Huck explained how we ended up here. It was kind of desperation. We just needed to fill in the gap between Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale. It was in the middle of nowhere, but it was cheap and we needed a rest, and to catch up on laundry and school.
The owner was super nice on the phone, but he warned there wasn’t a playground or anything for kids. He said his 4 year old was the only kid, but I saw at least 6 kids while we were there. The reason I bring this up is there is a FB page for Full Time Families and people are constantly posting about the RV Parks, especially in Florida and other snow bird states that don’t allow kids, or they charge “kid tax.” One place we considered was going to charge $7/kid, but that is the only time we’ve run into that so far thank goodness!
As we got closer to the Villa Margaret I got nervous. There were a lot of feedlots. And then we passed a juvenile detention center. Oh boy, what did I get us into? Luckily there was a river separating us (honestly it wouldn’t have done much good.) And it was only 2 nights.
We entered the RV park and it didn’t look too bad. I saw a couple of food trucks and I did wonder for a minute if this was the off season housing for carnies or something. In actuality, they currently have a lot of people who work for Florida Power living in this park (thus the kids I saw). Also, they had been very affected by the flooding 3 weeks back. That is why there was an opening. They had even had to turn people away. The ground we parked on was very soft. I just prayed for no more rain. 🙂 Huck referenced the grumpy old man who was a resident, but NOT the owner. In some ways the guy was right with what he said about where we parked – IF we were going to stay long term and IF we had a longer water hose. It was a great lesson in asking questions so you understand what needs to be done and why before you boss people around. 🙂 Luckily he didn’t live too near us.
As I drove away to go to the store I noticed a HUGE bird in the yard across the drive from us. The lawn was very decorated with lots of lovely plants and flowers. At first I thought it was a lawn ornament – like the big plastic flamingos you see. Then I realized it was walking around! I called Huck and told the kids to go check it out. It was very cool!
After Disney and Universal Studios we were tired and just needed to veg and relax so we didn’t check out the area. I was actually wondering why so many snow birds would choose this area to stay. It was not impressive on our way in. AFTER we left I found out we were right above the 2nd largest fresh water lake (in the US?). There is also a state park and a historical site there. I think there is actually quite a lot to see in the middle of the state, oh well we cannot do it all. As we were getting ready to leave we looked at the river that was literally across the driveway from us. And Caden spotted an alligator in the water! A Big one too! Sadly he was shy and swam away before we could really study him.
Overall, it was great. It was quiet and peaceful and the people, except one, were all very very kind.