Category: RV Parks & Resorts

Key West, Big Mama

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I had been to the Florida Keys before, but never as far as Key West. I loved diving and snorkeling at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo and loved the environment in the Keys. Key West was the first place I wanted to visit in my RV and booked the trip for my one-week summer break in July.

I immediately discovered there aren’t many RV parks in Key West, but I finally settled on the El Mar RV Resort because it only had 11 sites, but, more important, I was able to book a waterfront site.

I was looking forward to the first long trip in my new RV. Since Key West was 402 miles from my house and I knew I wanted to arrive during daylight so I could see the sights along the way, I decided to break the drive down into two days. On the first day, I would drive to Miami and plan to arrive around 6 p.m. On day two, I would wake bright and early and drive the rest of the way to Key West. Check-in time at El Mar R.V. Resort was 2 p.m.

I had heard that RVers could park overnight for free at Walmart stores, so I found a couple of Walmart Supercenters in Homestead, along the route I would be traveling. My first mistake was thinking this would be OK. When I got to Walmart, there were signs all over the parking lot stating “No Overnight Parking.” Luckily, there was another RVer sitting in the parking lot and the owner directed me to a close by BJs Wholesale Club where I could put my slides out, turn on my generator, and spend the night in their parking lot. The first thing I did after setting up the RV was take Pearl and Benson, my Lab and Maltese, out for a walk. Once they were fed and exercised, I made a sandwich and watched a couple of hours of TV before falling asleep. I was exhausted, and it only took a few minutes before the sound of the generator put me and the dogs to sleep.

The drive from Homestead to Key West was beautiful, especially driving over the Seven Mile Bridge. It was one thing I was looking forward to in my Class A RV with its giant windshield. Here’s a cool video I found that tells you all about the bridge.

After spending a couple of hours in a Publix parking lot waiting for my site at El Mar to open up, I was finally able to settle into my new home base for the week.

In the 95-degree heat, my two air conditioners were no match for July in Key West. The sun came blazing into the skylight in the shower and the ventilator fan in the kitchen.

I didn’t have a tow vehicle, so I rented a car for the week. I knew I wanted to wander down the streets in downtown Key West, experience some of the great restaurants and bars, and take the dogs swimming. My first stop was a the Home Depot to find something to block the sun coming into the RV.

I had heard all of the stories about Ernest Hemingway (one of my favorite writers) and his six-toed cats, so I spent one afternoon taking a tour of Hemingway’s home and hearing about his life in Key West.

Hemmingway’s second-floor veranda
Hemmingway’s typewriter
A descendant of one of Hemingway’s six-toed cats snoozing on Hemingway’s bed.

The iguanas and chickens

The first time I walked the dogs down the little side street at El Mar, the dogs saw the giant iguana before I did and they both went crazy barking and tugging at their leash. The lizard monster was at least five feet long and bright green. Thankfully, it was more scared of the dogs than they were of it and it scurried away into the mangroves. Keeping Pearl away from iguana poop was going to be one of the hardest tasks for this Lab mom. They must have smelled delectable to her because she wanted them bad.

One of the things you learn fast about Key West is that there are feral chickens, roosters, and chicks all over the island. They even stroll through the restaurants and bars whenever they want. I guess the locals like these birds because no one does anything to get rid of them.

One of the new neighbors.

Here is the list of things I outfitted my RV with before this trip. Some were to make the trip more comfortable and others because they were necessities:

Special note the Federal Trade Commission asks me to include on my website: “I’m an affiliate marketer with links to
online retailers on my website. When people read what I’ve written about a particular product and then click on those links and buy something from the retailer, I earn a commission from the retailer.” At no cost to you.

My pledge to you: If I include a link to a product or service, it is because I personally purchased the product or service and I believe in the value of the product or service.

My First Trip in Big Mama

I was excited to set up my new RV on an idyllic site, next to a body of water, and unplug for a few days. I spent hours on the Internet trying to figure out where to go on my first trip. Some of my favorite websites for research are:

Passport America

Florida State Parks

Good Sam

Camp Florida

Some of the websites are easier to navigate than others, but they are all good for research.

The first thing I discovered in my research is that it is almost impossible to get a good site during Florida’s tourist season, which starts in November and goes through April. It seems the snowbirds come to Florida during these months and stay for months.  When my neighbor Kim mentioned that she and her husband were going to Cedar Key because “it was her favorite place,” I immediately started researching the RV parks there.

I chose Sunset Isle RV Resort in Cedar Key because there’s a great picture of some docks on the bay on their homepage, they had full hookups, and better yet, space for my rig (yeah, that’s what it’s called) right on the water.  Sunset Isle is located on Cedar Key Bay, off the Gulf of Mexico.

I was so excited to leave that Saturday. The groceries were in the RV, my bike was on the bike rack on the back, and my barbecue and paddleboard were in the RV’s garage. I loaded the dogs into the RV and prepared the rig for departure, using my handy checklist as a guide.

I need the checklist because there are about one hundred different things you have to do before moving an RV. Some of them you have to do in a special order. I learned all of this reading operating manuals and watching YouTube videos.  In case you’re interested, you can download my RV Checklist.  I use it every time I move the RV.

So, I was ready to go. I turned the key in the ignition and paused; worried I may have left something undone. I decided to take one last loop around the house and the RV to make sure everything was as it should be. When I went back to get in the RV, I discovered that I had locked myself out of the rig—and the RV was running with my dogs inside.  Luckily, Orlando RV had a master key and one of their guys came to my house and let me into my rig. I was finally on my way.

The trip to Cedar Key took two and one-half hours. It’s was super windy and it tried to blow the rig all over the highway. I held on tight and made it to Cedar Key safe and sound.

I loved staying in my new motorhome. It was cozy and had all of the comforts of home. I think the dogs liked it, too. We spent a lot of time walking and hiking. I also rode my bike a lot. I spent most of my time sitting on a zero gravity chair under the RV’s awning reading a book and listening to music. Toward the end of my trip, a storm came in during the night and rain pelted the roof of the RV. The wind blew hard across the water and it got real noisy, but the dogs and I were comfortable inside the coach. The next morning I was happy to see that I didn’t have any leaks.

I also met some great people in other motorhomes. I met a couple from Tampa and another couple from Gainesville. We hit it off immediately. My friend Heidi and her Dad Hughie joined me on the last night. Her Dad just bought a new travel trailer and he got the site right next to me.

Driving home was a lot easier than the drive over because the wind had died down. In fact, it was a breeze (sorry) and I really enjoyed the scenery, especially driving through Dunnellon, which was beautiful. The spring wild flowers were in bloom and the highway was a mass of color.

The hardest part was trying to back the rig into my driveway. None of my neighbors were around to spot me, so I tried to do it alone. Big mistake. I forgot I was storing Heidi’s big blue pot with a palm tree in it next to my fence. Not only did I break the pot, but I also broke the fence, and dented my brand new RV.

I must laugh, though. It’s my own fault for not asking for help. After I told my neighbor Jeff what happened, he said, “If you’re not wrecking it, you’re not driving it.” Therein is the point of my RV world. If I’m not out there wrecking things, I won’t be living my life to the fullest. I’d be sitting at home, scared of experiencing all that the world has to offer.

Special note the Federal Trade Commission asks me to include on my website: “I’m an affiliate marketer with links to online retailers on my website. When people read what I’ve written about a particular product and then click on those links and buy something from the retailer, I earn a commission from the retailer.”

My pledge to you: If I include a link to a product or service, it is because I personally purchased the product or service and I believe in the value of the product or service.

This is a list of things I bought after my first trip: