March 1st-8th, 2021 - Eglin FamCamp

March 1st - 7th, 2021

We settled into Eglin and as Bryan didn't have jury duty we had to find things to do. 

We found a shop that sold "British" food supplies.  It was about 45 minutes away but what the heck.  It was a nice drive along the coast and we spent a fortune stocking up. Hopefully I will be good for a while!!

We made a tour around the base and were shocked.  It was in a pitiful state.  A lot of the buildings looked decrepit and needed "sprucing" up. There was a hurricane that came through here last year but it didn't appear this was all hurricane damage but wear and tear. 

This base has a new squadron of the recently activated U.S. Space Force.  Let's hope that brings a revamping of the base. 

The campground wasn't much better and is one of the worst military ones we have stayed in. There was litter everywhere and many homesteaders.  A school bus even comes through to pick up and drop off children.  Now, we're not totally opposed to that but no one is made to keep their sites neat and trash free. 

No one had picked up their dogs mess and our site was covered in it. Of course we were on the end, so maybe it was just used as the dog park, hmmm. 

We complained to the office who said they would send someone to clean it up and we went out for the day. When we returned it had been disbursed by kicking it into different locations in the area. At least that was what it looked like had happened.

On a positive note we don't live here!!!!  We can move. I love that we have that option. We won't return to this campground even for jury duty.  Although we do have 5 nights credit available for a year.

Ok, sorry for the rant.  I seem to be doing more and more of that, and I don't like it but it helps me to get it out of my system. I like to think that I'm generally a positive person, but I think the Covid crisis and the attitude change in the country makes it very difficult to stay positive. I will continue to try though as I don't like "ranting".  

Please continue to read, I promise to be nice!!!, maybe........

Bryan found a good place for his hammock and at least while he was out there relaxing, no one allowed their dogs into "our" space.

The views from our windows were not to bad. There was a sign that said "Beware of the Bears".  So, I kept an eye open but didn't see any. Although the girl in the office told Bryan, a mother and her cubs had been sighted. Eeeeekkk!!!     

                            

We went for a walk from the campground.  The pictures we took make the campground look better than it was but it could be very nice.

Starting at our site

Front of our site

Looking back from our site

Nice bench opposite our site for people to sit

Laundry & Bathroom Block

Tent Sites

Lets go down this dirt road......

It's a really nice walk

Now, the area below had been cleared up yesterday, as when we arrived we saw a tree on top of this camper, and all around branches had fallen.  It looked as though it was hurricane damage. This camper wasn't in the main campground though, but maybe this was an older part of the campground that was now overgrown.

Just around a corner we got our first view of the water. What a lovely surprise.

It was beautiful.

Old Scout Hut, boarded up.

This guy was just out in his boat fishing. 

These two were exercising their horses.  There are stables on base where you can board your horses and look after them. This is a great option for equestrians.

There was a family enjoying the beach. Their dogs were loving the water.

We spent quite a while watching the dogs, who were thoroughly enjoying their swim.

The horses we saw earlier also went for a swim.  So, we had a great vantage point watching the dogs one way and horses the other. It was perfect.

Horses in the distance in the water

We continued our walk, along the beachfront. 

There was a picnic area and sign that said there was no trash service. You guessed it, there was trash on the ground, although not as bad as it could have been I guess.

We walked along the road back to the campground. What a lovely place just a short walk from the campground.

Back to the house!!!!

We had such a nice time we decided to have another drive around the base and see what else we could find.

On the road leading to the campground was a memorial.  I got out of the car to see what it was and took some pictures.

It was a tribute to a former Commander of the base. The road to the campground is named after him, "Shambo".

We drove by the stables and saw that the couple from the beach were back and grooming their horses.

Road by the stables

"Aircraft Pedestrian Crossing" made us laugh

Climate Testing Facility

F-15 Static Display

We stopped to look at the Veterans Memorial. It wasn't bad but there were NO FLAGS, just empty flagpoles!!!  I think that's the first time we've seen a memorial on a base with no flags during the day. 

This tree had an unusual bark.

Reminded me of a giraffe

On the way back to the campground I took a picture of the lake, another nice area.

March 8th, 2021

We were supposed to be at Eglin until March 13th but were so disappointed in the base and campground that we left today, and headed to Blue Angel Recreation Area, one of our favorite campgrounds early.  

So many bridges over water in this part of the country.

We arrived at Blue Angel Recreation Area and got settled into our site. This park also got hit badly by the last hurricane but it has been cleared up very well. A resident (Seabee) from our park in Jacksonville was sent here to assist in the clear up and they have done a great job.