Snuggled together at our site at Southern Comfort

We began our winter with a couple of woodsy KOA stays, a parking lot with shrubs RV resort (you can call yourself a resort if you offer a pool), two Florida state parks, a trailer park with mobile homes and RV sites in Sanibel, then coming to rest at Venture Out Resort on Cudjoe Key for 41 nights. We’ll spend two weeks (1/31- 2/14) here at Southern Comfort RV Resort which gets about 6 out of 10 stars from me. It’s more like an average regular private campground in Florida, with a budget friendly nightly cost far less than a resort in the Keys.

We like the state parks best and campgrounds with a similar vibe and access to biking and walking trails. SoCo is more campground and not so much resort with grass in lieu of concrete as at Venture Out. This sounds nice at first until you discover way more ants and whatever bit the top of my foot leaving it swollen, itchy and feeling like it had been stomped on. Sites are close and this makes for terrific people, camper, dog and cat watching.

Back to back, you are close to your neighbor

Dogs up to 40 lbs at maturity are allowed (but not enforced), no aggressive breeds and please clean up after. What I thought was our neighbor’s cat turned out to be one of four SoCo strays that hang around. So who’s cleaning up after the cats? No one, so watch where you step if you weren’t doing so already. Day one I went barefoot until Russ had to clean off his shoes, then switched from flip-flops to topsiders after getting bit.

One of the park cats enjoys a quick play with a sunshade

We’ve seen RVs come and go but the majority are here for the 3 or 4 winter months. Not overly friendly nor unfriendly, many with dogs, many smokers and a 60/40 mix of Class A motorhomes and 5^th wheels/travel trailers with a few tents and tiny campers tossed in. We spent a few days being amazed by the tiny camper that arrived the day after us. I was taking a rare sun basking when they pulled up, looked around and I figured that a pickup truck was parked where they needed to be. You are supposed to keep your and your visitor’s vehicles on your site, but many sites are vacant so they become overflow parking. The man approached me wondering if I knew who owned the truck but I could only suggest he check at the office. Sounded French Canadian.

Across the road a fifth wheel backs in

The Quebec couple purchased the van/camper in Alaska; they are hard-core living in a tiny space. We smiled when the top popped up and later a heating/AC unit became visible. Then an awning came out with legs secured with stakes. The gorgeous Harley is trailer towed along with several large containers of “stuff”.

The tiny van grows up!

The elevated pool is nice, the Tiki bar dark, the rec hall large with Wi-Fi available and a full bookcase along with games and puzzles to borrow or work on a table with a task lamp. Dumpsters fill up quickly even though the resort isn’t full. The laundry room is a busy place with inefficient dryers; loving my Splendide more each day.

Route 1 Dixie Highway is one block away and you take your life in your hands driving it during rush hours or weekends. Found Jersey Boardwalk Pizza 3 miles north on Rte 1, big mistake for our first drive out on a Saturday night! One of the many Walgreens around is a mile away with a RedBox and we spent 30 mins getting the movie and the pizza. Wrong lanes, wrong turns and this was using Google map on the iPhone. Most shopping plazas have side entrances only or the way in is so convoluted you can’t be sure if you are in the right place or not.

A Renegade with a Freightliner chassis and front-end diesel cab. Unusual being all white. Think we’ve seen ones before in color

The only safe place to bike is in the resort; no bike paths on our road or even close by and cars zoom when they can. A calendar of events shows regular shuffleboard and horseshoe events, cards and games many evenings, bingo and special breakfasts and dinners a few times monthly. An Ok place, good enough for a two-week stay; we look forward to our upcoming Everglades stay and four county and state park visits through March 23.

We’d met sv Mardi Gras and her crew, Barry and Linda (and cat Pearl) nearly a year ago in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera Bahamas. When we heard they were underway again, heading only to FL this time, we made “cruising plans” to meet up. In other words, tentative plans that could change at any moment.

With a nephew on Summerland Key, guests to drop off and us at Cudjoe, Mardi Gras had ample reason to anchor for a couple of nights in Niles Channel anchorage near the highway.

The Mardi Gras, anchored in Niles Channel next to Summerland Key

For them it was an easy dinghy ride around the corner to The Wharf Grill on a canal. So, so many canals in Florida.

We figured this to be a landscape barge

You know cruisers always get together and tell their stories. Barry is a pro at this and I could sit and listen all night. When they first contacted us and said they were nearby at Bahia Honda, we thought about the shallow channel entrance and that we usually saw power boats and catamarans in the basin. Oh well, perhaps their boat (which was in charter in an earlier life) needed less than 5 ft.

The channel is now deeper thanks to the path dug by the Mardi Gras keel, because even at high tide the channel doesn’t carry the needed 6 ft!  Yes they called ahead, yes the marina said they’d have enough water, yes this made for a good story!

Happy Mardi Gras cruisers!

After a quick tour of our land yacht we dropped our friends off ( yes you can squeeze four into the Mini) back at The Wharf, bid them fair winds and calm seas ( oh wait, maybe we forgot to do that!) and promised to find our way to their home; we’ll know it by the 50amp plug outside!

That mandatory Key West sunset at Mallory Square that eluded us before; we got one!

Sunset and the requisite sailing schooner at Mallory Square

Evening entertainment at Mallory Sq- always brings a smile

The pig act was cute and if she messed up- bacon!

A Square Grouper mobile in the comfy waiting area

The farewell dinner was had at the Square Grouper on Cudjoe Key. Do you know what a square grouper is? Look it up. This was our second visit and we loved it as much as the first. Hard to read with the light glare, but it says ” My Favorite Joint.”

Lori’s first course- warm goat cheese with honey-fig balsamic, mixed seeds flatbread crackers on SeaGrape leaves. Square plate of course

Practice, practice. I worked hours teaching myself. Three visits to the bead shop in Key West.

We had plenty of down time and while Russ read a small library I worked on making jewelry. This started with sea glass and has expanded to include sea beans, shells and other purchased beads. I get lost in it and find it very relaxing.

Finally the day came to venture out of Venture Out for good. All went well, even the fueling up part. When we met Chris and Tracy for a farewell lunch at Sparky’s the day before, we scoped out an RV friendly gas station. Requirements are: sells diesel, relatively flat entrance (FL often has big dips), pumps situated so we pull in parallel to the street (less turning) and wide spaced pumps is nice. We found a Mobil station that looked perfect- I mean we are 51 ft total length with Bonny in tow. Of course we pull in and it’s gridlock, but all goes well and we are back under way in 15 mins.

Never did get to the Diving Museum. Maybe next time

We subscribe to SiriusXM but they altered the plans and we’d have to pay a premium for stations like Margaritaville, E Street, CNN so we didn’t. Country stations are our new go-to and I got such a kick when Prime Country played Randy Travis singing King of the Road sounding so much like Roger Miller. Our version goes”…. Queen of the Road!” cuz Annie is our queen bee. Don’t tell Bonny.

I loved this song growing up- whodathunk it would be so appropriate 45 yrs later

I prefer not to travel on weekends but we had to leave Jan 31, a Saturday.  Most of the traffic heads into the Keys on a weekend morning , giving us an easy, but sad drive out.

On Rte 1 Overseas Highway heading north (sob) to Florida City and Southern Comfort RV