When your most adventurous friends ask you to join them at the end of their cross country RV trip at a "cool as shit" RV park on the panhandle of Florida - you MUST say yes!!! That is how we ended up meeting Dean & Angie at the Hideaway Retreat in Navarre Beach, Florida in October of 2024!
Dean and Angie have been KEY to encouraging us to buy an RV and giving us pointers on the "must haves" of RVing. This would be our 3rd outing in the RV and we were looking forward to a relaxing stay, some Florida sunshine, and good time with friends.
We would be leaving on 10/24/24 and returning on 10/29/24. Since this is about a 10 hour drive according to GPS, we knew it would be at least 12 or more pulling the camper. due to this we decided the best thing would be to leave really early and drive all the way through. Hopefully we would get to the campground around check in time, which is 1:00pm.
Packed up and ready to roll at 3:00am!
Leaving at this time would hopefully get us through Atlanta before rush hour, then easy driving the rest of the way. Traffic on the Interstate was lite and we had no issues. This strategy was somewhat successful as we ended up going through Atlanta around 7:30am. Not exactly rush hour but there was quite a bit of traffic. Any later would have delayed us a lot due to congestion. By the time we got through the city and out the other side the rush hour backup had begun in the opposite direction.
Once we hit the Alabama State Line the drive became rural 2 lane roads with excellent scenery and easy driving conditions. The same thing can be said about entering Florida. We arrived at Hideaway Retreat in Navarre Beach about 1:00pm, right on time! Navarre is in the Central Time Zone so our drive time was actually about 11 hours.
The Hideaway Retreat is a waterfront camping resort on the Santa Rosa Sound. We had reserved a waterfront space and were thrilled with the spot once we arrived.
Dean and Angie had arrived the day before and Dean and Atlas stopped by for a visit after we got set up.
We spent the afternoon and evening visiting, cooking, eating, drinking, and enjoying the scenery. This was a peaceful prime location for an RV stay!
The sunsets here are fantastic and we had a wonderful time watching it develop.
After Sunset there was some serious Connect Four competition going on...
The next morning the sunrise was just as spectacular as the sunset. This place is a gem!
This being our 3rd outing we were still learning but also were starting get some routines about camper life sorted out. For example, Lynn has a quick boiler pot that boils water on AC power in about 2 minutes. She uses this for her Optavia mocha mix in the morning and I in turn use the same pot for my French press coffee maker. I also learned I needed to grind the beans for the French press because pre-ground beans are too fine and get into the coffee cup. So I have my small coffee grinder on hand as well. Also AC power but minimal drain and we are hooked to off shore power here anyway. When Boondocking we may want to curb the use of these luxuries.
This was to be a beach day. We packed up our chairs and coolers and headed out to a secluded beach spot between Navarre and Pensacola. The beaches are pristine, not crowded, white sand, and the weather was perfect! We even saw a group of rays close to shore a couple of times.
After our afternoon of sun and surf we stopped by Where Ya'll At Seafood Market for some fresh seafood. We would prepare a seafood feast at the campground and enjoy another sunset. This is a truly relaxing getaway and we were enjoying every minute of it.
Our plan for the next day was to go on a bike ride with Angie. Dean had some things he needed to take care of and would join us later in the afternoon after the ride. We loaded up our eBikes and Angie's gravel bike into our truck and headed out after breakfast. We planned to park along the beach near Navarre and do an 11 mile one way ride toward Pensacola and back. This is a flat, straight trek with bike lanes so for us novices there were no issues. eBikes are great if you are not a true cyclist. Angie and Dean are hard core cyclists but they are gracious hosts when we ride together.
We parked at a public space in Navarre, unloaded, and headed out! We turned around at the Pensacola Beach boundary making it a 22 mile round trip.
After the ride we met up with Dean at the Hideaway and decided to go check out the Navarre pier and go for a walk on the beach. We also stopped into the bar at the pier for a beer and enjoyed the sunset there. Love this place!
Back at the campground we still had some filets from the seafood market so we prepared a meal and enjoyed another relaxed evening.
Delicious!
The next day would be another bike ride with Dean joining us also. The plan was to drive to Pensacola and park there, then ride out to Fort Pickens and back. About 23 miles round trip. After a hearty breakfast we loaded up and were ready to roll. We also packed the beach stuff in the truck as the plan was to spend the afternoon on a beach after the bike ride.
What a great way to spend a day! After our beach time we went back to the campground and made smash burgers for dinner. Perfect ending to a perfect day.
The next day was to be boat day. We had reserved a 23' center console based in Pensacola. We rented it for the whole day and our plan was to explore the bay, some of the islands and maybe out to sea if conditions are good. Dean is a licensed captain and has done everything from racing sailboats to island hopping in the keys on his sailing yacht. We would be in good hands.
Up early to pack coolers and snacks, get a good breakfast, and leave the campground by 10:00. The boat rental was from 11:00am to 6:00pm. Atlas loves boats and would be joining us.
We arrived on time and the boat was ready for us! After loading up, a quick safety check and overview, then we were out on the water.
We left out of Galvez Landing near the Florida/Alabama line and cruised around Perdido Bay, into Bayou Saint John, and over to Terry Cove. The weather and scenery were fantastic!
Our first stop was Robinson Island where we beached and got out to enjoy the beach. Unfortunately dogs are not allowed so Atlas was restricted to the boat. He was not very happy about that...
After stopping at Robinson Island we cruised around Terry Cove and Johnson Cove just enjoying the ride and scenery. Some of the houses and boats on the coastline are impressive, to put it mildly.
After cruising around for a while we wanted to head out to sea just so we could say we did. We went under the Perdido Pass (Hwy 182) and out to open water. This boat is quite sea worthy and will withstand some rough conditions. It was choppy but nothing challenging for this vessel. Sense this was a pleasure cruise, however, with no destination in mind we turned around at the first buoy and headed back into calmer water.
I think we need one of these on the lake back home...
Our next stop was the Flora-Bama Ole River Bar and Grill. World famous, or so they say. We had a late lunch out on the waterfront outdoor area.
After our late lunch we packed back into the boat and headed out for more site seeing.
We got the boat back to the dock about 5:30 and made it back to the campground just in time to enjoy our final sunset at the Hideaway Retreat. We would be heading back home the following day.
We enjoyed another relaxing evening and prepared to get loaded up to move out the following morning.
We were definitely getting better at loading up, hitching up, and getting ready for the drive. We got up, had breakfast, and were road ready by 9:00am. Dean and Angie would be staying on a few more days at different campgrounds in Florida. This was the final leg of their epic 100 day excursion across the US. We learned a lot from them about how to go about planning for a trip like that and have started planning our own to begin in May 2025.
Good bye, Atlas, until next time! Oh and Dean and Angie too...
On the way we stopped for lunch in Montgomery, AL. We found a neat place called Jalapenos In The Alley. It's called that because it is, well, in an alley. Neat little place and neat little town! Quick stop and onward toward home.
We arrived back home around 10:30pm, where we would stage the camper and unload the following day.
This was a fantastic trip! Dean and Angie are always fun to hang out with and getting a bit of sun and surf in late October was just the right thing for us. We love the Navarre Beach area and highly recommend it.
If you are an RVer we also highly recommend The Hideaway Retreat. You need to know that it does not show up on most RV apps, which may be why it is so quaint and not overly developed. Their website is: thehideawayretreat.com/
"TRAVELING - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller."
lbn Batutta
Please feel free to comment or reach out directly. I can be reached at Rocky@Rocklyns.com.
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