen Miller's 
"In the Mood," as suggested by our granddaughter 

Enjoying walking in the surf 

We had some entertainment while at this campground. Our neighbors directly across the street from us quickly tore down their site and hitched up to move to another site. About five minutes later, another trailer backed into that site and set up for a visit. We learned later that the original family at that site misread their reservations and thought they had an additional day. They were fortunate that the FamCamp had an additional site open for that night. I'm surprised I haven't made a similar mistake while camping somewhere. 

Rosie in the campground area

We heard the jets from Eglin Air Force Base more than usual. That probably reflected the world situation at that time. 

An added bonus was that we attended a birthday party for a one year-old boy. We got to know the child's parents, who were the campground weekend hosts. We were glad to share in their joy.  

One of our frequent sayings while in this FamCamp was that we missed our bikes. We did go on several long walks along the Bay. Still, we missed our bikes. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• We found one loop in this campground
• Our site was a back in
• Our site had some shade
• Most sites had very little space on both sides
• Our site was paved with asphalt and concrete
• Our site was slightly off level and we needed use our 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. It was slow and worked best before 7 a.m. 
• AT&T provided 3 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 ION, ME-TV, Movies
• The FamCamp provided a cable TV connection. We normally use the antenna and skip the cable connection.  
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Selfie with Suzy

Sitting on a bench to watch sunset

Pelican fly-by

The 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 

Destin Army Infantry Recreation Campground (U.S. Military FamCamp) - Destin, Florida (April 2024)

This is a campground that assigns campsites when you arrive. We were assigned small sites in the outer loop of the campground on our three previous visits. By the luck of the draw, we were assigned a larger site inside the loop this time. 

Office at the Destin Army Recreation Area, which includes the campground and hotel

It looked like an Airstream rally when we pulled up to our site. There were two other Airstream trailers next to Rosie, our Airstream trailer. Plus, there was another Airstream trailer a few sites over. Two more Airstream trailers arrived a few days later. This was a small campground and Airstream trailers stood out in it. 

Three Airstream trailers in a row!

Most people would describe this as a very tight campground. We were pleased that we didn’t have to ask anyone to move their trucks to give us room to back in. We ended up having to move our truck several times to help our new camping neighbors back into their sites. 

It was easy to see that we were there during Destin's Spring Break season. Traffic around Destin was painfully slow and there was an abundance of children in the campground and in the cottages.

Maybe another Spring Breaker

 

Another reminder of Spring Break was the number of trailers leaving the campground during the weekend so that the kids could be back in school on Monday. It seemed that new campers arrived as quickly as others left bringing with them more school aged children on Spring Break. Well, almost all of the campsites were soon filled. 

Along the shore and pier

The pier at night

This has always been a difficult campground to get reservations in, until this year. There were four to six open sites during this visit. Maybe the recent price increases at this military FamCamp had something to do with the empty sites in this campground. 

It was cold several nights while camping in this park.  Rosie’s heat pumps were welcome and kept us cozy inside. 

One of the things we enjoyed at this park was riding our bikes. There were several scenic areas along the Bay that were perfect for bike rides. 

Selfie along the Bay

Another thing we enjoyed while at this FamCamp was going to the beach. The Florida and Alabama Gulf Coasts have some of the prettiest beaches in the country. 

It appeared that we have a new family tradition of being in Rosie during solar eclipses. We were at the Top of Georgia Airstream Campground during the 2017 eclipse. That park was in the 100 percent coverage area and that was a memorable time for us.

During the 75 percent solar eclipse

This 2024 eclipse was a 75 percent partial coverage in Destin and it paled when compared to the 100 percent eclipse in 2017. To make things worse, it was mostly cloudy during the peak of the eclipse. Still it was worth the experience.  Our favorite moment during the eclipse was the night sounds of the frogs in what we call the frog pond. 

We must have camped in this park close to the same week last year. We remembered that the FamCamp had a fire drill then. It was mostly for the hotel part of the complex, but the campers were told about it. We were told about a fire drill again this year as we registered. Fire drills must be unique to this FamCamp.

As before, we enjoyed our time in this FamCamp. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• We found one loop in this campground
• Our site was a back in
• Our site had some shade
• 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. It was very slow and frequently required you to sign back in 
• AT&T provided 3 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 H&I, ION, ME-TV, Movies
• The FamCamp provided a cable TV connection. We normally use the antenna and skip the cable connection, but hooked up to it to watch Iowa's Women’s March Madness Basketball games. 
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

Sunset from the park

Selfie at a seafood restaurant

Chick-fil-a delivering orders to boaters in the Crab Island area

It appears that pirates still roam the Bay

Sunset

 

Rosie in Destin Army FamCamp's campground 

Destin Army Infantry Recreation Campground (U.S. Military FamCamp) - Destin, Florida (November 2023)

We felt bad about arriving at this campground on Thanksgiving day. That meant the camp host had to interrupt her holiday to check us in since the office was closed. We learned that we were the first of seven check-ins that day and the camp host was very cordial, friendly and welcoming to us. Still, we felt bad that we arrived on a holiday. 

Destin Army Infantry Recreation Campground

The gate at Destin Army Campground

We mentioned before that the campsites in this park are tight. Three people in campers near our site volunteered to move their trucks to give us the space we needed to back into our site. Even then, it was difficult to back in and park Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 

We learned while officially checking in the next morning that the daily rate for this FamCamp was increased a whopping 70 percent. Since we made our reservations at the old rate, the park honored it and charged us the old rate. We couldn’t help think of Gulf State Park and its frequent price hikes. It seemed that we were always hit with a higher cost when we arrived than quoted when we made our reservations at that Alabama state park. 

The ant battle continued from our previous campground during the first couple of days in this park. Rosie was invaded while camping in Alabama and it appeared that we brought the ants with us from the other park. The ant bait seemed to work because we didn’t see ants a day after putting it out. 

Enjoying our Thanksgiving meal inside Rosie

The last time we stayed in this campground, it was Fort Benning's off-base FamCamp. The campground hasn’t changed, but the Fort's name is now Fort Moore. 

If you saw the movie "We Were Soldiers," you know something about Lieutenant General Hal Moore and how he led his 400 soldiers to repel an attack by more than 4,000 troops in Vietnam. I can see the Army's campaign to honor General Moore, but it will take me a while to feel comfortable with the new name.

Sunset from the pier area

There are rental cottages and a hotel adjacent to the RV Campground and the facility was using the winter lull in reservations to renovate the cottages. That meant that we heard the sounds of the workers during the day.

Probably the most interesting result from the renovations was that several of the larger RV sites were taken over by the workers to store new appliances for the cottages. We were amazed as we watched large delivery trucks navigate the tight turns in the campground to deliver new appliances for the renovations. 

They used several camp sites to change out appliances in the cottages

As with most campgrounds we visit, we enjoyed riding our bikes while there. Most of our bike rides were outside the park on the many bike paths around the area. We were amused by the number of rules posted on multiple signs in the Destin city parks.

One of the city's parks

This campground rates high on our list of favorite military FamCamps. While we prefer camping in Florida State Parks, it is almost impossible to get reservations in those parks. Thus, we are thankful for the military FamCamps in that state.

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There was a single loop in the campground
• Our site was a back in
• Our site had 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, Circle, Comet, Court-TV, Dabl, ION, LAFF, ME-TV, Retro, Stadium and TBD
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

A water tower near the FamCamp

Suzy enjoying the sunset

Near the campground's shore

Blue Angel Naval Recreation Area Campground (U.S. Military FamCamp) - Battleship Row, Pensacola, Florida (September 2023)

Before discussing our adventures in this campground, we need to talk about an event that happened since our last trip in Rosie, our Airstream trailer. 

We store Rosie inside a warehouse we call “Fort Rosie.” Of course, the owner of that facility has another name for it. We occasionally drop by to see Rosie while parked in storage. These visits are more for our peace of mind.

On one of our visits to Fort Rosie, we noticed that the new property owner had a crew painting the warehouse buildings. It is always good to see the owner working to improve the facility. 

We had to go back to Fort Rosie the next day and saw the crew pressure washing the metal roofs over the warehouse buildings. The property manager said they were getting ready to paint the roofs. 

I woke up early the next morning. I had an uneasy feeling about Rosie. All I could think about was how often rain dripped through the several small holes in the roof over Rosie and how likely it was that paint from the roof would land on our Airstream. 

We discussed our options over breakfast and decided it would best to move Rosie away from the warehouse during these renovations and we knew that Rosie needed to move that morning.

We had an option because we made arrangements to park Rosie at a nearby military base when we first learned that Fort Rosie was being sold. This was to be a fallback in case the new owner had different plans for that property than RV storage. We were glad we had that option.

 

Rosie in the warehouse

We loaded our hitching gear in our truck and headed to Fort Rosie. We were  not prepared for what we saw when we opened the warehouse door. No, they hadn't started painting yet and Rosie wasn't covered with drops of paint. But, Rosie was covered with dirt and rust residue from the roof pressure washing. We quickly hitched up and pulled Rosie out of the warehouse so we could see her in the sunlight. It was a sickening sight!

Hooked up and ready to exit the storage warehouse

Since we were planning to go on a camping trip in a few weeks, we brought some cleaning supplies with us that morning. We quickly connected a hose and started rinsing Rosie. We were glad to see the debris on Rosie rinsing away. 

I found the property manager and was able to borrow a ladder to help rinse off Rosie's roof. He agreed that removing Rosie from the warehouse during the painting process was a good idea. 

It took three or four long rinses to remove the dirt and rust residue from Rosie then we went ahead and washed her. It was great to see a clean Rosie that shined in the sunlight. That was confirmed at the military base's gate, where we were stopped by a military police officer for the normal ID check. After verifying our IDs the MP added, "Your Airstream looks great!" We knew if we had left Rosie in the warehouse, she would have been covered with paint blotches and rust debris from the roof. 

Rosie parked in RV Storage on a military base

We learned something about Rosie's solar panels while she was stored at the military base. One of the features at Fort Rosie is that we have an electrical plug we can use to keep Rosie's batteries charged. Of course, electricity wasn't an option at Rosie's temporary home on the military base and I was worried about keeping her batteries ready for our next trip.

A quick search of Airstream's online help pages relieved our minds. Airstream trailers are wired so that the solar system bypasses the "store" switch, which normally disconnects everything electrical when parked at a storage facility. That allows the batteries to be charged from the solar panels while in storage. That made sense.

We were thankful we had a back-up plan for storing Rosie and were able to get Rosie ready for our next adventure while parked on that military base. 

We quickly fell into the camping groove once we had Rosie on the road. We were glad to be out camping again. 

The check-in hut at Pensacola Naval Air Station's Blue Angel FamCamp

Finding a site at Blue Angel Naval Recreation FamCamp can be described as a scavenger hunt. The hosts gave us a site tag when we checked in and told us to find the best site without a tag on it. Then there was a mad dash for the waterfront sites. 

As luck would have it, we struck out and settled for a decent site deep inside the park instead of along the water. 

First site in Battleship Row

We saw some unexpected visitors our first night. Two deer were running through the campground between campers after sunset. We would see the deer several times during the evening in this campground. 

Battleship Row

Then a really unexpected thing happened. We were walking our dog the second morning in the park when we saw a camper packing up and leaving from one of the prime waterfront sites. We talked about moving Rosie, but decided it was too much work and the site would be quickly snapped up. 

We went on a bike ride an hour later and were surprised to see that site was still open. We decided to quickly put our site nametag there to claim that site. We called the office and cleared the move with them. 

Unhitching Rosie in our new waterfront site

We were able to pack up and move in less than an hour. That meant we would enjoy the waterfront site for five more days. 

The waterfront site gave us front row seats to watch all new trailers arriving and those departing. It also gave us great views of the sunsets. The sunsets were amazing. We made the right decision to move sites.

Watching the sunset from Rosie's site

Rosie's site in Battleship Row

We were able to visit with our grandson twice while in this park. We drove about 40 miles to watch his first “Coach-pitch” baseball game. For the second visit, he and his father, our son, came to visit us in this campground. It was fun to tour the Naval Aviation Museum and the lighthouse with them. 

Grandson making a great play during his coach-pitch game

A sign of the times was when we pointed out a machine gun on a World War II plane to our first-grader grandson. He immediately said, "I'm telling." I guess that was sadly the result of active shooter drills at his school. I thought back to my elementary school days when we had “duck and cover” drills, which were supposed to protect us from nuclear attacks. 

At the Naval Aviation Museum 

It was amazing how fast a week went by. We enjoyed biking in this campground and going for walks on the beach at Johnson Beach. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were two separate campgrounds in this park. The rustic side is Anchor Cove. It has more shade, water and electric hookups and sites are paved with dirt. The other side is Battleship Row and has full hookups, paved roads and concrete sites. We were in Battleship Row 
• There were multiple loops in both Battleship Row and Anchor Cove 
• Our site was a back in
• Our site had some shade
• Most sites had some space on both sides
• Our site was paved with concrete and was level 
• Our site had 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service 
• Our site had a water connection
• Our site had a sewer connection 
• There was a dump station in Anchor Cove 
• The trash dumpster was in the middle of the campground. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There were two bathhouses in Battleship Row 
• 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, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Antenna-TV, Circle, Comet, Court-TV, Dabl, ION, LAFF, ME-TV, Retro, Stadium and TBD
• There were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 

By the way, the Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration team practiced over our site one day while camped there.

Watching someone fish with a net at sunset

Selfie at the beach

The lighthouse at Pensacola Naval Air Station

Selfie at the top of the lighthouse

Taking a display aircraft for a spin at the Naval Aviation Museum