Two Rivers Landing RV Park - Low Country Boil

Our RV club had it’s May rally at the Two Rivers RV Resort in Sevierville, TN but we were unable to attend due to a previous commitment.  We were available on Sunday and the rally hosts invited us to come up for the day for a repeat of the low country boil we made at last year’s rally in the Charleston, SC area.

Before discussing the meal, here’s a little about the park beginning with a shot from Google Earth.

As you can see, it sits on the French Broad River with 55 sites – 25 pull-ins on the river and 30 back-ins with a river view – so all of the coach fronts face the river.  They had such good photos on their website, I decided to use them rather than take my own

This is such a nice place, I hate we missed out camping here, especially in that end site parallel to the river.  For comparison, the nightly rate for the riverfront sites here is $65, the highest rate at Anchor Down is $69

and the rate for the KOA in Mt. Pleasant, SC is $70.

I guess it's all about location, competition, and the KOA name as this site is not in the same league as the other two.

And now back to the rally.  We made the hour and ten minute drive and spent the afternoon visiting with club members before firing up the big pot.  Using Zaterain's Pro Boil as the spice, we cooked up a batch of Low Country Boil of red potatoes, kielbasa, corn, and shrimp and dumped it on the butcher paper covered tables for the 15 hungry eaters. These shots are at the end of the meal as the piles of food have pretty much disappeared..

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.The meal was a hit and we enjoyed spending time with our club friends.

Larry

5/17/15 event date

On The Road Again To Dandridge, TN - Anchor Down RV Resort

After a three months layoff to finish up winter and do the outdoor spring chores, we’re back on the road again with a single trip to two destinations.  The second leg is a return trip to the Charleston, SC area and the first was to attend an RV rally at Anchor Down RV Resort near Dandridge, TN, which will be the subject of this post.

We belong to the Tennessee Travelers chapter of the FMCA and really enjoy getting together with this group of nearby RVer’s.  It’s nice to go on these trips where several things are planned for us and all we have to do is show up.

The Anchor Down RV Resort is on beautiful Douglas Lake which is near the Sevierville/ Pigeon Forge/ Gatlinburg part of Tennessee.  The resort is beginning their second year in operation and I have no problem calling it a RESORT instead of a campground as they have obviously poured the effort and money into it. 

While just a state route with little shoulder, I had no problem driving our coach on the road (TN-139) servicing the resort from Dandridge or Kodak.  This is the entrance to the resort and the office/store.

The resort is basically on a hillside ending at the lake and they have done an excellent job turning it into three fairly level camping areas with nearly level sites – no problem leveling our coach.  All sites are hard surfaced with plain or textured concrete and have a picnic table and fire ring or fireplace.  They have a full range of site types - pull-in, back-in, pull thru, and buddy.

I’ll begin with the upper area and work my way down the hill.  The upper area has 29 sites of varying sizes and types and an outstanding view from the ones facing the lake.

The middle area contains 109 sites of all types and this is the beginning of it - shot above shows much of it.

This is our site (#51) with shots of the view from our back of the lake and the sites up from us.

This is the view from my chair in the front of our rig with a coach in one of the buddy sites and after it departed.

Here are a couple of the other buddy sites, which I had not seen before, and are perfect for two coaches traveling together.

Lastly is the lower level which contains 33 sites, the nice sized pool and pool house, a boat dock, boat ramp, lake swimming area, and play area - the shot from the upper area (above) shows the sites.

This shot is from the pool house back up the hill.

Their rates are from $49 to $69 and include four people, rather than the more normal two.  As I mentioned at the beginning, this is not just a campground, but one of the nicest RV resorts we’ve stayed in and I believe it's only going to get better.

The check-in process was pleasant and efficient and everyone we met was very helpful and friendly.  The owners are hands-on with the wife running the office (she checked me in) and the husband handing the outside.  They are home builders who bought a farm on which to build a sub-division, but elected to build the resort instead.

I have heard only positive comments from the members of our 15 coach rally and if you are looking for a great place for a rally or an individual trip from which to visit the Smokies area and be on the lake, Anchor Down is well worth your consideration.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

4/20-4/23/2015 event dates

2015 Florida Trip – Day 22 – Waters Edge RV Park & We're Home

It took us about two hours to make the 90 mile trip from Riverside RV Park near Port Charlotte to Waters Edge RV Park about ten miles SE of Okeechobee.  We went from a campground with 500 sites to one with 29 and containing the same managers and three rigs that were here last year when we were.

As a refresher of this very nice park, here are a few shots that I took last year.

This year we are one row closer to the lake and oriented such that we have a lot more shade.  This is a shot from the front of our site toward the lake which is behind the dike.  The visible water is the “ditch” that surrounds much of the lake.

I took this shot of a couple enjoying the sunset at a water-view site.

While I don’t like a campground that packs you in like sardines, I find that being closer than we were at Riverside encourages more conversation with your neighbors.  If you are looking for a small laid back and friendly park to spend some winter months or if you want a nice home base for fishing Lake Okeechobee, this may be the place for you.  Since it was built as a Class A only park, there are neither a laundry nor shower facilities at the resort.  It is 10 miles from the town of Okeechobee and a great value for south Florida - likely due to the remote location.

We started home on 1/24 and for the first 9000 miles of travel, it didn't occur to us that Bev could raise the foot rest on her seat while traveling - her she is with her assistants doing their navigator duties.

We got home on 1/25 and woke up to this on 1/27.

While no where near the events in New England, it's still a long way from the Florida shots above and the 80 degree temp the day before we left - easy to understand snowbirds.  I will continue to report on our trip for four more posts.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

1/17/15 - 1/27/15 event dates

2015 Florida Trip – Day 9 – Moving South

After seven nice days at Cedar Key RV Resort, we headed on down south to our next destination at Riverside RV Park just north of Port Charlotte (on Florida's west coast) and along the Peace River.  It was just 220 miles so we didn’t have to be in a rush to leave and we still got in mid-afternoon.  This is the entrance sign and the office/store and large pavilion - check out Sweetie in the mirror.

This is our first visit to this huge campground with 500 sites resulting from several expansions of what used to be a Yogi Bear Park.  We're at the top of the largest lake in this Google Earth shot.

At 6 mph, it takes several minutes to drive from our site to the entrance.  Our site, #398, is on one of several lakes with this view our first foggy morning and then evening and the next morning.

We were advised by several folks to watch the dogs as some of the lakes contain gators.

This is our site with a large amount of room on each side.

With all of the space around us and the lake view, it would be perfect except that the operating side of the coach faces south.  When I reserved this spot, I didn’t notice that their on-line map was rotated 90 degrees and I thought we were getting afternoon shade.  Here are some shots of sites around us, mostly occupied by people who have been occupying them for several years.  You can make improvements to a site but ownership remains with the campground so some folks have concreted their drives and many have landscaped their sites.  When they are not here, they just have to hope that other visitors to the site take care of what they have done.

This is the backside of the pavilion with shuffleboard courts and the pool to the right - pickleball courts nearby.

This is the fishing pier and boat launch on the Peace River.

Like many of these small town sized campgrounds catering to Snowbirds, there are a lot of planned activities with something for almost everyone.

When Bev got up the next morning, she whipped up a breakfast of re-heated scalloped potatoes and ham topped with a couple of sunny side up eggs.

Barely edible J

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

1/5/15 event date