The Perfect Winter Vacation Spot: Anastasia State Park Campground
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ม.ค. 2023
- If you're looking for a campground that is the perfect winter vacation spot then be sure to book a few nights at Anastasia State Park. There's so much to do inside the park and just a shot bike or car ride from the park is everything that's truly special about our nation's oldest city, St Augustine, FL. We spent nearly a week there in mid-January, 2023 in our Winnebago EKKO. And even though we're in Florida the days turned cold and the nights got low enough for frost. The weather made everything a challenge but challenges make you stronger... right? Well, sometimes... but sometimes they make you... cold! Even so, we're glad we spent a week exploring one of our favorite parks again and think you'll love it if you go.
Visit www.VanTrekkingLifestyle.com
🏪 Our Amazon Store: amazon.com/shop/VanTrekkingLi...
🔥 Solo Stove: glnk.io/nrn2l/owen
🚴 RAD eBikes ($50 off coupon): rwrd.io/y71bizy?s
✴️ Pop-up Room: www.amazon.com/dp/B07F2S5YCD?...
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
#rvlifestyle #rvtravel
* Many of the links included are affiliate links, meaning we will make a small commission from these sellers should you choose to purchase with our link
I just want to thank you for giving Maggie such a great life..... I wish everyone would treat their animals the way you do.
All animals deserve a good home. We were lucky to find Maggie… she has brought us so much joy, she deserves every bit of love she gets in return.
I like half moon on the screen and the tune twinkle twinkle comes up. Loved Owen and Maggie together when Maggie says I love you too! That’s so cute.
Thank you Sherri, we appreciate you watching.
Happy Belated Birthday Owen!
Glad you were able to have a temporary fix for Maggie’s leash.
Who is that crazy old guy on the unicycle? Oh, wait, that was me!!!! We had such a great time with you guys. Another great video and our fav state park, Anastasia! Can’t wait to see you guys again. ❤️❤️. David and Juanita
I was so impressed that you could ride a unicycle we had to put it in the video. We always have a great time with you guys too, thanks for making Owen’s Birthday so special. We love you guys
We visited St. Augustine years ago. Your video brought back memories. Just a tip.... that "hatchet" is actually a roofing hammer. It's not made to take or hold a sharp edge. The flat part is for lifting shingles. The head is for pounding roofing nails and the little wedge is for pulling roofing nails. You can get a cheap camping hatchet in Walmart for $10. The shot of Maggie relaxing in the kayak was absolutely priceless. Our dogs!!!! Lynn is doing all the work and Maggie is loving it.
That is so funny I had to give Owen a hard time… thanks for education on Owen’s hatchet, I guess now we need to go buy a real one. No wonder it didn’t work very well splitting wood.
Anastasia is one of my wife and I's favorite State Parks.
Ours too. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for the report card on park campgrounds, they help a lot. Happy Life !
Thanks for letting us know.
Nice you were able to get the parts to fix the light for the Echo and the propane regulator. Owen you have become quite the handyman. Lol! You are great at fixing things. I know Lynn’s happy to have you around.
You kind have to be a handyman if you own an RV, with all the things that can go wrong on the road… and yes I’m am very glad Owen is able to fix all the issues we have.
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle
We try to be our handy woman here at my our house. It’s hard sometimes. We ask around to see if we can find someone or my sisters boy friend ends up helping out. Hope you have a great day and weekend.
Thank u, for sharing such a beautiful relaxing Trip 😊😊😊!!!
You are so welcome and thank you for watching.
Such a relaxing and great video all around.
Maggie was happily trotting in her evening walk 😍
You can tell if Maggie is liking her walk by her little trotting that she does. Thanks so much for watching.
It’s been a minute since I commented. Just been busy and sick (not too seriously, thank goodness). Anyhow, it’s great to see you still living your best lives and bringing Maggie along for the ride. What a lucky pup and lucky couple. Keep those videos coming and enjoy your time in Florida! One good thing about winter in FL is that even when it does get cold, it only lasts a few days and then the temps moderate so it isn’t quite so cold. Looking forward to your next installment. 😀
We all feel very lucky and blessed… and we are loving this Florida weather. I hope you are feeling better! See you next time.
It looks like a great park. Glad you gave it an all around 5 stars. It looks great to me too! With the beach there! I love it!
It is one of our favorites… so a 5 it is.
Thanks for your next nice video and very nice music! Can't wait to park our Travato in Anastasia State Park.
You are so welcome and thank you for watching.
Owen, I love watching the adventures you, Lynn and Maggie have. I’m strongly leaning toward getting an Ekko when I retire and going full time. As my father used to say, you’re “just as comfortable as an old shoe”. Sometimes I feel as if I know you. Really enjoying your channel. ❤️
I’m so glad you are hopefully enjoying not annoying our channel. We appreciate watching and taking the time to comment.
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle darn auto correct! Lol
Great show!
Thank you, we appreciate you watching.
We visited this park in early fall and did get to swim. We love this park too. Our kayaks are not compact and difficult to bring along. Will have to find a solution for that. Happy camping.
This was the first time we were able to take kayaks out in the water and it was a great experience. However, it was way to cold for us to swim.
Another great video. We’re bee-bopping around FL ourselves this week. Been to Tomoka, Blue Spring, Jetty Park, and now at North Beach CG in St Augustine.
North beach is a great camp ground and then Aunties Restaurant!
Sound like you are doing some really good bee-bopping. Thanks Grey Goose for the restaurant suggestion.
Beautiful as well interesting!! Love the scenery and wild life . Old tress that tell a story with some beautiful sunset!! Thank you for sharing this with me!! As always BS & BK & BC !!
You are so welcome and thank you for watching.
Great video as always, thank you! Steve and Amy from Bahia Honda
You are so welcome and thank you Steve and Amy for watching.
Love it 🥰🥰🥰 Nice campground. Love all your adventures 🥰🥰🥰
Thanks so much!
Love starting Sundays with y'all. Glad you started the rating system after you stayed at Hanna park. The wild life video is on par with National geographic and the music is perfect. Thank you for taking us along. Just got back from our Bear trip to Gatlinburg (eating and sleeping) and planning the spring and summer. Hope to see you on the road. Happy tails and safe travels.
We love you spending your Sunday’s with us too. Thanks so much for your kind words like “National Geographic”. Glad you had a good trip to Gatlinburg and have fun planning your next adventure.
That park looks like a keeper. Almost looKed like you had it to yourself but we know that's not the case because you had to move....Happy Trails 🐕
We did not have it to ourselves, it actually stays pretty booked up. But the sites are spaced out with lots of foliage, so it seems like you are by yourself.
Love St Augustine! Had camping reservations there got canceled last 2.5 yrs cause CV, hurricane SMH ! Maybe this year!
Keep trying, it worth it.
I love Maggie
She is the best, she brings us so much joy.
This is without a doubt our most favorite Florida state park. Gamble Rogers comes in a close second. It’s almost impossible for us to get reservations when we have time off. We can’t wait until retirement so we can go during the off season times. This video brings back many memories.
Definitely agree, and don't forget about Tomoka SP.
Glad we were able to bring back some fond memories. Thanks so much for watching.
Thanks for awesome Florida views! I loved Anastasia when I stayed there. Really enjoyed this episode! Thanks for sharing. Peace & Prayers.
You are so welcome and thank you for following along.
I agree on ax grinding being relaxing. I am going to the garage to find my tool which I refer to as "Axl Rose". About to give it a sharp edge.
Glad Owen inspired you to sharpen your ax. We appreciate you watching.
I didn't a happy dance for your fish dinner lol 😆
😁
Always enjoy seeing your visits to this beautiful Park. Can’t wait until I get to see it in person as well. Anywhere you can find joy and serenity in nature is a win in my book. Hope you are well. Safe travels and hugs for sweet Maggie.
Thank you Liz, and we totally agree with finding joy and serenity in nature
Loved your video.
Thank you, we appreciate you watching.
I sure wish my wife would stay there but she won’t stay anywhere without full hookups.
I do recommend this park as well, even if you just visit there.
Something very special about it.
Thanks guys for another awesome video.
Sounds like a great state park! Thank you for sharing it with us!
You are so welcome and thank you for watching.
Yup hard to get in Anastasia SP last year when we were on the east coast we had to stay at Faver-Dykes SP 20 miles away. Maybe next year ill reserve way in advance.
So this year after the Tampa show we stayed at Fort De Soto a wonderful park and then the Panhandle at Grayton Beach SP. Florida has some great SP if you can reserve in advance
Sounds like you got some great parks. Fort De Soto is one of our favorites. We will be going the Grayton Beach for the first time this year, everyone says it great.
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle Grayton Beach SP was nice very isolated sites in the second loop. Small park but a good walk to beach and lake access. The neighboring little town of grayton beach (from the 50’s) worth a visit and maybe lunch. There is a pkg lot and shuttle bus as no pkg in the village. Al as o 1 mile away is Seaside the first new urbanist town 1981. And the Eden Gardens SP.
Hey Sweet Friends! The was another awesome video! We love St. Augustine, too. We haven’t been able to get into Anastasia yet, but we’re still trying. I love the new Report Card feature! Thanks for sharing the beauty with us. Much love from SC, your friend, Jane❤🙏🏻
You are so welcome and thank you so much for watching. Have a great week.
I agree that's an awesome state park.
Thanks, we appreciate you watching.
Awesome video. Watching you from Tomoka State Park and prior to arriving here, we were at Anastasia State Park. You are correct, Anastasia State Park is one of the best parks we’ve visited. Wish we could have met you 🤷♀️
Sounds like you are making the same stops as we are. Hope to see you on the road sometime.
That's a beautiful SP. Lil hard to get a spot sometimes. It's nice to have the city fairly close too for that unexpected FL weather. Maggie was enjoying herself too Please be careful with your bikes. Another YT channel I watch, this past week had his chain cut, and they stole his new bike. Sad. Thanks for taking us along. 🙂👍
Thanks for the warning, We try and be careful locking the bikes several different ways, it’s sad that you have to worry so much about people stealing things.
Was on the other side of the state Sarasota/ Englewood earlier and got frost there. The bay looked like the ocean because the wind was so bad. Gradually warmed up as I was leaving...figures. ; - ) Thanks for your video!
You are so welcome. We’ve come to realize that you will always have cold spells in Florida and we come prepared. Thanks for watching.
Great park, stayed there a few years ago. Amazed you were able to get any sites!
We have been really lucky this year getting great sites. We are using a service called Campnab. Owen will be talking about it in an upcoming video.
Oh by the way, be sure to go to Pizzalley’s on St George St.
#2 rated pizza in the US. CASH OLNY!
We’ll have to put Pizzalley’s on our list for next time. Thanks for the suggestion.
Will be in Jacksonville next week to pick up our puppy. Gamble Rodgers and Anastasia are always fully booked. We will use Hanna, it will do the job for one night in our LTV U24TB
Hanna is not a bad place… not as good as Anastasia or Gamble Rodgers 🤣. Good luck with your puppy.
Fishing and kayaking....yay! Thank you for the rating system! This park looks awesome! If you didn't have your e-bikes, is the trip to St. Augustine possible on a regular bicycle?
Yes, you could ride a regular bike to St Augustine, it would be harder, but we have done that several years ago. Here’s a suggestion that looking back we should have done, find a good bike rack and lock up your bike while walking around.
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle Thank you!
Could you please give me some info on your kayaks? What do you think of them?
Our kayaks are Oru’s, they are the Lake version. We do like them a lot, the only thing we would change is adding a fin to each kayak, they do not track as well as we would like in rough waters. We will be showing more about them in upcoming video’s like putting them together and packing them up.
I’m not being critical when I say this, simply an observation… your kayaks look like origami 😊. But I understand why you have them. They serve the purpose and they allow you to do what makes you happy and that’s what matters. Great video! Thanks for sharing.
They are actually designed by and created by an origami specialist. They fold out like waterproof paper airplanes and are actually pretty neat to play around on the water in. Thanks for noticing and for always being a positive part of our lives. 👍
I would love to know what brand your kayaks are. I like that they seem light and easy to store in your Ekko. Thanks for sharing your trips. Can’t wait to get to Anastasia.
The kayaks are Oru’s the Lake version. They have been a good purchase for us on this trip.
Looks like you have the same toys we do: Oru Kayaks and Rad Power Bikes. Where do you store them? Do they all fit in that rear bay on the Ekko, or do you keep the bikes on an exterior carrier? Thanks!
The bikes are on the back and the kayaks are inside. We did try putting the bikes inside and they do fit but they take up most of the room in garage.
Time for a spare.
Not sure we understand???
We've been here since last Thursday! I saw an Ekko driving around one of the loops and was wondering if it might be yours lol.
I’m sorry we missed you. Enjoy your time there.
Love watching your adventures! I've been trying to get a campsite reservation in Florida in winter.... How far in advance do you reserve your sites in Florida??
Right now we are reserving about 2 weeks in advance. We are taking advantage of people canceling their reservations. We are using two resources that helps us find places they are called Wondering Labs and Campnab.
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle thank you for the reply!!! Much appreciated. Safe travels.
Owen, I noticed a mat down to walk on that looked like it ran down close to beach. What beach were you on This would be perfect for my husband who has to use a rolling walker and it’s almost impossible for him to walk thru sand. By the way, Maggie thinks she a cat climbing those trees. Ha ha
The mat at the beach is within Anastasia SP. Thanks so much for watching.
Hi I just got one question it would really be helpful if you would tell us what it cost to stay at the park you staying thank you I love this
Thanks for the suggestion, we will start adding the cost.
Another great video! When did you get your Oru kayaks? We just got ours last week. What do you think of them? We can’t wait for some warm weather here in the PNW so we can take them out.
We got our Oru’s around Thanksgiving but didn’t use them until this trip. We have used them about 10 times and love them. I do think we will get the fins for the back just to help with tracking in windy conditions, but if you are in calm water they track really well. Also it will take a couple of times putting them together to get good at it, so easy now.
Where do you store your waste basket when you are traveling.
Our waste basket is hanging from kitchen counter right beside the door. It is pretty handy there, but it is small.
I noticed that 'Pouch" (2:10 minute mark) on the inside of your back storage door. Did that come installed like that, or did you install that. If you bought that, do you have a link to what you purchased. Thanks
The bag is an old Native Kayak fishing bag that I installed. I tried to find one like it on Amazon but didn’t see one exactly like it, but they to have several different kinds. It works well on the door and stores lots of things.
We looked for Ekko at Tampa show but didn’t find them, was there a booth showing your rv there?
There were 5 or 6 Ekko’s at the Winnebago booth at the show. It’s a big place I can understand why you did see one.
Good times, how do you guys get reservations? How far out? I have trouble finding places months out. Hard to plan, not retied yet. Enjoy!
We will do a video about our planning and booking later. But for now it's simple. We crossed into FL with zero reservations and started looking for cancellations in places we wanted to go. Now we're booked out until mid-February. The app CampNab has helped a lot with letting us know when there are cancellations. It's a little scary to come down with no reservations but folks don't usually cancel until it gets close to their reservation date.
@@VANTREKKINGlifestyle OK great, thank you for responding. enjoy your travels
I love your new feature! I chuckled when you talked about leaving Maggie’s leash. I just left my wallet in an ice cream shop. During your meet up, I got a phone call from a nice woman returning it to me. Do you have any ideas for losing things? Luckily, I had my phone number in my wallet, and the nice woman could return it to me. That would be one tip I would suggest is to have your phone number in your wallet. My second tip is to use AirTags. I can’t believe I did not have an AirTag in my wallet, as I have them attached to many other items. I’ll look forward to any suggestions you have.
I think AirTags would be the best solution especially for your wallet. You got lucky that a nice person found it and returned it to you. That is one of my worst fears along with leaving my phone somewhere, which I’ve done that too.
Poor Maggie looks tired in this episode 😢
Maggie has been having good days and bad days lately. She is getting older and it makes us sad.
I don’t know how you are able to always find camp spots. I know how difficult it is in our beach area (San Diego) and my wife’s sister just gave up finding any place they could go with their van in Florida. I just read that there are two bills in Florida to give those living in Florida a 1 month period to book sites before people from other states can. It has to be bad if they are doing that.
Hey Rob. I'd be the first to tell you it is hard to find spots in Florida and on the coast of CA too. We use a website , Campnab.com to setup scans for the parks we want to visit. It then notifies us when there's a cancellation. My guess is the one extra month window for residents won't pass. This state lives and thrives off tourists and snowbirds. Anything that discourages their visiting usually gets shot down. Another thing we do is not book in advance. We plan about 4-6 weeks out and even then there will be holes/gaps in our itinerary that only get filled days before we need them. We don't have to have a set plan to be OK with our travels but if you need to be somewhere on a specific date for a certain amount of time then it gets even harder.