Memories – Page 3 – Wandering Dawgs

Throwback Thursday #11 – October 31, 2008

October 31, 2019October 31, 2019Posted in Florida, RVing, Sporting EventsTagged autumn, Georgia/Florida game, Go Dawgs!, Jacksonville Florida, Memories, NCAA Football, RV City, SEC Football, Tailgating, Throwback Thursday, World's largest outdoor cocktail party11 Comments

We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.

On this day eleven years ago, October 31, 2008, our RV was parked in RV City in Jacksonville, Florida. We were there to attend the college football game between rivals Georgia Bulldogs and Florida Gators. The two schools have been playing each other annually since the early 1900’s and, except for two years while the stadium was undergoing renovations, has been played in Jacksonville every year since 1933.

Unofficially named “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”, fans of both teams start arriving in Jacksonville and surrounding areas as early as a week before the game. Hotels are booked a year in advance and finding a last minute place to stay anywhere near Jacksonville is almost impossible.

We attended our first Georgia/Florida game in 1974 and it was an annual tradition for us for many years. Most of those years we stayed in a Jacksonville area hotel for the weekend. In 2008, we decided to take our fifth wheel to RV City for the event.

RV City is a large parking lot near the stadium that is reserved for RV’s. There is a limited number of parking for RV’s and at the time, in order to get a spot in the lot RV’s start lining up early in the week before Saturday’s game.

We met friends in Jacksonville early on Tuesday morning to follow them to get in line for our sites in RV City. We spent that night in line and were in our space in RV City early Wednesday morning. From Wednesday until Friday we enjoyed the festivities and entertainment leading up to the game on Saturday.

20081031RV-City-Friday-(4) — Awning to awning in RV City

20081031RV-City-Friday-(1) — Packed in like sardines in RV City in Jacksonville, Florida

20081031RV-City-Friday-(11) — We had a great view of the stadium from our site.

20081030RV-City-(20) — There were a few waterfront sites in RV City

Yes, we were dry camping in a parking lot. Yes, the RV’s were close together. Yes, there were crowds and lots of noise. Did we enjoy it? Yes! It was a great experience and great fun!

We have friends in RV City right now. Kickoff is Saturday at 3:30. We’re there with them in spirit.

Go Dawgs!

Throwback Thursday #10 – October 24, 2014

October 24, 2019October 23, 2019Posted in Alabama, RVingTagged autumn, Deerlick Creek COE, Memories, Throwback Thursday9 Comments

We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.

Five years ago, on October 24, 2014, we were camped at Deerlick Creek Campground, a Corps of Engineers park near Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We were returning home after a fall RV trip to Missouri and Arkansas to attend University of Georgia away football games.

We always enjoy staying in Corps of Engineers parks so we went out of our way to stay at Deerlick Creek near Tuscaloosa. The park is located on Holt Lake on the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway in the rolling hills northeast of Tuscaloosa. What I didn’t know when I made the reservations was the campground is very hilly and some of the sites are difficult to get in and out of for a 35 foot fifth wheel.

This campground was like no other COE campground we had ever been to. Instead of being at lake level, the lake was way down at the bottom of the hill. Even the waterfront sites were located above the lake.

Our site was one of those that was difficult to get in and almost impossible to get out of. The road was narrow and our site was a back in site near the top of a hill. To back into the site took great skill on Henry’s part avoiding ditches and other obstacles. The good news is, it was a beautiful site with a few steps up to our picnic table behind the camper. When we finally got set up and had a chance to look around, we realized it would be almost impossible to get out of.

Overall, we still enjoyed our stay. Behind our campsite was a private area with picnic table and fire pit surrounded by trees.

There was not enough room for us to make a left turn out of the campsite so when it was time to leave our only option was to make a right turn down the hill, navigate a narrow hairpin turn with campers and cars right on the edge of the road, go to the bottom of the hill and turn around. Many thanks to the nice campers who helped us negotiate the tight turn at the bottom of the hill!

20141024Deerlick-Creek-(2) — A hairpin turn down the hill was in our future

Although we had a worrisome night wondering how we were going to get out, we survived to tell the tale. I would return to this park but not to site 28!

Find out more about our stay at Two COE Campgrounds in Alabama.

Throwback Thursday #9 – October 17, 2017

October 17, 2019October 16, 2019Posted in Georgia, North Carolina, RVing, WaterfallsTagged autumn, Memories, Nantahala National Forest, Scenic Drive, Scenic drives, Throwback Thursday8 Comments

We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.

We spent this day two years ago, October 17, 2017, on scenic mountain roads visiting waterfalls in Nantahalla National Forest in North Carolina, and Sylvan Falls in Georgia.

20171017NC-Nantahala-National-Forest-Waterfalls-(18) — Dry Falls near Highlands, NC in the Nantahala National Forest

20171017NC-Nantahala-National-Forest-Waterfalls-(54) — Fall Colors in the Nantahala National Forest, North Carolina

20171017NC-Nantahala-National-Forest-Waterfalls-(83) — Behind Bridal Veil Falls near Highlands, NC

20171017NC-Nantahala-National-Forest-Waterfalls-(70) — Small waterfall beside Hwy 64 between Highlands and Franklin, NC

20171017Sylvan-Falls-(3) — Sylvan Falls in Mountain City, GA

There’s more about these and other mountain adventures two years ago at Wandering in the Georgia and North Carolina Mountains

Throwback Thursday #8 – October 3, 2007

October 3, 2019October 3, 2019Posted in Historic Sites, North Carolina, RVingTagged autumn, Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge Parkway, Cherokee NC, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Memories, Scenic drives, Throwback Thursday10 Comments

We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.

Flash back to twelve years ago, October 3, 2007. We were camping in Cherokee, North Carolina, our home base for visiting the Great Smokey Mountain National Park and the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was foggy and drizzling for most of our stay but we managed to get in some sightseeing and scenic drives while we were there.

We started the day with a three mile hike along the Oconaluftee River inside Great Smokey Mountains National Park.

20071003Blue-Ridge-Parkway-(7) — Oconaluftee River in Great Smokey Mountain National, Park

20071003Blue-Ridge-Parkway-(2) — Beaver evidence next to the river

Next up was a scenic drive starting at the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The farther north we got, the thicker the fog. After a while it drizzling. I was able to get a few photos before before the weather got too bad.

20071003Blue-Ridge-Parkway-(15) — Old homestead on Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

20071003Blue-Ridge-Parkway-(16) — Old homestead on Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

20071003Blue-Ridge-Parkway-(18) — Blue Ridge Mountains, NC

It was a wonderful fall getaway with camping in Cherokee, visiting the national park, and taking drives on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Throwback Thursday #7 – September 19, 2016

September 19, 2019September 17, 2019Posted in Arkansas, Birds, RVingTagged Jones Bar-B-Q Diner, Memories, Mississippi River State Park, Throwback Thursday7 Comments

We’re not traveling as much in our fifth wheel anymore so I thought it would be fun to relive some of our most memorable days from previous RV trips.

On this day 3 years ago, on September 19, 2016, we were camping at Mississippi River State Park, a small Arkansas park located in the Mississippi Delta on the Crowley’s Ridge Parkway and the Great River Road within the St. Francis National Forest. We had driven through a fierce thunderstorm the day before and were ready to kick back and relax for a day.

We drove into the nearby town of Marianna, Arkansas in the morning to pick up some James Beard Award winning barbeque from Jones Bar-B-Q Diner. We discovered this place on a previous visit and knew that the restaurant often sold out by noon.

With enough food for dinner that night and some extra to put in the freezer to take home, we returned to the campground to do some camp chair sitting in one of the best waterfront campsites we’ve ever had.