Fort De Soto is very popular and it is difficult to find availability. Local county residents are able to book a month earlier than anyone else. Somehow, we got lucky and found available campsites.
The campground has 238 campsites, many of which are on the water. We had two different large, pull-thru sites with water and electricity. We were not fortunate enough to book a waterfront site. The park is very popular for fishing, cycling and birding. The fort was built between 1898 and 1906 for the purpose of military defense, though was never involved in combat. It was eventually abandoned in 1923 and sold back to Pinellas County in 1948. It became a county park in 1963.
There is a paved bike path running through the park. We rode our bikes almost every day and were able to ride around 15 miles in the park, without looping around again. Many days I walked, ran and cycled, mixing in a lot of birdwatching. Needless to say, I was really feeling great and have been, since.
We spent many afternoons and evenings exploring St. Pete Beach. We met some locals who told us where to eat and where to hear good live music. Once we figured out how to deal with the lack of parking, we really enjoyed it. It’s so casual and affordable compared with Maui and even metro Detroit.
After 12 nights at Fort De Soto, we headed south toward the keys. Midway Campground in Big Cypress National Preserve was, ironically, midway along our route to Bahia Honda State Park. The route allowed us to avoid driving through Miami, which is pretty crazy.
It was the only campground in the area with power and it also had water. The sites were level and paved, but were 90 degrees to the driveway, so it was impossible to back in without driving on the grass. It was literally in the middle of nowhere, with zero cell service. It was a really great feeling. I might have felt otherwise if severe storms were moving through, but the weather was really nice.
The tuna was phenomenal and I haven’t had seaweed salad since my time living in Japan in 1998.
We discovered when we got there, that “theme” is an all-female, young staff wearing only the tiniest bikinis. The beach view was beautiful.
