PRT wrote: Ruskin is not crowded. It's on the east side of Tampa Bay. There are Tampa South, Hide-A-Way, Manatee Something, Hawaiian Isles; further south on 41 are Tierra Ciea, Frog Creek and two others whose names I forget. All of these are an easy drive over the Sunshine Skyway to St. Pete, Clearwater, etc...
Tampa South and Hide-A-Way are both on the Little Manatee River. You won't get a waterfront site at either - they are taken!!
There is a County Park campground in Ruskin. EG Simmons. They don't take reservations and it was unbelievably cheap. IIRC it was $10 a night. The snowbirds alternated between 3 county parks which each limited their stay to 2 weeks.
Jim & Sherri
05 Jayco Eagle 308 FBS, Dual Cam
2001 Ford Excursion LTD 3.73(now 4.30)LSD,V-10,2WD,RAS
Honda EU2000 and EU1000 gensets;
2000 watt Tripp-Lite inverter/charger APS 2012
Saturn SD365 inflatable, 15 hp 2 stroke Yamaha
"Scout" Springer Spaniel
One of our favorites and totally undiscovered treasures is Turtleback RV Resort at Lake Panasoffkee, FL. Wonderful lake for boating and fishing. Boat rentals available. They have a great heated pool and an active social schedule of bingo, pot lucks, etc. The area is centrally located making day trips to either coast, produce markets and any dining experience you might want a very easy thing to do. My problem is leaving the serenity of the park to go do things!
There are so many parks. Each has it's own personality. Read the rules for any park you want to consider. They can vary quite a lot. Like "no dogs over 40 lbs." or "adults only". Most have a few "overnight" spaces. The type of park you describe often doesn't advertize much.
Pick an area where you might like to stay. We chose the Ft. Myers area because it's warm enough for shorts most every day yet not as expensive as the Naples area. This will be our 5th year wintering there. We were in Texas one year. There are 20-30 major parks and several smaller parks, some with only 6 spaces.
If you want a place to start try Swift Mobile Home & RV Park in North Fort Myers. It's very homey, and within walking distance to the Post Office and probably the best buffett in the area. We havn't stayed there since I started bringing my motorcycle with me because they have a "no motorcycles" policy.
We wanted a park without ammeneties because we want to see the area, not just stay in the park. Even the finest of activities can't compare with a day at the beach or taking the boardwalk thru the bird & aligator sanctuary. (I once saw an aligator EAT a bird).
You just need to check it out for yourselves. Even if you think you know what you want your priorities can change when you see for yourself what's available to you.
'03 GMC 4500 Topkick with Duramax/Allison
'04 36' McKenzie Medallion triple slide
Honda Magna motorcycle mounted on the front of the truck
Snowbird W/Ohio camper dock
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