Another Great Find....Sopchoppy City Park

Wednesday morning we headed south on back country roads to our next destination. We were on our way to the Myron B. Hodge City Park in Sopchoppy. You cannot make reservations but a call gave us a comfortable feeling that we would find spots for our RVs. It is not a well known spot but I found it through blog comments and Internet research. I have to throw out some credit here. My friend Liz Crussell Reynolds was a full timer for a number of years before she found the place she wanted to retire. She is an expert at finding great places to stay during her travels....city, county, state forest, national forest, etc., parks were all on her radar. She also has a unique talent for finding something interesting about every single place she visits. Carolyn and I are trying to develop the same instincts and ability.

It always amazes me that as you travel the backroads of Florida, at least the northern part, you feel like you could be in Michigan or Minnesota except for the temperatures. It was a cloudy day but a nice drive of a little over an hour.

We found the city park which was located on the river. There was a row of sites near the water with water and electric. There were other sites nearer the road with water, electric, and even sewer all for only $20/night. These spots would also have been fine as there was little to no traffic on the road and they were probably a little further apart.We moved into sites right next to each other. Carolyn had a covered table next to her. I was between her and a small roadtrek. (I took this picture later when my initial spot was taken by another small Roadtrek.)

Right after I got backed in, the couple on the other side of Carolyn left so I decided to pull into that spot facing the river with the nice table between us. The power hookups were a little tricky especially when you use an EMS but neither of us was willing to hookup without the EMS as the power was not especially strong. We discovered that there were actually two spots with hookups on one post. I parked as far over to the right as I could so as to not take up two slots like the previous occupant had done. In fairness, they probably didn't realize it was a shared post because only the number 3 was visible with the 4 kind of hidden under wiring. The problem was that there was a swing between the post and the area closer to the table. I sure wasn't going to take a chance on someone swinging into my rig. After we got all settled in, the park manager came by and we paid him for two nights.....cash or check. 

We decided to take a look around Sopchoppy which is located in the heart of the Apalachicola State Forest. It is very small and a short distance from the coast itself.

There was a deli/grocery store, very small,

We pulled in take a photo when we saw this set-up honoring all military veterans. Each figure represents a branch of service.

Another city park.

The Historic Sopchoppy Gymnasium.

The Georgia, Florida, and Alabama Depot

Meanwhile, back at the park, there is a really nice playground.

Carolyn's truck is parked between us. We had two big 5th wheels pull in after we got back. The space on the other side of me was pretty tight. The man and woman with it were very nice, It was their first time with a 5th wheel as they had a class A prior. The man with the other 5th wheel was a real bully. He was directing the first guy at backing in. The first wife said she always directed in the Class A but their "friend" took over on this trip. I was watching to make sure that they didn't hit my slideout and that they could still open theirs. Then the bully descended on me saying I should turn around.....I was in my space and my 30 amp cord just fit. If I turned around, I would have needed an extension cord because my RV plug in would have been further from the post. He couldn't seem to grasp this. Also, using an extension when the power was just barely adequate would have been a real mistake. He also couldn't grasp that simple idea. Just when I thought everything was okay, the bully had the first guy pull ahead and back in again. You guessed it, he was in a better spot the first time. Our slides cleared by about two feet so I just kept my shade down on that side. Otherwise, the first couple was nice and were embarrassed by their "friends" behavior. The bully made it quite clear that we women didn't know what we were doing.....bet I have quite a few more years of experience than he does and so does Carolyn, lol.  The guy from the first Roadtrek was watching all this and came over to comment about what an idiot the bully was being.

The large pavilion housed some bathrooms but I can't tell you what they were like as I use my own.

This is the Curtis Mills school.

Not sure about this little log cabin.

This is the boat landing.

View from my door.

We met a nice couple from Quebec City in Canada. They pulled in after dinner and wanted to know where they could pay and about the bathrooms. I told them that the park guy would come around eventually or they could go up to his house at the edge of the park to get a key to the bathrooms if they needed them. They got a nice spot by the boat landing as someone had pulled out in the afternoon. If things work out well for them, they are taking the backroads towards California. Most RVers are really nice but occasionally you find an exception to the rule.