Gulf Coast, Revisited

We really enjoyed traveling along the Gulf Coast when we moved eastward, and we decided to explore a little more heading west.

John had set up a fishing trip in Orange Beach, Alabama, so we were able to get a really nice campsite at yet another gorgeous state park, called Big Lagoon, which was just southwest of Pensacola and very close to the Florida/Alabama state lines, so we’d have a short drive to meet the captain in the morning.

Big Lagoon had a nice bike ride and we hopped on ours for a little exercise and exploration. It was coastal and felt great to get out of the rig.

We met a couple from Wisconsin and shared stories and good places to visit in our respective RVs. They gave us a good tip for our future travels in Louisiana – more on that later.

The next morning we were off bright and early-ish, and made our way to meet our captain, who was among the youngest generation of several in a family with a beautiful home on the bayou.

He was college educated (journalism major) and had come back home to Orange Beach (just east of Gulf Shores), to make his living as a fishing guide. Unfortunately for us, we just fished the whole time, and caught nothing.

We did see some great wildlife, including a horned owl & her nest with babies, ospreys, eagles, a deer swimming across the bayou, and tons of fish jumping but never biting…. We also saw some art, The Lady in The Bathtub. It was nice to be out on a boat, though, and we had the binoculars, so we got some good looks.

We stayed the night in the Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores (the park we visited before but were unable to get a campsite within the park). We got the bikes out and while we didn’t ride the entire 15 mile loop, we did ride about 3 1/2 miles through the park to a grocery store on the edge of it to get some groceries. Thanks to the panniers that Will loaned us, we were able to transport everything without smashing it! Thanks, Will!

The next day, we lollygagged around and drifted west to Gulfport, MS, but not before stopping for an early lunch at Lambert’s, Home of the Throwed Roll, I kid you not.

The second you sit down, someone comes around with a huge bowl of fried okra, ready to spoon you a pile on your paper towel. Then someone comes around with a cart of fresh, hot rolls, and yes, they literally throw them at you. You better be on it, cause if you don’t catch it, you’re not gonna eat!

This isn’t vegan, vegetarian, nor for the faint of heart. It’s some serious down home southern fare, and the number of folks moving thru here on a Sunday after church would make a preacher jealous. It was also recommended to us by the guy at one of the state visitors centers we stopped at.

We were going to take a ferry crossing over towards Gulfport, but there was a length limit of 21 ft, and we’re at 24 (plus the bikes), so we turned up and drove through Mobile & Biloxi and headed back down toward the coast to Gulfport. We checked into our RV site that we’d reserved, got the bikes down and rode down the beach bike trail to the Island View Casino, which is thankfully smoke-free. I killed it on the penny slot machines while John worked at the craps table. Neither of us did anything to write home about, but it was smoke-free 🙂

While I post some of my favorite photos here, sometimes the actual reality of our days or nights aren’t the prettiest. This RV park in Gulfport was one of those.

It was not inexpensive, and the office was closed when we arrived, because everything is closed on Sundays in the south, so we were pretty much stuck with what they had assigned us. There was no place to cook outdoors, which was an issue for us, because since back in Long Pine Key Campground in the Everglades, we hadn’t had any propane due to a leak in the line. We turned it all off, and were in Gulfport for repairs, so we either ate out or cooked on the grill & Coleman stove outside. Not here. My issue was the value for what we got, but we were committed so we stuck it out – at least we had water & electric. And there were hot showers, so there was that, too.

Another aspect of this kind of travel is that things like the propane leak do happen. I happened to read about a Winnebago recall in a very helpful FB group that is all Winnebago View & Itasca Navion owners, so when we called Winnebago about it, they said to bring it in to an authorized service center and they’d take care of it. The problem with that is when we were in Florida, we couldn’t get the 2 service centers that were on our route to work with us within a reasonable amount of time (no, we’re not waiting till the end of March to bring it in…), so we looked ahead and found a place near Gulfport that would order the part and take care of it when we brought it in on our trip through. They were so great, and I’m going to write them a good review.

We waited for UPS to drop the part off, ran some errands in town like haircut for John, groceries, pay bills, and then we were in and out of the service center and back on the road.

We only made it as far as the local brewery in Gulfport, and had some craft beers while planning our next leg of the trip. It was great to get some good beer!!! I happened to be wearing my Resilience T-shirt, and noticed a Resilience plaque in the window behind the bar and asked the server if they had brewed it. She said no, but the owner really loves the Sierra Nevada brand and has great respect for the owner of SNB. We proudly boasted that it is from our hometown (close enough).

For those that might not be aware, Resilience was a beer that was created by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company (of Chico, CA & Mills River, NC) after the devastating Camp Fire which destroyed many communities in our county in Northern California in November, 2018. Ken Grossman, the owner, challenged other breweries throughout the US to brew the same recipe, call it Resilience, and donate proceeds from its sale to recovery efforts from the fire.

Over our beers, we brought out our trusty paper maps, and started planning the next week’s route. The same server came over and commented that she’d never seen anyone use a paper map before…..

Since we hadn’t yet left Gulfport, we decided to forgo the crappy, overpriced RV park, and park in the Island View Casino’s lot, which they allow RVers to do, for free. They give you a pass, there is a security guard that patrols the lot every hour or so 24/7, and since we now had propane to cook on, we were set for the night. There were a few other RVers in the lot with us. No pics, sorry. You can use your imagination for this one!

Those nice people you heard about before had told us of a great state campground down in Louisiana on the Gulf, south of New Orleans, so that’s where we headed next. It’s called Grand Isle, and while it was quite a trek down there, it was worth the effort. It was pretty, clean, quiet (except for crashing waves, which are themselves relaxing to listen to), and in addition to a nice long beach to walk on, there was a free laundry for campers – bonus!!!!

We stopped at a little restaurant tucked away in the hamlet of Houma. It was recommended by the handyman at Grand Isle, and it was a good representation of Cajun fare. Grilled oysters were to die for, this the food shot.

Our last campsite before leaving the coast was at a tiny little parish park (not county, as I was gently corrected by the nice Cajun host), called Burns Point Park. It was at the end of a long road (actually only about 15 miles, but we felt like we were way out somewhere), south of Lafayette, Louisiana.

There were a lot of gas wells and that kind of industrial activity in a completely green and serene rural setting- what a contrast. It was almost too quiet, and we agreed that if we got to the end of the road and the campground was sketchy, we weren’t so far away that we couldn’t turn around and head towards civilization.

It was a quaint park, the folks who were there were all locals – the people next door were from 7 miles back to the road, and we got a waterfront spot with full hookups for $15.

It was a lovely and peaceful way to wrap up a nice part of our trip, because the following day would take us into Social Distancing mode.