St. Andrews SP - N Florida area - My impressions
We arrived yesterday at St. Andrews State Park near Panama City, Florida. We will be here until Saturday morning when we'll break camp and take 3 days to return home to Indiana.
I asked the question some time ago for anyone's experience with St. Andrews and received various comments, which I really appreciated. Those comments did help for us to prepare to visit this campground.
Now, In December 2014, we stayed at Port St. Joseph State Park, just a little South and East of Panama City. We would have gladly returned to Port St. Joe had there been an open camp site for our week. But the only one open (anywhere) for this week was St. Andrews. So here we are.
First off. Today is our 30th wedding anniversary! Thus the reason for this trip. We debated about a cruise but for the price involved and the length of time, we couldn't justify that expense. So we decided to do what we love best ... take off with the camper.
Now a word about Northern Florida. First off, we arrived yesterday (Monday) March 9 and drove though this Spring Break mess about 4:00 pm. OH MY GOSH! If I only had any clue what SPRING BREAK really meant, I think we would have headed for CANADA! So after caught in a sea of traffic, teeny-boppers flooding the streets, and watching these zannie young people screaming, yelling, and carrying on along the edge of the road (which put ME at edge), we arrived safely.
The campground is everything I would expect. We are very pleased! All 35 and 1/2 feet of trailer fit in the space just fine and even had room for the truck to park withing anything overhanging in the road. And ... believe it or not, I even set up the DISH Satellite this afternoon, even in the midst of all these palm trees, I found a hole. So, the wife is VERY, VERY happy now!
We are really NOT beach goers. We love the beach, but the older we are getting, we appreciate the beach from behind the windshield rather than under our feet. The temperature is in the 80's right now, and very bright and sunny. My balding head has a hard time with this intense sunlight, so the windshield view is just fine.
We took off today and drove back to Mexico Beach. My wife wanted to revisit a novelty shop we visited last December and get more doo-dads! Considering this was our 30th anniversary, I told her to get anything she wanted... well, $79 later she was happy. I knew I married a practical girl! She's happy, I'm happy, we're all happy.
Now about Florida.
I can honestly say I do not like the area from Panama City westward (including this area around St. Andrews St. Park, Panama City Beach area) and much more prefer the area East of Panama City and heading on South.
Although both state parks are very nice in their own way, I much more prefer Port St. Joe St. Park. It's more (my) style of camping. The entire setting is a bit more natural, and there is NO high rise commercialism right outside the front door.
Both State Parks are very quiet, and everyone is well mannered. I think folks play so much at the beach all day, they come back to their campsites exhausted and crash asleep! I was amazed last night, with EVERY campsite filled, it was 100% quiet! But... too many lights for me! That just goes with a higher population of people, no matter where they congregate.
Port St. Joe was DARK and almost every campsite was occupied in December too. But the campsites are further apart, and somehow designed to be just a little more private (at least that's my impression).
I suppose there's an attraction for both areas. For those who really enjoy the go-go-go-go-go camping lifestyle, St. Andrews is the place. There's so much to do along the boardwalk and in town, you can go broke in a heartbeat! Everything from helicopter rides to 30 flavors of popcorn ... you name it!
On the other hand, if you want laid back inactivity, the Port St. Joe is the place.
Actually, I think the beach is more accessible at Port St. Joe than at Andrews. At St. Joe, you just walk over the boardwalk and you've got 6 miles of beach, and virtually no one there. At St. Andrews, there's a zillion people and you've got to drive to get there (unless you just enjoy a hot hike.)
If you go into town, you've got to find somewhere to park your vehicle to get to the beach and then fight a zillion tourists.
Maybe my next Florida trip will be further inland! Both parks are very nice! It's just one is an extremely busy place and the other is laid-back.
I asked the question some time ago for anyone's experience with St. Andrews and received various comments, which I really appreciated. Those comments did help for us to prepare to visit this campground.
Now, In December 2014, we stayed at Port St. Joseph State Park, just a little South and East of Panama City. We would have gladly returned to Port St. Joe had there been an open camp site for our week. But the only one open (anywhere) for this week was St. Andrews. So here we are.
First off. Today is our 30th wedding anniversary! Thus the reason for this trip. We debated about a cruise but for the price involved and the length of time, we couldn't justify that expense. So we decided to do what we love best ... take off with the camper.
Now a word about Northern Florida. First off, we arrived yesterday (Monday) March 9 and drove though this Spring Break mess about 4:00 pm. OH MY GOSH! If I only had any clue what SPRING BREAK really meant, I think we would have headed for CANADA! So after caught in a sea of traffic, teeny-boppers flooding the streets, and watching these zannie young people screaming, yelling, and carrying on along the edge of the road (which put ME at edge), we arrived safely.
The campground is everything I would expect. We are very pleased! All 35 and 1/2 feet of trailer fit in the space just fine and even had room for the truck to park withing anything overhanging in the road. And ... believe it or not, I even set up the DISH Satellite this afternoon, even in the midst of all these palm trees, I found a hole. So, the wife is VERY, VERY happy now!
We are really NOT beach goers. We love the beach, but the older we are getting, we appreciate the beach from behind the windshield rather than under our feet. The temperature is in the 80's right now, and very bright and sunny. My balding head has a hard time with this intense sunlight, so the windshield view is just fine.
We took off today and drove back to Mexico Beach. My wife wanted to revisit a novelty shop we visited last December and get more doo-dads! Considering this was our 30th anniversary, I told her to get anything she wanted... well, $79 later she was happy. I knew I married a practical girl! She's happy, I'm happy, we're all happy.
Now about Florida.
I can honestly say I do not like the area from Panama City westward (including this area around St. Andrews St. Park, Panama City Beach area) and much more prefer the area East of Panama City and heading on South.
Although both state parks are very nice in their own way, I much more prefer Port St. Joe St. Park. It's more (my) style of camping. The entire setting is a bit more natural, and there is NO high rise commercialism right outside the front door.
Both State Parks are very quiet, and everyone is well mannered. I think folks play so much at the beach all day, they come back to their campsites exhausted and crash asleep! I was amazed last night, with EVERY campsite filled, it was 100% quiet! But... too many lights for me! That just goes with a higher population of people, no matter where they congregate.
Port St. Joe was DARK and almost every campsite was occupied in December too. But the campsites are further apart, and somehow designed to be just a little more private (at least that's my impression).
I suppose there's an attraction for both areas. For those who really enjoy the go-go-go-go-go camping lifestyle, St. Andrews is the place. There's so much to do along the boardwalk and in town, you can go broke in a heartbeat! Everything from helicopter rides to 30 flavors of popcorn ... you name it!
On the other hand, if you want laid back inactivity, the Port St. Joe is the place.
Actually, I think the beach is more accessible at Port St. Joe than at Andrews. At St. Joe, you just walk over the boardwalk and you've got 6 miles of beach, and virtually no one there. At St. Andrews, there's a zillion people and you've got to drive to get there (unless you just enjoy a hot hike.)
If you go into town, you've got to find somewhere to park your vehicle to get to the beach and then fight a zillion tourists.
Maybe my next Florida trip will be further inland! Both parks are very nice! It's just one is an extremely busy place and the other is laid-back.
