Tampa

We enjoyed our 3-night stay in Eastpoint, Florida, October 21-24 at Coastline RV Resort. The sunsets were beautiful and came an hour later because we were now in the Eastern Time Zone.

We celebrated our 36th anniversary on October 23^rd with dinner and a walkabout in 

Apalachicola.

We left Eastpoint the next day and drove south to Seffner to the Lazydays RV Resort for an 8-day stay and chance to visit family and friends in the Tampa area.

We arranged to have Wade RV make a custom entry mat for the cockpit area of our motorhome.

We hosted friends Mike and Carol on Wednesday for dinner, after we looked through many of Lazyday’s motorhomes, 5^th wheels, and travel trailers. Lazydays is the country’s largest RV dealership with over 1500 RVs on about 125-acres. It's always fun to look at the RVs.

We took Julie’s Aunt Jo out for lunch on Saturday and enjoyed a nice visit. On Sunday, we visited my sister Cathy, niece Brittany, and her boyfriend Tyler.

Last night we had dinner with old friends Bill and Tammy who will be retiring soon and hitting the road in their motorhome. Tonight (Halloween) we walked over to Exit 10, a restaurant and pub right here in the RV resort. It has a recreational vehicle decor with a RV awning over the bar and our booth was configured like we were sitting in a RV slide-out.

  

Tomorrow we drive to Key Largo for an overnight stay on our way to Key West. We'll hang out in Key West for just over 7 weeks, until December 23rd.  

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Destin, Florida

We enjoyed our 3-night stay in Destin at the Destin West RV Resort. We stayed at this RV resort several years ago and liked it. We would have preferred Henderson Beach State Park in Destin or Top Sail State Park in Santa Rosa Beach, but there were no openings when we checked about a month ago.

We have seen hundreds of monarch butterflies the past week and learned that they are migrating this time of year to Mexico.

The RV resort is on the north side of busy Highway 98 but you can take a pedestrian bridge over to the south side and the beautiful, white sand beaches. The only “white stuff” we’ll see this winter.

Last night we enjoyed dinner at Harbor Docks Restaurant in Destin. It is one of only a few that serves fresh seafood from the gulf. I had grilled grouper and Julie enjoyed fried red snapper.  

We departed Destin this morning and drove to Eastpoint, Florida for a 3-night stay. Eastpoint is on the gulf, just a few miles east of Apalachicola, known for their fresh oysters.

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Biloxi

We arrived in Biloxi on Sunday, October 15^th, and in spite of the rain, I had hopes that the Denver Broncos would beat the New York Giants on Sunday Night Football. I was disappointed, as Denver lost 23-10.

On Tuesday, we drove west on I-10 from Biloxi about 50 miles to visit the NASA Infinity Science Center and the Stennis Space Center. The Infinity Science Center was extremely busy with a parking lot full of school buses and scads of kids on a field trip. However, we did enjoy all the NASA space exhibits.

Our friend “Mr. Paul”, who works at Stennis, joined us on our bus tour of the Stennis Space Center, where NASA tests its rocket engines.

We enjoyed dinner and a nice visit with friends Paul and Darlene on Tuesday evening at McElroy’s Seafood Restaurant in Biloxi at the marina harbor.

We left Biloxi this morning and drove to Destin, Florida for a 3-night stay.

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Vicksburg

We left Texas last Thursday, October 12^th, and headed to Vicksburg, Mississippi for a 3-night stay and to visit the Vicksburg National Military Park.

We stopped for lunch on Friday up the road from our campground at The Tomato Place. It got great reviews on Trip Advisor, so we thought we’d give it a try. We had BLTs and they were very good, especially the tomatoes.

After lunch we went to the Vicksburg National Military Park. The Civil War campaign for Vicksburg took place in 1863 and resulted in a Union siege of Vicksburg. The Confederate army surrendered after 47 days, which opened the Mississippi River and severed the Confederacy in half.

We enjoyed dinner at Walnut Hills Restaurant, with good old fashioned southern food. I had their famous fried chicken and Julie enjoyed shrimp and grits.

On Saturday, we went into historic old town Vicksburg, to enjoy dinner and the views of the Yazoo and Mississippi Rivers from the 10 South Rooftop Bar & Grill, the # 1 restaurant in Vicksburg, according to Trip Advisor. It had great views and plenty of outdoor seating.

We enjoyed our stay in Vicksburg and will return another day. We drove to Biloxi yesterday, at times through heavy rain, for a 3-night stay.

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Texas – October 2017

We left Lake Powell and Page, AZ on Monday, September 25^th. We overnighted in Cortez, CO and then drove through Shiprock and Farmington, NM for the first time on our way to Albuquerque. We got some warranty work done at La Mesa RV in Albuquerque and were very pleased with their work.

We headed south and overnighted in Las Cruces at Hacienda RV Resort, one of our favorite stops. Our stay was free because they give you the 7^th night free and we had stayed overnight 6 times before. We enjoyed dinner at La Posta de Mesilla just down the road from the RV park.

The drive on I-10 through El Paso went smoothly and across West Texas. We overnighted in Fort Stockton and again in Kerrville. We stopped in Ozona, TX at one of our favorite places for breakfast, Café Next Door, where we can park on a side street.

We arrived in San Antonio on Sunday, October 1^st. We wanted to stay at the Lackland AFB FamCamp but they were full, so we stayed at Admiralty RV Resort, the same place we spent nearly 4 months at in late-2013 and early-2014. We enjoyed our visit with Julie’s Mom, taking in a movie, and having dinner together each night.

We spent a few days with Julie’s sister Cindy and brother-in-law Terry. They are always fun to see. One night we went out for dinner and enjoyed live music at a local country bar.

Last Saturday night we enjoyed dinner at the Sky Lounge with Julie’s Mom and their long-time friends Buzz, Ellen, Peggy and Janet.

On Monday, we headed east on I-10 to Luling, TX to fuel up and grab something for lunch at Buc-ee’s, a favorite fuel stop of ours. Buc-ee’s is a chain of 40 convenience stores located in Texas, each with 80-120 fuel pumps, but no 18-wheelers allowed.

We left Buc-ee’s and headed up the road to Lockhart State Park for a two-night stay and to sample some of the best BBQ in Texas. Lockhart was declared the Barbecue Capital of Texas by the Texas legislature in 1999. We had dinner the first night at Kreuz Market and at Black’s Barbecue the second night.

We left Lockhart this morning and drove through east Texas to Longview. Once we got settled in at the RV park, we headed to Country Tavern, just west of Kilgore, for dinner. We think they serve the best barbecue ribs on the planet! There are no menus and the server asks you if you want 3, 5 or 7 ribs. They also serve barbecue brisket, sausage, and turkey, but the pork baby back ribs are the best.

Best ribs on Planet Earth

Robert Duvall agrees

We’re off to Vicksburg, Mississippi tomorrow for a 3-night stay and to visit the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Steve & Julie Cornelius