Carrabelle, Florida - Sunset Isle RV and Yacht Club Resort…

We left Mexico Beach and drove only about 56 over to Carrabelle, Florida. This will be our last stop on the forgotten coast. The drive over was very scenic as we had the Gulf of Mexico out our side window much of the way. We finally got to our destination and got set up in a Passport America Park called Sunset Isle RV and Yacht Club Resort. As we pulled into the property a friendly fellow met us to show us which site was ours and said he would stop by to settle up later.

The roads inside the park are all paved with brick pavers and done so in a very nice pattern. Each site on our row has a compacted sand/gravel pad and are 50 amp with full hookups. Cable TV and Wi-Fi are included in the price of about $29.00 including taxes per night. We plan to stay here 5 nights and then will drive the 250 miles from here over to Jacksonville, Florida for our doctor’s appointments.

This is a nice park that is along the St. James River and is cut out of a raised land feature adjacent to a marsh. They have a large nice pool with a hot tub (currently the hot tub is under repairs which bummed me out). They have also built three 2-3 level viewing platforms high enough to allow panoramic vistas of the river, marshes, and gulf of Mexico. These platforms are also excellent places to watch the sunrises and sunsets.Our site directly faces a ship channel leading to a nearby marina.  It has been very pleasant to watch various sized boats cruise in and out to sea.  Those that have purchased lots all seem to have boats and trailers so they likely enjoy the easy access less than a block away.

When the nice fellow came by to collect our rent we chatted with him a bit about the town and the park. He said the RV park had recently changed hands and that the long term plan was to turn the park into lots that are owned outright and not rented. Certainly this park has a lot of appeal but the town may be a little short on attractions. We ventured into town and found that Carrabelle itself is a sleepy little fishing village with few amenities to travelers such as us. There is a small IGA grocery store, a Dollar General, a hardware store and a few tavern/restaurants but little else.  Therefore on our first day we took the 55 mile drive over to Tallahassee, the state capital, to do some grocery shopping and visit the nearest Trader Joe's to stock up on all our favorites we had run out of.

 

After groceries were put up we hopped on our bikes to go to the marina for a closer view of the water. Directly across the street from our park we found a small cul de sac of lots for sale where owners can build a small beach house with boat slips included in the purchase.  The board walk on site opens up to very nice arrangement of boat slips numbered to match the numbers on each site.  We saw tons of bait fish and  had a scenic view of the entire town of Carrabelle on the other side of the river. Obviously Carrabelle is working hard to attract people to the area.  The boat slip boardwalk extends to the marina where we noticed it has a bar and outside seating but on this Sunday, it was closed.  We tooled back to our site and were treated to an amazing sunset while enjoying Happy Hour at home.

There is a very nice public beach just a few miles west of town that we plan to spend most of our time while we are visiting here. After all since this is a fishing village I plan to get in a few days of fishing while my lovely bride will surely enjoy the sunshine and read a few books on the beach… yep another rough day in the lives of John and Sharon…