Topsail Hill Preserve State Park - Santa Rosa Beach, Florida (October 2021)

How can this be the first time we really camped in this park when we stayed here three times before? Let me try to explain that claim.

Our first camping experience in Topsail was a disaster. Something went wrong with the power stand and it melted the connector on our power cord and the plug on the stand. The park was full so we could not move to another site and the power stand had problems with no estimate as to when an electrician could fix it. We ended up moving to another Florida state park and buying a new power cord while on the way there.

The second and third times at Topsail were to attend Airstream rallies always held in January. It was cold and rainy both times; we stayed with our group and we didn’t explore the park.

That brings us to this trip. We had a spare power cord and there wasn't an Airstream rally taking place while we were there. The only potential problem was the weather. 

Sign at Topsail State Park

The weather was great as we arrived and setup our site. We were able to walk around and explore the campground that first evening. Then it started to rain. The rain turned into a thunderstorm later that night. It was still raining when we got up the next morning. It rained during lunch. It did stop raining for a few hours that afternoon. It was interesting to see everyone emerge from their campers to enjoy the park. 

We were surprised to see that some campground roads and sites were flooded with the water six to ten inches deep. Our site had standing water off the concrete pad, but it wasn’t flooded. Rosie, our Airstream trailer’s name, was dry and cozy. 

Streets and sites flooded

Standing water around Rosie

It started raining again after dinner. It rained all through the night and until mid morning the next day. We used the opportunity to wash clothes and to clean Rosie’s floor. We were able to slip in a bike ride before the start of the next rain cycle. 

According to a local TV station between ten and twelve inches of rain fell during the first four days camping in Topsail. In between storms, there were a few hours each day that allowed us to explore the park with our bikes. 

 

Multiple sites were flooded

Streets and sites underwater were the norm during our time in this park. The conversations while walking around the park during the interludes without rain usually focused on the other couple telling us how many years they have camped in Topsail and that they never saw any flooding in the park before. We believed them and decided the weather was unique during this visit. 

Here are some specifics about this campground:

• There were multiple loops in the campground. It seems that the interior loop is preferred by most, but this was were we saw the most flooded sites
• While not at the level of a KOA, most sites were much closer together than what you expect in state parks 
• Our site was a back-in 
• Our site was paved with concrete 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 
• There were multiple trash dumpsters throughout the campground. It was easy to walk there with your trash
• There was a bathhouse located near Rosie. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not check on its condition
• The park did not provide WiFi service 
• AT&T provided 3 bars of 4G voice and data service over our campsites 
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and PBS using Rosie’s TV antenna. Digital channels seen were Circle, Grit, H&I, LAFF and ME-TV
• The campground provided basic TV cable at our site. We preferred watching live TV from Rosie’s antenna
• The campground was near Destin, Fla. That meant there were restaurants and shopping nearby
• This was a pet friendly park 
• There were multiple signs warning about Florida Black Bears in the park. Our son was the first to notice that it was very unlikely that bears were near the park because campgrounds with bear problems have bear proof trash cans. This park didn’t have any bear proof items

This is a park that you need to bring your bikes to. There are a few hiking trails, but they were mostly under water during our visit. Bike trails were paved and led to an amazing beach and a rare dune lake. 

Selfie by rare dune lake

Dune Lake Campbell

Our son, daughter-in-law and grandson were able to join us over the weekend. It was great having them camp in Rosie and that made this trip very special. 

Our grandson visits

Our son's family inside Rosie

Having fun in the campground

Grandson reads a book

The bottom line is that this visit did change out minds about Topsail. I’m not ready to call it a “favorite,” but it has some beautiful beaches that are less crowded than other ones in the area. 

Looking for a snack along the shore

The dunes

The boardwalk

A warning flag for beach goers

Rosie in the campground

A few pointers about shuffleboard 

Suzy watching the trash truck

Canopener 2016, Topsail Hill Preserve State Park - Destin, Florida

We attended our first Canopener Airstream Rally in 2015. That was when we learned about the WBCCI's (Wally Byam Caravan Club International) Southeastern Camping Unit. This is a very active unit that loves to spend time camping in their Airstreams. That was a good match for us and we joined that unit.

Look at the Canopener through Rosie's window

One of our memories from the 2015 Canopener was the cold weather. Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer kept us warm that weekend and we enjoyed our time at the rally.

Weather would play a role in the 2016 Canopener. Instead of being cold, we found ourselves dodging rain storms. This time Rosie kept us dry. Just as before, we found that the weather was inconvenient, but not a "show stopper." We were able to enjoy the rally with our growing circle of camping friends.
Topsail is not your typical state park. It was a resort style RV Park that the State of Florida purchased and continues to maintain in the same style. Topsail is famous for its manicured lawns and concrete pads.

The rain fell at the 2016 Canopener

We understand why the Canopener Rally is held in Topsail. It is a large park and able to support 100+ Airstream trailers. It has a good clubhouse and the sites are very nice. (More than 100 Airstream trailers and motorhomes were at the 2016 Canopener Rally!) These are things that rally planners love. It is also a nice park to walk around and visit fellow campers.

Nothing like seeing a park full of Airstream trailers

Rosie at the Canopener

Last year we camped in the outer loop and most of the Canopener events took place in the inner loop. We reserved our site early and were lucky enough to get the last available site in the inner loop this year. Somehow most of the events for the 2016 Canopener took place in the outer loop. I guess we will always be out-of-sync with the center of "action" at the Canopener.

Rosie's camping site at the 2016 Canopener

More Airstream trailers at the Canopener

One of the things we are starting to notice is that we are recognizing other Airstreamers when we attend rallys. There were more than half a dozen couples we knew from the Cajun Caravan or the WBCCI International Rally. That helps make attending Airstream rallys special.
Here are some specifics about this park:

• There are two main camping loops. We think the inner loop has the nicer sites.
• Our site had 50, 30 and 20 amp electrical service.
• Our site had water and sewer connections.
• There is a dump station in this park. It may be one of the least used dump stations in the Florida State Park system since the Topsail campsites come with sewer connections.
• Our site had a cable TV connection. Our track record with campground cable TV connections is not great, but it worked this time.
• AT&T placed a good 4G signal for both voice and data in this park.
• There was minimal Wi-Fi service near the laundry. For some reason, I only saw the Wi-Fi signal for a fleeting moment while we were in the park.
• There is a camp store and a coin-operated laundry in the park.
• There is no need to panic if you run out of milk and eggs. There is a Publix grocery store a few miles outside the park.
• We found that we needed to buy drinking water at the Publix grocery store because the park's water didn't taste too good.
• There is a tram that takes campers to the beach at Topsail. It ran every two hours during our visit. I imagine it runs more frequently during the summer months. This may be the only state park on the Gulf coast that we have never made it to the beach.

Will we return to Topsail Hill State Park? Probably, but not before the 2017 Canopener.

Topsail is close to Grayton Beach and its famous trees

Slipping away for lunch

Enjoying the 2016 Canopener

Canopener 2015 - Topsail Hill Preserve State Park

We first heard about the Canopener while attending our local WBCCI (Wally Byam Caravan Club International) meeting. One of the group's members said he made reservations to attend something called the Canopener. That sounded interesting and I wanted to know more about this Airstream rally.

At that time, our problem with the Canopener was that it was in January and my work schedule made it impossible for us to attend. We knew that the Canopener would have to wait until another day.

Fast forward to 2015, our first real opportunity to attend and we made our reservations.

The Canopener is held at the Topsail Hill Preserve State Park in Florida. Our previous trip to this park did not end on a positive note, so we were curious to see how this trip to the park would turn out.

Topsail Hill State Park in Florida

We were unable to reserve a site in the main loop housing the rally. Using the knowledge gained from our first visit, we booked a site that backed up to one of the small ponds in the park. This turned out to be a much better site than the one we had during our first visit.

Our site at Topsail

View of Rosie from the pond

Our first day at the Canopener was marked by some very cold temperatures. The heating systems in Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer, kept us nice and warm and we enjoyed our evening together and played Mexican Train Dominoes.

As we walked through the park the next morning, we were able to see what was taking place that weekend. More than 100 Airstream trailers and motorhomes were there. You saw aluminum everywhere you looked and Airstreamers outside talking to one another. It turned out that the event was very similar to the mental picture I created for it.

Some of the Airstream trailers at the 2015 Canopener

We quickly learned that this was a great place to learn more about our trailer. I had a question about Rosie's hot water heater. I simply asked our neighbor and he shared his knowledge about that subject with me and answered my questions.

We tested Rosie's new bicycle rack we recently installed on this trip. We learned that we needed to make a few adjustments to make it easier to load our bikes. We didn't unload the bikes until the last day because it was too cold to ride them.

Bike rack on Rosie

Topsail park is near the beach, but not on it. You have to hike, ride a tram or your bikes to get to the water. On our last day in the park, we rode our bikes and discovered that Topsail has a great beach area. Be sure you don't miss it.

The beach at Topsail

Selfie at the beach

Saturday was the big day for the Canopener. It started with breakfast with the Ranger and the Airstream open house was next. We enjoyed looking at the different Airstreams and talking with their owners.

People talking with each other at the Canopener

The potluck dinner was later that afternoon followed by dancing in the street. We fared well with the potluck because Airstreamers know how to prepare great food while on the road.

The potluck dinner

At the potluck dinner

We didn't fare as well in the street dance. It seems that a public display of my questionable abilities to move in sync with musical rhythms was a bad idea. Thus, the time spent making a fool of myself was short. We moved to the sidelines to allow real dancers unimpeded access to the road, which was the dance floor.

The evening was lots of fun and the Canopener turned out to be a great way to start the new year of camping.

Some specifics about Topsail Hill Preserve State Park:

• There are two main camping loops for RVs in this park. The central loop is where the Canopener events took place and where most people tried to get their site reservations. The other loop is everything outside that primary loop.
• Some of the sites were very shallow and would not support big rigs.
• There are two bath houses in this park. The one supporting the center loop is better maintained and appears to have been updated more recently than the other bath house.
• There is a nice laundry facility at Topsail.
• You will want to bring your bicycles to get to the park's beach area. While you can ride the tram, it is more fun to ride your bikes along that path.
• Most sites have 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service.
• The park has sewer connections for all RV sites.
• There is a dump station at the park, but you probably will not need to use it since each site has sewer connections.
• There is a camp store in the park. It contains minimal supplies.
• There is a Publix grocery store a couple of miles down the road from Topsail.
• AT&T covered the park with a good 4G signal.
• Wifi service was available in this park. We didn't have any trouble connecting to the Internet through the park's wifi.
• The sites come with cable TV connections. Our connection didn't work. (Our cable connection didn't work on our first visit, either.) Our neighbor said that he complained to a ranger and the park's staff quickly fixed his cable connection. Maybe we need to complain more to the right people.
• We were able to watch CBS, NBC and ME-TV from Rosie's antenna.

The Canopener turned out to be lots of fun and informative. We plan to add the Canopener to our "must do" list for next year. Maybe we can get in the main loop next time.

Topsail Hill State Park, Florida

For more than a year, we planned our trip to Topsail. While sharing favorite parks with other campers on our many adventures, Topsail kept coming up as a "must see" park.
First, Topsail is along Florida's Gulf coast and is located near Destin Beach. This is a beautiful area of Florida and we love camping on the Gulf.
The campsites in Topsail are not on the water, but there is a tram that moves campers to the beach. You cannot be in a hurry because the tram only runs every hour.
While speaking about the beach, you need to know it is beautiful. Of course, most of Florida's and Alabama's Gulf coastline areas qualify as beautiful.
Arriving at the park, we commented on the major "theme park" quality there. The park is amazingly well manicured. Every bush in the park is well groomed. The park is spotless and it looks like they must mow the grass daily.
The other thing we noticed was how many campers they can squeeze into a small space. We were going to be next to other campers on all sides of Rosie, our 25 foot Airstream trailer.
The closeness of the trailers became apparent when we started backing into our site. One of our neighbors had to move his children's bicycles from along the front of their site because there was no way we could maneuver into our site without our neighbors moving their stuff.
I was able to repay our camping community back later that evening when a huge fifth wheel arrived after dark and several campers had to help that young family navigate into their site.
Once we parked Rosie, I started the outside set up and Becky started getting the inside ready. After a few minutes, Becky asked if the power was on because she wanted to switch on the air conditioner.
When I replied that we were connected to the AC, Becky informed me that there was no power inside Rosie. A quick check confirmed that we were connected to the camp's power source, but power was not making its way into Rosie.
While I was getting out my tools ready to play Mr. Fix-it, Becky went looking for a Park Ranger to check our power connection box. Quickly, several rangers converged on our site to start working on our problem. Sadly, they determined that it was OUR problem. Our electrical cord was broken.
To set the stage, it is 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. If we don't find a power cord, we will be spending the night without power and that means no AC. Once again, the Rangers came through by telling us where the closest Wal-Mart was plus they mentioned that a new Camping World just opened in Panama City, which was about 50 minutes down the road.
We jumped into the car and headed to Wal-Mart. While Becky was driving there, I used my iPhone to find and call Camping World to confirm that they had the cord. We stopped at Wal-Mart and quickly looked over their camping supplies. They didn't have the power cord. Immediately, we changed directions and started heading to Panama City.
Another wrinkle in the mix was that Camping World closed at 5 p.m. and that was 90 minutes away. If you have ever driven through Panama City, you know that traffic can be an issue there. We were fortunate in that there were no traffic delays and we arrived before the store closed.
Camping World had the power cord we needed plus it was on sale for the store's grand opening. We ended up buying two power cords and started back to Rosie because the next issue was that it was starting to get dark and we didn't want to complete our setup after sunset.
The new cord confirmed that our old cable was the problem and Rosie was back on the power grid.
That was the easy problem to fix at Topsail. The next probelm was a doozey.
After we completed setting up Rosie, we went for a walk around the park, There are two loops in this park. The first, the one we were in, seemed to have campers packed in as tight as possible. The second also had a high number of RVs, but that loop had a little more space between campers.
We were not happy at Topsail.
We felt as if we were in a fishbowl because campers were packed in all around us.
We were not happy at Topsail.
They call Topsail an RV resort and we cannot argue with that. The park was well maintained and nothing was out of place, except us. We prefer more of a "back to nature" atmosphere at our campground, not the world of a resort.
We were not happy at Topsail.
Another camper told us about Grayton Beach State Park. It sounded better to us because it was a state park focused on nature and not on providing a resort atmosphere.
We called Grayton and the ranger said that they had one of their non-reserved sites open that morning and he would hold it for us for two hours.
We had two hours to tear down our campsite at Topsail, hitch up Rosie and travel up the road to Grayton Beach. Needless to say, we were in our "get on the road as quickly as possible" mode.
It took about 30 minutes to completely tear down and hitch Rosie up to our truck. We quickly checked out of Topsail and set our sights on Grayton Beach.
We will talk about Grayton Beach in our next posting.
Here are some specifics about Topsail Hill State Park:

• If you like well maintained parks, Topsail is for you.
• The park offers 20, 30 and 50 amp electrical service to the RVs.
• The restrooms and showers are not at the level you would expect for this type of park. Maybe these facilities haven't been updated because all of the camp sites have sewer connections.
• The park has TV Cable service. Our cable connection wasn't working, so we ended up watching over-the-air TV.
• We were able to watch ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox plus ME-TV and THIS digital channels while in this park.
• The camping pads were concrete and they were level.
• AT&T had good 4G service in this park.
• Half of the park has WiFi and the other half has to go to the camp store to use WiFi.
• If you have a problem, the camp volunteers and rangers will quickly come to your rescue.
• There is lots of shopping near this park.

Many people love this park and it is easy to see why. It is a very nice park. It just isn't the style of park we enjoy.