Half Shell Resort is a nice little fish-camp-style CG on the St. Johns River in San Mateo across the bridge and about six miles south of Palatka, Fla. It’s not a resort; it is, however, nicely and relaxingly rustic.

The Marina!

The first trick is getting there.  Just east of Dunn’s Creek, turn northward off US-17 onto Roberts Blvd. That corner is at Chico’s Mexican hole-in-the-wall joint and across the highway from a quick-rip convenience store. Down Roberts Blvd. there’s a small sign for Half Shell on the left side.

CG roads are paved but turns are rather tight; campsites are gravel and level. Some have a paved patio and some don’t. Electricity, water, sewer and wifi worked just fine. For nature lovers there’s two alligators in the pond, one in the five-food range and a little squirt. Us crackers call that bathtub-size and kitchen-sink-size.

The Queens Barge! Our campsite by the pond!

Also in the CG is a showerhouse, laundry and clubhouse.

For the mariners, dockage is available for what seems to me to be reasonable rates. Controlling depth is 17 feet plus in the channel and around four feet on the south side of the channel. Controlling vertical clearance is 65 feet.

For you who didn’t come prepared, there’s a Winn Dixie supermarket and liquor store on SR-19 a bit west of US-17 in Palatka. Also, absolutely do not miss Corky Bell’s seafood restaurant on US-17 in East Palatka. It’s not fine dining but it’s mighty good dining in the same style as the fried seafood at St. Augustine.

An alligator in the pond behind our campsite!

When we finally pulled into Half Shell late in the afternoon the proprietors were watching for us; after a very quick tour to see a couple of sites we were all set. The daily rate is higher than a state park but appropriate for FHU; the weekly and monthly rates are a good deal for north-central Florida. Note that it’s cash or check; no cards.

We were at Half Shell for a week and saw a surprising number of short-term campers for such a small park. We did relax and enjoy being there even though the North Florida misty/mucky/cold winter settled in for most of that week.

The Entrance Sign!

Half Shell Resort
132 Roberts Blvd.
Satsuma, FL 32189
386-325-3166
halfshellresort@yahoo.com

Happy Traveler RV Park has 224 FHU sites, mostly back-in, can accomodate big rigs, good wifi, the usual showerhouse and pool, three laundry rooms and cable TV at some sites plus a nighttime guard at the gate.

Site # 130

We’d selected it because it was handy to getting some work done on the Barge; I-75 is a couple of blocks away and US-301 is just around the corner. At the corner of Fowler Ave. and US-301 is a Winn-Dixie and a liquor store.

This park is one of those from back when US-301 was a major highway and everyone heading south to Tampa and points south came down US-301. There’s a couple of other big old-style parks in the Thonotosassa area. These days it’s mostly seasonal and permanent residents.

The Pool!

Happy Traveler had in the past a reputation of containing lots of junky campers with all sorts of stuff scattered around and under them; that’s all gone now. When I called for a reservation the manager made it clear that if our camper didn’t look decent we’d be turned away and there was no scattered stuff anywhere in the park. The facilities were very clean and the maintenance folks were often doing battle with the oak leaves.

One of 3 Laundry facilities!

Which brings up the topic of the oak trees. Lots of them. I moved the satellite dish all over the site without any luck. Fortunately the free wifi was fast and stable.

Happy Traveler Cafe!

The sites are variable; some are suitable only for small campers while others are rather wide and some are pull-through.

There are a few activities such as card games in the clubhouse; we don’t do any activities other than walk around and photography. One nice thing is that the cafe is open Friday and Monday serving some decent inexpensive meals.

Although many folks at the park were seasonal and longer campers everyone was friendly.

Rental Cabins!

The park was very quiet during the work week because many people went off to work and there were no children around.

We liked Happy Traveler so much we stayed an unplanned second week just to relax after our repair-shop visits and to just take it easy.

Happy Traveler RV Park
9401 E Fowler Ave, Thonotosassa, Florida 33592

813-986-3094 / 800-758-2795

www.happytravelerrvpark.com

We almost missed Manatee Hammock. Not “missed” as in drove by but “missed” as in our miserable head colds pretty much prevented us from doing anything other than staying in and bitchin’.

Pool and Rec Hall area!

Manatee Hammock is a Brevard County day-use park and CG just south of Titusville, Fla. It’s big, 152 FHU sites, 36 w/e sites, showerhouses, laundry, pool yada yada and FAST WIFI! It spreads from US 1 to the fishing pier on the Indian River. That big white building you see on the other side of the river, about 10 miles away, is the Vehicle Assembly Building at KSC. This is the perfect spot to watch rocket launches if you can’t get on KSC property.

Indian River

The county bus line stops at the park; you can catch a bus to the Winn Dixie a couple of miles away, to the movieplex in Titusville, and actually across the 70-mile length of Brevard County and from West Melbourne to KSC.

On the side of the CG by the highway you’ll hear whatever comes by, which sounds like mostly bikers. And the trains. Fortunately we like trains; the horns and thunder don’t bother us a whole lot. But FEC runs alongside US 1. So the closer to the river you can get the quieter.

Picnic Shelter

Now, for the other noise. There’s a helicopter training school over at TiCo airport, formerly Shiloh AAF, and those little mosquitos fly over a lot. Fortunately they shut down at dark.

This isn’t advertised as a big-rig park but it is. You big guys will have to unhook your toads up at the entrance, but throughout the park you shouldn’t have any problem getting settled in a site. I didn’t see any roof-scrapers. Water, electric and sewer work. Unfortunately your satellite TV might not work; try to get just north of a building or along the south side of the park.

Pier at Indian River!

Of particular note is that this is a PP CG; half-price from April 15 to December 15. What a screaming deal!

We also especially noted that the CG has a large percentage of younger campers. We’ve been down in south Florida and we’ve been seeing lots of tag-axle Newells and Newmars and codgers while here at Manatee Hammock the predominant camper is a fiver and a lot of people are 35-45, not 65-75.

Anyway, we could easily return and spend weeks or months here.

Manatee Hammock Campground
7275 South U.S. Highway 1
Titusville, FL 32780

Phone: 321-264-5083
Fax: 321-264-6468

http://www.brevardcounty.us/ParksRecreation/Campgrounds/ManateeHammock/Rates