10/24 Fort Clinch SP, Amelia Island, FL - Updated

This campground is one of my favorite because it is directly on the Atlantic Ocean and because the beach is generally almost empty because there are no hotels or homes for at almost a mile in either direction.  

And, yes, the price of gas in Waycross, GA, on the way to Fort Clinch SP was $2.67 per gallon.  I have a 55 gallon tank, but had put some gas in it at $2.99 near Atlanta, so I was only able to fill it up with this purchase.  Yea, for cheap gas!!

Fort Clinch SP is on Amelia Island, which is in the far northeast corner of Florida, directly on the Atlanta.  

One of the nicest things about this state park is the canopy drive entrance.  A canopy drive usually consists of old live oak trees where the spreading limbs hang over the road, making a sort of tunnel. Need to watch out for low limbs here.  

 

 There are places where you have to drive down the center of the road to avoid low branches like the ones on the right in the following photo.  If another vehicle is coming, you just have to wait until they pass. 

There seem to be a lot of deer in this area.  

My campsite is on the right down a few spots.  

 

 

 

This is the view behind my campsite--lots of sand dunes and a view to the north over the sound in the distance.  Deer walk around here occasionally. 

You are not allowed to walk on the dunes, but there is a boardwalk to get to the beach. 

There is a waterway, aka sound, to the north of the park, and across it is Georgia.  Saw this fishing boat in the distance. 

Low tide, so a wonderfully wide beach.   Plus, very seldom more than a handful of people in sight, so nice and private. 

This is some kind of a beacon on the way through the sound. 

And a jellyfish on the beach.

Ship coming out of the St. Mary's river.  

These beach views were towards the south.  

This is the remnant of the long pier that used to be here.  It was washed away during Hurricane Matthew in 2016.  I was staying here with a friend, and we walked on the pier on one of the last days, just before the state park was closed before the storm.  Wish they would replace it someday, but right now it is just a pile of rocks that goes quite a ways out.  

Strangely enough, birds NOT of a feather do flock together on Florida beaches.  If you look closely, you will find at least 4-5 types of terns and gulls. 

The birds with the black on their heads and orange bills are Royal Terns.  The one at about 3 o-clock with an orange and black bill and a lot of black on its top body is a Black Skimmer.  There are some other species, as well.  The grey birds with a black cap and a black bill are Gull-billed Terns.  

I am always disappointed when I am on the West Coast because while they may have a few gulls, I have never seen such large groups as are easily found in Florida.  

Notice how this bird blends into the beach shells.  The only reason you can see him at all is because of his white underside.  

Check out my video of the birds and the damaged pier here.  

Back to the campground. 

10/16 Reed Bingham SP, Valdosta, GA

This is a convenient stop on the way from the Atlanta area to northern Florida along I-75, so U have stopped here often for a couple of nights.  When you arrive here, you definitely know you are in the South because of all the hanging moss and the magnificent live oak trees.  

I like the large camping spots and large trees.  

Lots of moss on this one. 

I tend not to use restroom facilities, but this one is relatively new and has washers and dryers. 

It seems to be unoccupied, but this was a gopher tortoise burrow a while back, apparently. 

The visitor center did have a resident tortoise that had been illegally kept as a pet.  She was 55 years old and hiding in a warm corner on this day. 

10/14 Old Federal Campground, Lake Lanier, GA

I nearly always plan a stop here at Old Federal Campground when I head south to Florida or return to Ohio and Michigan after the winter is over.  This COE campground has a lot of positives:  only $13 per day for people with a senior pass, large paved campsites that are well-separated, almost every site is located on the lake shore, and both water and electric at sites. 

The bad news is that apparently the COE is facing financial problems with delayed upkeep of the recreation sites it manages on Lake Lanier and is asking the counties to take over management.  So, as of next spring, this may no longer be a federal facility, which may mean senior passes will no longer be accepted for a 50% discount.  The campground closed the day I left and will not open until next spring, so it will be interesting to see what happens.  

Site 45 is one of my favorites here because it is at the base of a long, skinny peninsula, and I can see both sides of the lake from my front window.  It is also a long site.  I spent 11 days here and then had to move to another site for three days, but I'll show that one later.

 

 

I took this photo after I left the site, but it is the one on the right with the pickup in the site.   This photo does a better job of showing how the peninsula is very narrow and you can see on both sides.  Having almost all sites on the shore of the lake means that a lot of people can launch their sailboards and kayaks directly from their campsites.

Some photos of other places in the campground. 

The lake is a little low, as you can see by the large beach area.

This is actually next door to the campground.  It is a small sailing club and on this Saturday it was having some sort of event for sailboarders.

This is the second site I moved to for the last three days of my stay.  It was a handicap site, so both the parking pad and the patio area were paved.  Although it was not directly on the shore, it was high so I could see the one area next to the peninsula where the other site was and another area of the lake to the south. 

This is the restroom and shower building.  Much like a lot of COE campgrounds, it also has a washer and dryer, which is very handy for full-timers like me. 

Another sailing club across the lake. 

You can see my motorhome on the far right of this photo. 

Saturday was very windy, so lots of sailboats were out. 

 

 

Atlanta is a horrible city to drive in, and part of my reason for being here is to visit my aunt who lives in an assisted care facility about 35 miles away.  I made four trips to visit her and got really frustrated with traffic.  It seems that as soon as you put your turn signal on, someone passes and cuts in front of your vehicle, which often meant I missed my turn and had to circle around through shopping centers and residential roads.  My turning radius in my vehicle is enormous, so there is no such thing as being able to make a U-turn, so I decided to see if taping a sign to my rear window might help.   

 

After two weeks at Lake Lanier, I am off to southern Georgia and northern Florida.