STN Hop 2
224 miles on US 301, I-10, I-295 (around Jacksonville) and I-95. Cumulative miles: 475.
Spectacular cypress
The weather was less than ideal – intermittent showers the entire 4-hour trip – and much of the trip was on I-95, which we have traveled several times already. So the interesting part of the trip was the 67 miles on US 301. This is a decent 4-lane road with very few lights or stops. It passes through Starke, home to Florida’s very active death row (though the prison itself was not in sight) and traffic was heavy there. But it was Florida, so it was flat and green. Pretty boring.
Our destination for the evening was Red Gate Farms, an “event venue” and, incidentally, an RV park. It is… strange. The RV “park” is pretty much just an open field with water and electric connections scattered about. There are probably fewer than 40 sites in all. Our water-and-electric site was “clubhouse right” – i.e., the site to the right of the clubhouse. Some of the facilities – like a decrepit stage – were awful. But the clubhouse was nice and the grounds, with a scenic lake and a stunningly awesome cypress, were very nice. And it was very close to downtown Savannah which, if we had adhered to our original plan to spend three nights here, would have been very convenient. I also appreciated having a gas station very close by which had diesel for $1.99 per gallon (regular was $2.03).
Scenic but risky lake
I walked the dogs down to the lake and saw a sign warning of snakes and alligators. But a more immediate danger was the gaggle of geese on the shore. They did not like the dogs and appeared to be ready to defend their turf. We decided to let them be. But we coulda took ’em.
On to South of the Border today for a true kitsch experience.
Our rig (in the background)
The full-hookup row