Camp Venice Retreat Feb 22-24

Dave's birthday was the 20th so we decided that was a good excuse to take a weekend trip. We both had Friday off so we loaded up Winnie and headed for the West coast. Our destination was a cozy mom and pop RV park called Camp Venice Retreat. Venice is south of Longboat Key and north of Captiva.

This place has a great 'old Florida' feel to it. We were on the water in a large site. We arrived early afternoon  on Friday February 22. We set up, checked out the rest of the campground, then headed over to the waterfront restaurant for a late lunch.

Snoke Haven was within our RVpark, but yet a separate place with small cottages for rent and a great little restaurant on the water. We had some really good food!

Now that our bellies were full we decided to had out by car and explore the local area before it got dark.
We headed to downtown Venice.

We walked around downtown Venice checking out some boutiques and restaurants...cute town. We got to the beach just before sunset and as we were walking we heard music and realized a local church was having a worship service right on the beach..it was really cool!

We explored a bit more by car until it was too dark, then headed back to camp for a quiet evening with a movie and snacks.

On Saturday, we headed out bright and early to explore as much as possible before we headed to Port Charlotte to see the Tampa Bay Rays play their first game of Spring Training.

We drove through Venice and as far as Punta Gorda. Punta Gorda was really quaint and cute...must go back! We also saw some very nice beaches...we will have to go back and spend some more time in some of these spots!

After leaving Punta Gorda we headed to Port Charlotte for the Tampa Bay Rays Spring Training Opening game.

Well, it was a nice ball park, a beautiful day and a lot of fun even though we lost!

After leaving the game we headed out to find Matlacha, a funky beach town I had read about in Coastal Living magazine. If you blinked, you missed it, but it was a cool town. We found a great place to eat at and checked out some of the shops and local neighborhoods on the outskirts of downtown. I love communities where every house is on a canal! So cool!

We checked out of our Venice Beach camp ground Sunday morning and took a drive through Myakka River State Park before heading home. it was a long but fun weekend!

We are looking forward to our big trip in April!

Until then...

Blessings,
Misi and Dave

Henderson Beach State Park, Destin, FL, Jan 5th-6th 2013

We arrived at Henderson Beach State Park around 2:30 p.m. after a 242 mile trek from Louisiana. The park is fantastic! It is situated right on the beach. The campsites are large with lots of foliage between for plenty of privacy. Each site is either paved or has gravel that seems to be tamped down or smoothed out between each departure. The sites are very natural looking yet neat and tidy…very well maintained. Ours was site 44.

We got checked in, set up and out on the road to explore before it got dark. It was already after 3:00 and there was a store I wanted to check out before they closed at 5:00 since they would not be open the next day (Sunday). It was a really cute coastal gift shop/home décor store Kathleen's Kottage. The owner and his dog greeted us and were very friendly. The owner makes all the furniture in the store and sells at very reasonable prices. If you are in the area definitely check it out.

From there, we explored Scenic Hwy 30A which offers tons of coastal boutiques, cafes and leads to charming towns and beaches like Grayton Beach, Seaside, Seagrove Beach and Rosemary Beach. It was chilly and a little drizzly but we got out at a shopping area in Seaside and looked around a bit popping into a couple stores. I would definitely like to check it out in warmer weather.

We decided to eat while there and ended up at The Great Southern Cafe for some warm and cozy comfort food! We both got the beef which was like pot roast. The yummy beef was so tender and had tons of broth with it. Add black-eyed peas, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy and it was the classic southern meal! Yum! We actually somehow resisted dessert that night! Seriously need to go on a fast when we get home!

After dinner, we drove the rest of 30A then headed back to home base to turn in for the night.

Sunday morning was still very chilly but bright and clear. We got up and around fairly early and actually went to visit our neighbors in the next loop over. They are actually our neighbors from Apopka who happened to be there at the same time as us! We need to give them a big THANK YOU for giving us so many great RV travel tips…thanks guys!!

We headed back over to our site and logged into the The Xchange (Family Bible Church online service). So great to be able to still ‘go’ to our church even while traveling!

We needed to check out by 1:00 but wanted to explore a bit more so moved Winnie from our camp site to the public parking within the park. We took a walk on the beach...it was beautiful!

We hopped in the car and checked out some of the 30A towns and beaches and stopped for lunch at McGuire's Irish Pub. This is a place not to be missed if you are in the area!! It is fantastic!! I was on sensory overload though! I’ve been to little beach dives that have dollar bills taped to the walls, but here they are not only plastering the walls but hanging from the ceilings too. We were seated near the fireplace and also close to the musician who strummed his guitar and played relaxed classic songs. Tons of choices on the menu overwhelm and tempt you! We started with Senate Bean Soup...a local favorite for only 19 cents! It is patterned after the original soup which has been served in Washington D.C. since the early 1900s. Bean soup is on the menu in the Senate's restaurant every day! The Senate Bean Soup at McGuire's was delicious! Portions here are large and they seem to bring you tons of ‘extras’ that you didn’t order at no extra charge. Dave’s brunch came with a Baily’s Irish coffee, they brought us warm, fresh beignets that we did not order (twice) and on and on like that. Everything was fantastic!

With just a little time left before we had to pound the pavement back to Apopka, we drove the coastal roads and took photos and made notes of places to come back to in warmer weather.

Hated to only stay one night but we must get home to the kitties and I guess to reality, lol!! It has been an amazing trip and now we have 7 states on our map!!

Excited to see how many states we can get on our map by the end of 2013!

Until Next Time~

Blessings~

Misi and DaveHenderson Beach State Park